Stotts Craft Bakery – A Tasteem Review
I’m eating a jam slice right now while typing and trying to keep the jam from oozing out of the side of the slice. That and a cup of percolated coffee sets me up nicely for a spot of writing.
An hour before, I was standing outside Stotts Craft Bakery in my local village of Rishton. It’s not much to look at from the outside, but what’s inside is what really matters.
This is a sandwich shop, but they have a decent range of cakes too and that was my reason (mostly) for the visit.
One thing I will mention is that this shop has stood the test of time. It survived the great recession where many perished and that tells me it’s good!
A five star rating by the Food Standard Agency is really a must by today’s high expectations and it was good to the see the sticker firmly affixed to the door.
This is a small shop and me taking photographs immediately put the owner on her guard. ‘I’m not from the Food Standard Agency’, I stated immediately. With that she relaxed and even posed for a photograph.
The cakes are quite extensive but some shelves where half empty. I didn’t arrive exactly early so it can be excused.
I bought two jam slices, two millionaires’ shortbreads and a meat pie. This cost me just short of £5. Not cheap but reasonable.
The cakes are made every morning and are locally produced. This is not a chain and looking at the rear of the shop tells me that they are likely make on the premises, but I did not ask that question.
I’m now halfway through this review and my jam slice still has some legs left. It’s nice, very nice and @bingbabe will be eating the other one when she comes back from her 7 mile run shortly.
I have bought and eaten the millionaires’ shortbreads in the past and they are filling and rich. The shop owner is very friendly and was interested in why I was writing about her shop.
You don’t get this kind of personal attention from the chain stores and I like to support the local shops when I can. So back to the pie, as it is a legitimate bakery product!
Meat Pie’s are a very British product and I missed them enormously while I lived in the US. They are just how they are named, a pastry outside with some kind of meat inside.
I’m quite sure they are not particular good for you but the tastiest things usually are not.
There are many sandwich shops scattered throughout the UK, but outside villages the independent ones are becoming scarcer. This one is worth a visit, if you are ever passing Rishton.
Restaurant Information
Stotts Craft Bakery
Rishton, UK
86 High St, Rishton, Blackburn BB1 4LA, England.
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Bakeries and Patisseries
I wouldn't be too impressed with a good food hygiene rating. I'm sure their hygiene is great, but having run my own cafe for five years, I started to get the impression it was more about being obedient to the whims of the food hygiene officers than actual cleanliness. I was so enthusiastic at the start that I actually contacted the Food Hygiene dept and told them I was setting up a cafe and that I wanted guidelines on good practice. I had no response, but shortly after opening I got a very stern and fear-mongering letter, warning me that I was breaking the rules and had not done a Food Hygiene course - in fact, not only had I done the course, and had the certificate - I had also paid for my one staff member to do it too.
I got no apology, but a food hygiene officer soon paid a visit, and said I would need to install a fourth sink with taps and separate plumbing in the tiny weeny shop I was renting. There was already a sink in the front of the shop and one at the back, as well as one in the toilet, but we were told we needed a dedicated hand-washing sink. This had to be installed at a cost of £250. After it was installed, we got our "Pass" certificate.
However the certificate was revoked a couple of years later - not because cockroaches were found or mould in a sandwich - we had no such complaints - but because Environmental Health started to demand another costly renovation which we simply couldn't afford to do.
After my experience running a cafe I started to get the impression that much of this red tape comes about from lobbying by much bigger businesses who can afford to make costly internal changes on a whim, to make things difficult for smaller competitors. How many small cafes do you know that survive more than five years? This wasn't the only reason I closed my cafe, but it was a contributary factor.
What you are saying doesn't surprise me so much but is interesting to hear from someone with experience of it.
I have seen many 5 ratings, some 4's and even a 3 once. Do they give out 1's and 2's? and do you have to show them?
