An introduction to Mayfield Farm

Mayfield Farm, Sheering Road, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0JP

I literally could not be happier to finally be able to post about somewhere vaguely close to my hometown of Harlow, Essex. The town could easily be described as a culinary wasteland - saturated with supermarkets, chain restaurants and cafes - with nowhere suitable for a lazy breakfast or a decent coffee.

However... I have recently been made aware of Mayfield Farm Bakery & School (& cafe). I'll let their produce do the talking...

We popped in quickly one Saturday morning and I was absolutely bowled over that this little gem has been around the corner all the time! The breads are understandably incredible (head baker Nick has been doing this for 30 years) but the amazing pastries, cakes and local produce were unexpected!

There's all your traditional loaves as well as several variations of sour dough and flavoured breads - cheese & onion, stilton & raisin and beetroot to name a few. We had about three loaves as well as some fresh croissants and I'm going to make it my mission to come back for more each time I stay at my parent's!

Compared to the same quality produce in London, the prices are REALLY competitive so there's no excuse not to fancy-up your weekend with some artisan fare.

If you want to learn how to make bread you can sign up to their Bakery School - it's a bit pricey but I'm sure the four and a half hour session is worth every penny. Class sizes are small (15 people) so you're likely to get plenty of focussed tuition.

I'm not sure why I wasn't aware of this place before. When I mentioned it to some of my friends they seemed to know about it - maybe it's one of those well kept secrets everyone wants to keep to themselves? No matter their marketing strategy, it seemed busy enough when we were in there so seems like the word is out (or it is now anyway..!).

We didn't have time to stay for a coffee and something to eat so I'll visit the cafe next time I'm home (around Easter) and do a follow up post with details of the menu etc. CAN'T WAIT!

Mayfield Farm Bakery & School have a website, they're on Facebook and Twitter.