Craft Baking | Breadalbane Bakery
There’s something particularly attractive about the little town of Aberfeldy and its setting in the hills. Perhaps it’s the scale of the town or the variety of its shops- but it seems the very essence of a friendly community just getting on with its business.
And one of the businesses getting on with what it does best is the Breadalbane Bakery. Join the queue here on a Saturday morning and – aside from the fact you’ll probably end up chatting to the other customers – you’ll soon find out why it’s busy. For a start, according to its proprietor, Scott Dow, it’s the only baker in a 100-mile radius which bakes all its wares on the premises. And the mixing and preparation is done by hand, the traditional way.
As a craft baker, it’s an early start for Scott, as he oversees the preparation of a great variety of breads and biscuits, mostly traditional and familiar to generations of Scots.
There are about a dozen Scots bread varieties, including the famous batch bread – a plain loaf with a dark crust, which Scott especially bakes for the weekends.
Then there’s the hand-made shortbread and varieties like syrup and ginger biscuits, while Scott is also proud of his popular Holyrood tarts – in a kind of Viennese biscuit-style case with a fruit filling. (The cherries, sultanas, pineapple jam, walnuts and other ingredients are mixed and then stand for three days to let the flavours mingle!) Yet another speciality is Aberfeldy oatcakes and also Aberfeldy Whisky Cake, with its added ingredient coming from the single malt distillery just down the road.
Overall, the product range is typically Scottish, using quality ingredients, experience and patience. The locals realise this. They know quality – and that’s why the bakery is a busy shop. There’s a popular coffee-shop on the premises as well. Scott thinks the old traditional ways are better – and it definitely tells in the taste.
The Breadalbane Bakery
37 Dunkeld Street
Aberfeldy
PH15 2AF
T: 01887 820481