Country Gentleman's Association magazine, December 2011

THE BEES KNEES

Nestled deep in the Dorset countryside, the small hands-on team at Honeybuns has wowed food critics and customers alike with their range of cakes & savouries. Using impeccably sourced ingredients, this little company create gorgeous tasting treats. Over half the range has won Gold at the prestigious National Great Taste Awards.

Emma Goss-Custard started Honeybuns in 1998 when she was a student in Oxford. Trying to find a way to make some extra money, she used recipes handed down from her mother and grandmother and set about making cakes to supply to local businesses and café’s. All the cakes were lovingly made in the kitchen at her digs and then delivered by Em on an old post office bicycle. The company relocated to Naish Farm in Dorset in 2001 to a listed farm with outbuildings, which have been sympathetically adapted from their dairy days to now house the bakery.

Em is passionate in her pursuit of excellence and as much as possible will only use locally sourced ingredients. All the cakes are still hand made the old fashioned way by her dedicated team and slow baked in their vintage oven.

All but two of the range of cakes is gluten free and four of them dairy free, using alternatives to flour such as polenta and ground nuts, making them suitable across a range of dietary needs. Coeliac customers are completely thrilled to be able to enjoy otherwise forbidden goodies such as cakes and brownies.

Honeybuns is not just concerned with baking beautifully crafted cakes however. The company is also dedicated to leaving as light a footprint as possible upon its surroundings. The 5 acres surrounding the bakery is now managed as a nature reserve. The cake board inserts use card from a sustainable source, are printed with vegetable based inks and are recyclable. All packaging cardboard is sold to a local recycle company. Other activities include running a community café ‘The Bee Shack’ and looking after a selection of rescue animals.

For a Christmas treat try their innovative 'Tea Party in a Purse', perfect as a stocking filler, a moment of indulgence to share before the day ahead; it's natural natural linen purse packed with two scrumptious mini Honeybuns and two individually wrapped tea bags from Dorset Teas, prettily complemented with a paper doily!

Honeybuns can be found in most National Trust, John Lewis and Sainsbury's cafes, as well as other major supermarket cafes and countless discerning tearooms. However, the Honeybuns on-line shop makes their products accessible to everyone. There's a 10% discount exclusively for CGA members using the shop at www.honeybuns.co.uk/shop. Simply enter the discount code CGADISC at the checkout. Valid until 31st December.