At the Larder in Napier we do not only bake bread but rather experience bread everyday.  It is a living element that we partake of from early the morning when the previous day’s dough is shaped, proved and baked. To see the mounds of white suddenly explode in the oven into beautiful crisp brown breads is a revelation every day. Afterwards we will mix the batch of dough for the following day and leave it quietly for 5 hours to develop.  By mid afternoon we will prepare the dough for the overnight rising, working with it for 1 ½ hours to stretch the gluten and to benefit the maximum from our starter. Thereafter it is left overnight to let nature run its course. This process gives us a robust bread with lots of flavour, a crisp crust and soft on the inside.  Eating our bread is an experience and not for the fainthearted.  Thus is our daily ritual every day, four days a week.

Our breads: “experience our breads ”

The Larder Loaf : Made from 800 gr of dough and shaped into an oval, this bread has a beautiful brown crisp crust with a soft centre full of holes, reminiscent of a ciabatta.  The holes are acquired through the lengthy rising and the stretching of the dough.   Due to the lengthy process the larder loaf will keep fresh for approx 5 days,  makes beautiful toast afterwards or can be frozen successfully.  Thaw and bake in a hot oven for 10-15 min to crisp up again.  Ideally suited to eat with smoked sausages and rocket, beautiful paired with cheese and preserves or chutney style confits.  Will be excellent as a brushetta with any topping.

Rosemary focaccia : Here we use 400 gr of dough and shape it in a round shape very quickly as we do not want to tamper with the texture of the dough.  After shaping we push rosemary leaves into the dough, cover and leave to rise until double in size.  Then it is scattered with coarse salt, a grinding of black pepper and lastly we drizzle some olive oil over and off to the oven.  These beautiful round breads are perfect sliced in long strips and dipped in olive oil and balsamic or olive oil and dukkah spice or topped with tapenade or just simply an accompaniment with food to mop op juices.  Its shelf life is still good after 5 days.

Filled vegetable spiral : The simply this bread is very special to us, we stretch the 700 gr dough and lather the surface with our special herb oil blend, then we dot our grilled vegetables of the day over, sometimes we add cheese eg feta.  It is rolled up and cut, then we put the slices open side up into our tin.  Once baked the bread has the shape of a cake and the rolls can easily be pulled apart.  A little warming in the oven before eating brings out the flavours.  With this bread you only need to add a salad for a complete light lunch or supper. 

Filled vegetable tin bread : The tin bread is a miniature of the spiral, each one consist of 200 gr dough with our herb oil and roasted vegetables or meat.  It is a healthier replacement for a pie and very filling.  When served at the table slice it lengthwise and you will have beautiful round circles of bread.  Just off room temperature will bring out its best flavours.  It makes for a different cheeseboard if you add these circles of bread.

Napier country bread : This is an earthy style bread with a 1kg dough that has a combination of 2 flours, 50% stone ground bread flour and 50% stone ground rye flour.  After the first rising we let it rise again in a basket lined with cheesecloth. Once again this bread is perfect for homemade jams or to eat with a salad of grilled aubergines, jam tomatoes, whole garlic cloves and onion quarters which has been baked in olive oil and balsamic or just simply your casserole or soup of the day.  It starts with a beautiful round shape but tends to jump up in the oven and then ruin our carefully rounded shape. This bread emphasizes the fact that all our breads are homemade and handmade.

Reneessance Rye Loaf : We are currently busy with our rye sourdough starter, as it takes a few weeks to develop this , we request that you watch this space.

Other specialities

Apart from our above breads we are proud to introduce you to our excellent cheese selection.  We keep local South African cheeses as well as some imported from France and Italy.  A variety of hard cheeses, like Huguenot, Koroobossie, cumin, boerenkaas, French style Vintershook, emmental, grand brie, camembert, brie with chillie, soft goats and hard goats cheeses to name but a few. 

We also keep lovely preserves, jams and a variety of honeys to accompany the cheese.  We bake our own muffins, rusks, cookies and fill our shelves with interesting produce that we pick up on the way.  Our larder also boasts a stunning selection of smoked sausages, like Portugese chorizo, Polish Kielbasa and Italian Salpicao.