Cooking the Books

BaxterStorey’s new training tool sees sales soar

Following the success of Butter Wouldn’t Melt, Phill Skinazi and Annie Herriott from BaxterStorey’s food development team have created The Modern Baker, a recipe book celebrating the best of baking in the 21st century. The book has been introduced to chefs as a new training tool and the ofering has seen sales increase by as much as 30% at some BaxterStorey cafes and restaurants. The 80 new recipes have been made available throughout BaxterStorey locations across the UK and Ireland estate to inspire chefs to expand their repertoire with a selection of unique sweet and savoury bakes that will excite customers. The book guides you through the day to ofer customers treats that will entice from breakfast through to supper. It combines modern classics with unusual and exciting favour combinations such as breakfast mufns favoured with HP sauce, beer and pretzel cupcakes, and green tea pancakes with red bean paste. It is giving BaxterStorey customers a range of new choices that rival the high street. Phill Skinazi, executive pastry chef at BaxterStorey, said: “The feedback from our cafes and restaurants after the frst book was fantastic. With the second book we looked to include more technical tips on things like understanding diferent fours and raising agents and bespoke costings. This ensures our

smaller, multi-skilled teams who don’t have a dedicated pastry chef can create adventurous bakes easily.” BaxterStorey locations using the book as part of their café display have experienced better interaction with customers who enjoy ficking through the recipes before making their purchase choice. Annie Herriott, part of the food development team at BaxterStorey, said: “Alongside The Modern Baker we created a style guide. This has helped to build confdence when it comes to displaying and styling counters, helping our teams to better market their products.”