Pollen Bakery is a very short walk from Manchester's Piccadilly station, but it's hidden away in a railway arch:
so I'm very grateful for Deanna Thomas, who wrote a great post in Manchester Confidential, for alerting me to this lovely bakery. Word has evidently already got out though, as there's normally a bit a queue of people wanting to try their sourdough and Viennoiserie!
It's run by Hannah Calvert and Chris Kelly:
Both gave up jobs in banking, to become bakers - as they have a passion for making the best bread they can. All their bread is sourdough, made with just flour, water and salt and naturally occurring yeast from their sourdough culture.
I tried their Oat Porridge variety:
and can't wait to try their Five Seed, and Pollen Rye varieties:
The bread is pleasantly chewy and sustains you for longer. Their breads have a much lower glycemic index than the factory breads, which most people consume. As a result eating sourdough bread results in a gradual increase in blood sugar levels, rather than a spike, which is much better for your health (and avoids the mood swings you can get with highly refined carbohydrates).
Their croissants take four days to make (from start to finish) so you'll find they have a better texture and more flavour.
Other items include Cinnamon Morning Buns, Pain aux Raisin. They also do Cruffins - a croissant dough rolled up and baked in muffin tins, and then filled with a flavoured pastry cream or curd.
They are currently open Wednesday to Saturday, and they do extra items on Saturdays - like these Lemon Meringue Pie Cruffins:
Pollen Bakery
2 Sheffield Street
Manchester
M1 2ND
Tel: 0161 273 3171
Since writing this review Pollen bakery have moved. Their new address is:
Cotton Field Wharf
8 New Union Street
Manchester
M4 6FQ
Web: www.pollenbakery.com
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