Kingston's Best Small Bakeries

By Guest

8th Apr 2021 | Local Features

This week I caught up with local bakers and small business owners Fatma Kartal and Julie Deeb. If you are fond of doughy delights and have a sweet tooth for supporting local businesses, read on!

QQCH bakery in Kingston specialises in delivering freshly baked, rustic bread and sweet treats to your door.

Owner Fatma Kartal is very passionate about creating delicious organic bread for locals.

"I have a desire for a healthier and organic lifestyle," she said. "I wanted to produce what I like to eat."

I asked her if there was any good that came out of lockdown, to which she replied: "It was the best mission for me to leave warm bread on doorsteps for people who can't get out."

Fatma's favourite recipes include: "All of my sourdough bread, French baguettes, Turkish simit, banana bread, and brownies.

"Out of all the bread I make, the walnut sourdough is my absolute favourite; I can't go a day without it!"

I was lucky enough to try one of Fatma's favourite walnut sourdough breads.

It was packaged in a crinkly brown bag, with a sprig of lush lavender caringly pinned to the front with a sticker that read 'handmade with love.'

The generously sized loaf was still warm, and the scent of freshly baked bread filled the bag and spilt out into the room.

This went down an absolute treat at home; everyone swooped in for a slice (or three). By the end of the day, the whole family had demolished the bread.

The outside was perfectly crunchy with a thick crust. The middle of the bread was springy with a subtle tangy taste, contrasted with a smattering of sweet walnuts intertwined within the dough.

The sourdough is made from all organic ingredients, including white bread flour, whole-wheat flour, sourdough starter, water, salt, walnut.

"I bake with so much flour," Fatma said. "I shop online for my ingredients; I source organic flours from Shipton Mill.

"They deliver tons of flour straight to my door. This is a great comfort for me!"

Fatma has been running her business professionally for a year. You can order freshly baked goodies online from her website . Delivery is free for any orders over £10.

Freelancer Julie Deeb's cake-creating career started in Beirut in 2013, when she realised that there was a niche in the market for intricate cake design there.

"I started to make custom designs for friends and families; learning as I go," she said.

"My friends encouraged me to create a page on Facebook and then Instagram, and that's how I started my business."

Before setting up her business in Kingston, Julie worked as a VIP flight attendant for private aircraft for almost a decade.

Eventually, she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, with her husband in 2015. There, she decided take up an intensive course in professional patisserie.

"I wanted to perfect my creations inside out!" Julie explained.

"And that's where I discovered a new passion for baking and not just decorating. Now when reading recipes, I understand how to tailor them."

Julie specialises in baking and decorating cakes for celebrations, birthdays, and events.

As soon as lockdown lifts, she hopes to start creating beautiful wedding cakes.

For now, she has been focusing on her themed birthday cakes for which Julie makes edible decorations out of sugar.

From crystal geodes to intricate little figurines and Disney characters, they all look too good to eat!

Floral decorations are Julie's favourite to assemble, but they take a lot of time and effort.

"It is therapeutic, I used to dread it, and now I take online courses," she said.

"I have learned it mostly comes down to time management. I love making the leaves and foliage."

To make dainty sugar roses, Julie first mixes a flour paste. She carefully rolls the paste thinly to make the petals. Once they are shaped, they are left overnight to dry.

The following day, Julie dusts them with coloured powder, which she lightly sprinkles over each petal. The petals are then bound together to make a flower; for a miniature rose, this could be more than 20 petals.

My favourite part is the water droplet effect. This makes the rose look as if it could have been freshly picked out of Hampton Court's gardens, touched by the morning dew. To achieve this look, Julie adds a clear piping gel to the petals - essentially sugar glue.

To get inspiration, Julie enriches herself in local nature parks and takes pictures of the wildlife. This helps her emulate the natural designs of the plants.

She is currently working on creating delicate purple sugar orchids.

So what's next for Julie? Well, she's busy experimenting with designs and flavours and is also working on building a website for her business.

"I can't wait till life is back to normal to one day open up my own wee cake boutique!" she said.

To see more of Julie's work, check out her Instagram page @Juliedeeb_cakes.

     

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