Maple Leaf Bakery, a home-based microbakery from Glasgow, has been named as the winner of Scotland’s Best Croissant competition.
The competition, organised by Edinburgh Butter Company, took place on October 28th at The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, where the HAVN artisan bakery in Bridge of Allan took second place, and Edinburgh restaurant with in-house bakery Patina finished third.
This top three triumphed over a strong field of competitors from across Scotland, including Jeju Baked Goods, The Culinary Kiwi Bird, Kaf Coffee, Dune Bakery, The Palmerston, Station House Bakery, Sunrise Bakehouse, Freedom Bakery, Broken Clock, Argyle Place, Le Petit Francais, Feingeback, The Fat Batard, Courie Courie, The Sheraton, Outlier and Wild Hearth.
The croissant competition’s panel of distinguished judges included Ross Sneddon, executive pastry chef at The Balmoral; Darcie Maher, owner of Lannan Bakery; Kayleigh Turner, head pastry chef at the two Michelin-starred The Glenturret Lalique; Milly Kenny-Ryder, author of ‘Britain’s Best Bakeries’; and director of Edinburgh Butter Company, Chloe Black.
Each croissant entry was carefully assessed based on shape, colour, pastry development, texture, and taste.
The owner of Maple Leaf Bakery, Rebecca Slade, said: “It means so much to me to win this competition, particularly as a small home-based bakery.
“There is so much talent and dedication to the craft among the amazing artisan bakeries we have in Scotland, which is why I’m honoured to be recognised by these incredibly skilled judges.
“I am also indebted to Edinburgh Butter Company, whose pastry butter I’ve used since the very beginning. For me, baking has always been a labour of love, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share that with others.”
“We were impressed with the extremely high standard of all the entries, but Maple Leaf’s croissant really stood out for us and we unanimously agreed that that croissant deserved the trophy,” said Chloe Black.
“We were thrilled to award Rebecca with a restaurant voucher for top Edinburgh restaurant Tipo alongside a specially commissioned trophy created by O&Co Blacksmiths. We wanted to create a special trophy for the winner to proudly display in their bakery and we are really pleased with what Olly fabricated for us.”
Kayleigh Turner added: “All of the entries were remarkable, and each bakery should take pride in their achievements. However, Maple Leaf’s croissant truly stood out as a clear favourite, receiving high scores across the board.”
The competition was supported by other sponsors including The Balmoral Hotel, Rackmaster Baking & Catering Equipment, Mark Murphy, and Blackthorn Salt, and its impressive range of entries was said to reflect the ‘strength and creativity’ within the country’s artisanal baking scene.