I think it depends on the local authority. Not all of them demand three separate sinks, for example. I don't think they had different ratings when I ran my business (I closed it in 2015) - it was just a question of whether you could display the certificate or not. A fail didn't mean you had to be shut down. When the inspector visited it was always unannounced, and there was a kind of hushed atmosphere while she put on her white coat and started checking in the corners and inspecting the fridges. The visits always seemed to be on hot summer days. But she never found flies or cockroaches or out-of-date stock - it was always about bureaucracy and ticking boxes.
Looks like a great little business, our local bakery also looks a little run down from the outside but produces top class product. I don't use it enough, that's next on the list now I've got into the swing of using the local butcher and fish mongers.
Thinking back I din't think I've every eaten a meat pie that hasn't come from the supermarket; I exclude the odd pie my mum has made in the past.
There are several more local bakeries that sell pies. Some have more than once branch so technically could be named a chain. However they are local to the area so not in the same scale as 'Greggs'.
You should try them. I'm not a big fan of the chains that are taking over our country.
I agree with you about the chains, but Greggs does have a special place in my heart. They are always warm and friendly with reasonable prices. I like a steak slice as a treat now and then, but I leave the chicken katsu abomination well alone.
I like Greggs too, it was more of a blanket statement really about the state of 'clone towns'. I haven't tried the chicken katsu LOL, but thanks for the warning.
This review of them is very funny.
I was reading about the lost art of home made pie making yesterday. They used to be a staple when I was growing up - sweet and savoury - good way of getting some extra calories into a large family and I love the taste of crumbly shortcrust pastry.
I've always been scared of pies that aren't topped with mashed veggies of some kind...interesting that I'd call them a pie ... is cottage pie technically a pie?
I've always been scared of pastry for some reason. Should really just give it a go.
Pastry is easy (although I learned how to do it when I was about seven or eight, so I'm probably biased), you just need a light touch - the complete opposite to making bread - keep everything very cool and don't use too much water. Here's my post about making pastry and crumble.
[tasteem supporter]
hey! great review but can you add the actual address in the post as I know the google map location sometimes doesn't allow the address even it is pinned as we can see. thanks!
Hi @travelgirl, I know the contest is finished now and thank you for the vote, but I have still added the address to the post. Take care.
Everything looks pretty amazing in your photos. I'd never heard of millionaires shortbread before, but it definitely looks like something I would like to try. Great review!
Good sign that the shelves are half empty by the time you got there. Our little local bakery is well sold out by lunch-time and is usually closed by 2pm. I think the prices are very reasonable - £0.98 for millionaire's shortbread? I'm sure it costs at least twice that in Costas etc. Five items for £5 is great value. Was that a pork pie? Pies have a place in a well-balanced diet :)
It was a Meat Pie! They have pork ones, too .. god know whats in the 'meat' variant but its nice and tasty.
I gotta write this down for when I ever visit the UK again. I've never heard of any of the food items you've mentioned. That millionaires’ shortbreads sounds really good with all the caramel (as @steevc mentioned).
You don't have jam slices in Belgium? The pies I can understand but I take it for granted that these kind of cakes are everywhere.
That stretch of 22 miles of water makes all the difference sometimes in our culture differences.
Why do I even follow you? All you do is making me hungry lol
There's nothing like a local bakery, we have one close by that does it a romanian traditional way where they bake the bread in a stone oven. The smell and taste or those are mind-blowing.
The smell as you walk past these places... I know what you mean. Sometimes the smell surpasses the taste when you eventually get your chops around the target!
"Some kind of meat" sounds like a good description of what constitutes the innards of some English pies.
Nice little shop. I hope it won't be pushed out by some hip chain.
LOL, I don't know how to describe it... its a terrible description I will admit. My wife and daughter will NOT eat these pies. Sometimes a visual is better than a description:
The meat does look mysterious, but the whole is probably tasty. I like pies, but few sell the proper ones here.
The pie has just been devoured! They are made with some kind of processed meat with a little pepper mixed in to make it interesting, but not spicy in the sense of Indian food.
Nice to hear you can get them outside the UK.
Great review made me want some right now. They should hire you for PR work. Great job on this post. YUM!
Thanks, I don't think they could afford me though :)
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