Helen Underwood is an award-winning artisan baker specialising in sourdough.
Helen founded White Cottage Bakery in 2013 to put into practice her belief that delicious and wholesome bread should be accessible to all. She believes passionately that absolutely everybody can make great bread—and now spends her time running workshops that aim to help bread-lovers to do just that.
Whether you're a complete beginner or a real bread buff, Helen's expertise and enthusiasm will help you along the way on your very own bread journey. Each student will leave their workshop with the skills they need to produce their own beautiful bread to share at home.
COM-PANION
Did you know that the word 'companion' comes from the Latin 'cum panis': literally 'with bread.' A companion is somebody you break bread with!
Bread is not just about sustenance, it's food for the soul. The people you break bread with are your friends, your family, your community. Bread, then, has always been about sharing—an ethos that's at the heart of everything we do here at White Cottage.
OUR INGREDIENTS
We believe that there should be no compromising when it comes to quality. We use all-natural, healthy ingredients (locally sourced and seasonal wherever possible) and incorporate many heritage grains from the U.K.
Leaving nature to do all the work means that all we add is time, patience, and a little salt.
OUR FLOUR
The most important ingredient of all, of course, is flour, and we're passionate about making sure the flour we use in our artisan bread is of the highest quality.
We are privileged to be situated right on the edge of the beautiful Wimpole Estate, which farms the most wonderful organic wheat and heritage grain.
We buy from a traditional mill—Fosters Windmillat Swaffham Prior—built in 1857 and still going today! The stoneground flour they produce is locally-sourced and pesticide-free, made from wheat grown just down the road on the Wimpole Estate, and milled by environmentally friendly methods.