Jul 2012

St. John Bakery – London

St. John Bakery - London

Doughnuts have a way of finding me. While researching Chef Fergus Henderson’s St. John restaurant, I stumbled upon St. John Bakery, his wholesale baked goods operation. In addition to hearty loaves of all stripes, the bakery is famous for its exquisite yeast-risen, filled doughnuts. I thanked my lucky stars that our short stay in London included a Saturday, the sole day each week when the bakery is open to the public. Clearly, it was meant to be!

St. John Bakery - London

The Astronomer, my mom, and I dragged our jet-lagged bodies out of bed far too early on Saturday morning for our date with doughnut destiny. The bakery is only open from 9 AM to 2 PM, so it was imperative that we arrived before everything was sold out. Joining us was the lovely Su-Lin of Tamarind & Thyme, a mighty fine food blogger and London resident.

St. John Bakery - London

Two tube lines and nearly an hour later, we arrived at Arch 72, where a bountiful selection of breads and pastries awaited us.

St. John Bakery - London

This morning’s jam doughnut (£2) was filled with an apple and rhubarb mixture. Jelly doughnuts have a way of being either too sweet or too much of a good thing, but the version here was perfectly sticky and sour and balanced. If our eating itinerary weren’t so jam packed, a dozen jam doughnuts would’ve come back to the hotel with me.

St. John Bakery - London

Equally superb were the classic custard-filled doughnuts (£2). The cream was lighter than expected, while the sugar-dusted dough was as ideal as I had hoped. What impressed me most was that even though the dough wasn’t freshly fried, it tasted like it had been—fresh and fluffy. St. John’s doughnuts were the complete package.

I was so gaga about the doughnuts that I completely forgot to photograph the mini eccles cake (£1.20) that we also sampled. The currant and warm spice filled pastry tasted like a buttery and flaky Christmas dream.

St. John Bakery - London

St. John Bakery - London

This is what a doughnut high looks like.

St. John Bakery
Arch 72
Druid Street
LONDON
SE1 2DU
Phone: 020 7237 5999

More doughnuts to devour on Gastronomy:

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8 thoughts on “St. John Bakery – London

  1. We found the Bakery, after visiting the wrong place. It was well worth the effort.
    We tried all 3 flavours, all good, Lemon curd being the best.
    Coffee around the corner from Monmouth via a Patisserie , be prepared to wait, 25 mins for a coffee, Monmouth at Borough is quicker .
    Borough Market on a Saturday, too busy, I nearly passed out.
    A great day.

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