Aran: Recipes and Stories from a Bakery in the Heart of Scotland

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Make the pastry and line the tin up to 1 day ahead, cover with clingfilm and chill. The baked and cooled tart will keep for up to 1 day in an airtight container. Her message about eating sensibly is also strong, and she cites the Rome-based food writer Rachel Roddy and the Irish writer Diana Henry as her food heroes for their “sensible approach to healthy eating”. Taste and season one last time if required before serving. Drizzle with more olive oil and decorate with the herbs and reserved fennel fronds. She said: “I haven’t quit my degree but intend to defer for a bit longer with all that is going on. Does she think her peer-group – at almost 24 she is somewhere between a Millennial and the younger so-called Generation Z – are confused about food and diet? “Yes,” she replies, without hesitation. “I am from the generation with arguably the most delusional approach to food. There’s so much noise surrounding it on social media. The influencer set are hugely to blame when it comes to diet issues. People aren’t sure about where they stand as they receive mixed messages almost every day.”

Weigh out all the ingredients in a large bowl with some seasoning and stir together using a wooden spoon. Once the mixture is fully combined, tip it into your lined tin. Flatten the top using your hands. It has been a steep learning curve, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. “I’m grateful we’ve managed to stay open and keep our staff,” she says. “We are spending a fortune compared to what we used to and have had to put our prices up, which I struggle with. It has been touch and go at times, but we aren’t alone.”Those underestimating the impact of joining the hit series include Flora Shedden, a semi-finalist in 2015. I didn’t watch it when I was in it, and I haven’twatched it since,” she says. “It was far too traumatic, nobody wants to hear their own voice let alone see their own face, it’s very scarring. So many people keep me updated on what’s happening on it, which is very sweet”. I've always been a really big fan of everything Diana Henry does. Her recipes arebrilliant classics with twists that you know will be crowd-pleasers. Georgina Hayden has done a lot of really beautiful work recently, including her books Stirring Slowly and Taverna,” she says. “There are so many talented, talented food writers our there. It does make it very daunting to add to the mix. It can be quite stressful because there's so many books I admire and love”. So, does running a bakery span the genders? “Yeah, it used to be all women but the balance is more even now. In fact, I call my team ‘The Boys’,” she says. “Gatherings was more focused on home and family whereas this is much bigger and wider in scope and people. What we’re doing here is definitely more collaborative. People of both genders bring in ideas and suggestions, either orally or from memory, and we try them out. We’re doing continual R&D and things are developing organically. And in the village, the wider community spirit is strong.”

Cover loosely with cling film again, and place in the fridge overnight. Make sure it is not cramped, as the dough will grow in size.Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife, finely slice the fennel (reserve the fennel fronds to decorate) and toss the slices into the dressing to stop the fennel from browning. At this stage you can cover the fennel and store in the fridge for up to six hours. Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the loaf into thin biscuits. Arrange on a large baking tray. Return the biscotti to the oven for its second bake. You are looking for the biscuits to dry out at this stage, though they will colour a little too. Bake them for 10 minutes before turning them over and returning to the oven for a further five minutes. The equal balance between sweet and savoury in Aran is notable, and again echoes the author’s desire to change perceptions that baking is all about sweetness and stodge. To make the pastry, combine the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth dough, but be careful not to overwork it or it will become tough. Alternatively, work the butter into the combined flours and icing sugar using a wooden spoon, then mix in the milk and gently knead until you have a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 15-30 minutes.

Flora, who has been baking for as long as she can remember, said: “Most of the food will be takeaway but there will be a few seats near the door for folk who want to come in for a coffee and slice of cake. Beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, preferably in a free-standing mixer set to a medium speed. Add the eggs, honey and flours and mix again. Fold in the cooled toasted pine nuts and the orange zest, if using, with a wooden spoon or spatula. Paying a visit to our dear friend Flora Shedden is always attended by a sensation of warmth, the kind of familiarity that we more often associate with coming home. The journey to her hometown of Dunkeld in Scotland may be a long way from the well-travelled road to our own, but the feeling of being ushered into open arms is similarly suffused into every thoughtful element of her enchanting Aran Bakery, as well as in the irresistible Lon, her lifestyle store, too. To cross their threshold is to step into a complete world where the generous and abundant thread that yokes it all together begins and ends with Flora herself. The show was at an all-time high and it’s very difficult to keep that momentum going. Perhaps a shake-up is a good thing. You can’t keep dragging something on forever.She has a baby due in December, and she’s just launched her third cookbook, Supper: Recipes Worth Staying in For. It seems that she might be a carpe diemkind of person. I know there’s a huge focus on doing that and lot of people feel pressure to move. There was a lot of chat and a fair amount of pressure to do that, and capitalise on Bake Off, but I think I’m probably just a bit stubborn. I was happy where I was previously, and I didn’t want to jump on that bandwagon.” Everything processed is why we’ve lost touch with fresh food. E-numbers, additives, colourants, preservatives and so on are all man-made and, of course, they’re going to cause damage and health problems. Naturally occurring ingredients are hardly to blame.” I’d immediately become jealous when Angus told me he had a ‘bread shed’, a place where he would create loaves upon loaves post-work and early in the morning,” she says. “His magic little set-up was exactly what I had been looking for.” It took a year for the trio and other family and friends to get the bakery open.