The Baker’s Dozen: delicious dough

I love bread. In all shapes and sizes. From Pain au chocolat to French baguettes, I did the daily rounds of my favorite bakeries, while I lived abroad, to indulge in this comfort food. Back home in India, the same variety of bread, is not easily available. Unless of course, you visit the premium hotel bakeries.

So, when I stumbled upon The Baker’s Dozen, a year ago, I was terribly excited. Especially because they made some of my favorite sweet breads loaded with cranberries, blueberries and apricots! The owners, however tell us that the “very healthy”, Four Grain, a german sourdough bread packed with flax, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, is a bestseller. I did make a new year resolution this year right?!

This family run enterprise is run by three passionate foodies – Sneh Jain, Aditi Handa and Siddharth Handa. The founders are pretty hands on, and you will sometimes bump into one of them at the store, interacting with consumers.

Aditi who did a short culinary course in New York says, perfecting the bread recipe was not a cakewalk. Back home, she realized the recipes she mastered abroad had to be tailor-made to Indian conditions. “Indian flour is weaker in terms of developing protein and hence, recipes need to be altered. Moreover, the humidity and temperature makes baking challenging – recipes need to be different in April and December!”

The rather inconspicuous outlet, in the Prabhadevi area of Mumbai, was once easy to miss. I can’t say the same anymore! The bakery has expanded to four outlets since, spread across Mumbai (India). 

A quick tip – go early or call and reserve your loaf. Your favorite one might just run out, as they make limited quantities everyday!

Check out their Facebook page to stay updated: www.facebook.com/thebakerdozen

Here’s a recipe they shared, using one of my favourite sweet breads:

Sour Cherry and Ricotta:

A sweet tangy cold sandwich made with sour cherry jam and ricotta. An excellent midday snack. 

Ingredients: 2 thick slices of Pain Au Levain with apricots and cherries, 2 tablespoons of ricotta and 1 tablespoon of sour cherry jam. 

Method: Spread the ricotta on both slices of bread. Then spread the sour cherry jam on one slice. Sandwich with the other slice. Serve cold. 

 

{Photos by Baker’s Dozen}