As ‘Dry January’ draws to a close and New Year’s Resolutions fade into memory, a Derbyshire bakery is making a healthy lifestyle much easier by introducing its most nutritious multiseed loaf ever.
Stacey’s Bakery, which has been creating baked goods for customers in the Ilkeston region of the East Midlands since the 1940s, has worked in collaboration with Grantham-based company, Bespoke Blending, to produce a sugar-free recipe – and David Stacey, managing director and great grandson of the bakery’s founder, is really excited about the result…
He said: “The taste and colour of our new multispeed blend comes not from caramelised sugar, like most seeded loaves, but from natural malt. That makes it both healthier and tastier than virtually any other seeded bread out there.”
Seeded loaves have been popular for around 15 years, thanks in part to the rise of the Low GI (Glycemic Index) Diet. But adding sugar increases the GI, resulting in rapid spikes in blood glucose levels, instead of allowing the bread to release its energy in a more gradual and productive way.
As a result, most seeded loaves don’t have the health benefits most people imagine. But with the new recipe, David is keen to give his customers a loaf that is every bit as honest as it is tasty.
He said: “Everyone tends to get their bread mixes from the same major suppliers so the fact that we’ve been working with a smaller, more niche family company has enabled us to have a direct influence on the profile of the mix.
“In place of the obvious sweetness of sugar, you get a subtle, nutty sweetness from the wheat bran, alongside a gorgeous earthy malt flavour. It’s also a slightly darker loaf, with a more rustic feel that people love.”
There are some extra health benefits to the new loaf too. In addition to jumbo oats, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, the wheat bran promotes the growth of good bacteria; and milled flax seeds enable the body to absorb their nutrients instead of trapping them inside their shells.
However, David is keen to stress that he’s not about to become a crusader for public health.
He said: “As a traditional bakery with a wide range of cakes, tarts, pies and pastries, we’re not in the business of forcing people to be healthy. We’re in the business of giving them great tasting baked goods – and with its delicious new recipe, our multiseed loaf is something the public can trust as well as love.”
Stacey’s new multiseed bread is available now at £1.22 per loaf.
For more information, visit www.staceys-bakery.co.uk
