A Derbyshire family bakery has taken inspiration from a top London hotel with the introduction of a new range of crumble-topped fruit pies.
Having introduced its first rhubarb crumble pie in the spring of 2019, Stacey’s Bakery, which has branches in Ilkeston, Eastwood and Heanor, has added three new flavours to its range.
In addition to the original rhubarb crumble pie, customers can now enjoy apple and cinnamon, red cherry and strawberry versions - and, having consulted his fellow bakers at Stacey’s HQ in Ilkeston’s South Street, David Stacey, MD and Great Grandson of the bakery’s founder, is confident that the new pies will sell in big numbers.
He said: “It all started back in March when I was speaking to one of the bakers here at Stacey’s. He used to work at a very fancy hotel in London where stars like Tom Cruise might stay and where rooms for the night could cost well in excess of £10,000.”
“He said one of the things that used to sell really well was a simple rhubarb tart with a crumble topping, so we thought we’d give it a go and the results since then have been amazing.”
The bakery, which bakes and decorates everything by hand to recipes that have been in the family for generations, says sales of its mini crumbles have outstripped its traditional fruit pies by around four to one. One of the reasons its customers keep coming back is that they want something more interesting than supermarkets can provide, so expanding the crumble range seemed like a very natural move to David.
He said: “Aside from the crumble top, the big difference is the fact that these crumbles are a bit more decadent. For instance, while our traditional strawberry pie filling uses a two-third apple base, the crumble pies use a 100% strawberry filling. That makes these crumbles just that bit more special and I’m sure our customers are going to love them.”
As for the price, David is confident that his new crumbles offer great value for money: “These crumbles might be inspired by London’s best hotels but we know who we are and what we do.
“Our customers come to us because they want a special treat from an authentic family baker, so we’re trying to give them something back by pricing our crumbles at just 50p. I reckon that’s pretty good value for a taste of the high life!”
For more information, visit www.staceys-bakery.co.uk
