White Horse Bakery, Holme-next-the-sea
Our big idea!
Our dream to convert a 19th century stone barn in the middle of a bucolic Norfolk idyll, into an artisan bakery, was an ambitious conversation over a coffee on the Norfolk coast. There was a huge clearance job to do and a lot of head scratching logistically. What were we thinking? The workload, the time, the money... Ridiculous we thought, a pipedream that would never see the light of day...
But, inspired by our unswerving passion for food and a clear vision of delivering a product to a community, which was humble, authentic and rooted in the locality - the dice was thrown, the game was afoot, and our dream followed.
The concept for the White Horse Bakery was born – Artisan Bread, Viennoiserie and Proper Coffee.
Our menus
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Bakery Main Menu
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Bakery Morning Menu
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Bakery Drinks Menu
Our philosophy
White Horse Bakery makes exceptional handmade small batch organic sourdough products. Our small local team of Norfolk baking wizards are driven by a philosophy hinged on provenance of ingredient, sustainability, locality but also a commitment to process, ‘doing it the right way’, the healthy way, the way it used to be done.
We also are driven to create a community focal point, alongside our award-winning pub – two community hubs nestling side by side, a haven for lovers of the good life and the best baked products on the north Norfolk coast, oh and some ‘proper coffee’.
It’s the way that we do it
Our products are handcrafted. No mass machinery here. Just the age-old knowledge of artisan technique, a passion for ingredient and a sensory awareness of what’s right, and when. And the odd stopwatch!
Taking time to make bread is part and parcel of its taste. Bread can be made quickly, with speedy modern oxidisation processes which cheat and shortcut the ‘prove’. But they’re an inadequate substitute for those who love taste and have an eye on their health, as the gluten doesn’t develop properly when mixed at such pace and using bleached flours which can aggravate the palate and your throat. Fabulous bread takes time. It takes the right ingredients. It takes craft. It takes nous and it takes love.
It's the wheat that we love
We only use the best ingredients and shirk intensively farmed monoculture. We use low input heritage wheats suited to the local environment without the need for pesticides or chemical fertiliser. Our products are traceable and from ethically verified suppliers. The bread that is typically bought in the UK will come from pureline, monoculture varieties of wheat, where all plants are identical – look at your nearest field and it will probably reflect that.
We use long straw ‘Population’ wheat, or cross composite populations, where all plants are genetically distinct. This brings great diversity within a field, with huge height variations and the ears of the wheat will vary in size considerably in the lines or ‘alleys’ in which population wheat is grown.
This diversity brings lots of benefits. Whatever the English weather throws at us, some varieties will thrive, some may fail. Some will prefer the soil they’re in, others may not. But the overall genetic diversity will build a resilience into the crop, so that modern chemicals and a dependency on high nitrogen fertiliser, fungicides and herbicides are not required. That’s a win for the environment.
Timeless taste
And of course there is another victory – taste. The flavour and texture of a sourdough loaf which has multiple wheat plant varieties is unquestionable. It is the holy grail of breadmaking. It is how bread may have tasted 10,000 years ago. It is life-affirming and if you are able to visit White Horse Bakery it will be on your proverbial doorstep.
Your very own gastronomic time travel. How bread used to be made. When it was good for us. A timeless, simple, wholesome, healthy, homemade, handcrafted product. The dream came true.
