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

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In 2015, Flora was the youngest ever finalist to appear on fan favourite baking show The Great British Bake Off. She did not go on to win the competition, but she made her name in the baking world at the age of only nineteen. She has been in a relationship with James Irvine since February 7, 2016. James is the general manager of the Birnam Arts and Conference Centre in Perthshire. Stir the bread mixture together gently until just combined, then stir through the onions. Again, do not overmix – you just need to ensure the onions are evenly dispersed.

Last week, Scots clan chief Lady Claire Macdonald, Irish TV chef Rachel Allen and Yorkshire cook Frances Atkins were photographed attending screen tests in London with judge Paul Hollywood, sparking rumours they are to be the replacements for Mary Berry. In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, fennel and celeriac. Cook for five minutes, being careful not to brown them or you will lose the lovely pale colour of the soup. Serve immediately with good hunks of the honey and oat bread (below) and any extra dressing. You can also add some green chilli slices and lime wedges for a bit of heat.

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. Although the format isn’t going to be the same, it doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be good. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.” Read More Related Articles Flora attended the University of Edinburgh to study architecture and the University of St Andrews to study art history, but she is currently on a break from her studies while pursuing her career in baking. There’s quite a contentious discourse about veganism. I think it’s doing more damage to the planet than eating dairy from the farm 20 miles down the road." 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.”

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. But, rather than move to London to pursue a career as a celebrity baker, Flora returned home to Dunkeld, Perthshire, to open her very own artisan bakery. Flora explained: “I don’t think telly would have been the one for me. It was fun when I was doing it, but I really struggled with the attention and kind of ‘nowhere to hide’ side of Bake Off. Kale, which she says, “gets all the attention by the clean-eaters, and I worry it will put people off it”, features strongly in her salad section alongside squash, carrot tops, heirloom tomatoes and asparagus. There’s a foraged nettle and pea quiche in a nod to Scottish culinary history and nettle pudding, “the oldest recorded pudding in the book, but unlikely to make a reappearance”.

Ingredients

In Aran, she writes: “Sugar gets a bad rep, as does gluten, sadly. But my principles remain the same throughout this bizarre time. Use proper and honest ingredients and think of food as a source of fuel and satisfaction, not as something to fear or discuss negatively.” 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”. It’s a mammoth and daunting task as it is a 200-year-old building but we are getting there slowly but surely. I’ve had lovely messages from my fellow contestants on Bake Off including Nadiya Hussain and Mat Riley.

Now she’s 27, with even more precocious achievements under her belt. There’s her bakery, Aran, in her home town of Dunkeld, as well as the produce store, Lon. 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. I will be doing most of the cooking but I will be employing a full-time baker and my mum will be lending a hand. It’s going to be a real family affair.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. She concedes that she’s in the privileged position of being in the main street of a historic village which is popular with tourists with no large supermarkets or fast-food chains to dilute her influence. The local independent butcher, smokehouse, deli and whisky shop are hardly going to do that. In fact, she believes she is part of wider grassroots movement in Scotland that is being fed – and in turn consumed – by social media. Those underestimating the impact of joining the hit series include Flora Shedden, a semi-finalist in 2015. 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.” Assemble the salad on a large serving platter. Scatter some watercress over the base of the platter then dot with the dressed fennel slices, grapefruit and chicory in a haphazard fashion. Finish with a little more watercress, some cress leaves, parsley and the fennel fronds. Dot the crabmeat over the dish.