FROM GRAIN - Our amazing bakers rise and shine

Over the past few years it’s felt as though every second person has been making a sourdough starter or baking their own bread. What most of us discovered is that leaving it to the professionals is a better way to go, especially in a place like the Mornington Peninsula, where extraordinary bakeries abound.

The best bakeries on the Peninsula produce an assortment of great bread, pastries and cakes, often using their own flour. The people behind these businesses not only have talent and passion, but the knowledge that not all flours and baked goods are created equal.

Jason Cotter from Tuerong Farm is one such person. At Tuerong Farm they grow, mill and bake heritage, ancient and modern grains, with other Peninsula bakeries also using their renowned flour. “The business grew naturally from an interest in growing wheat and having a local grain economy,” Jason says. “We have our own bakery now on our farm and we realised there was a huge interest in people understanding where their food comes from, and it being locally produced.”

Specialty flours have become in demand as consumers choose foods that align with their values, which may include environmental concerns, health issues, supporting local growers or simply a preference for a certain taste. “We specialise in noncommodity wheat so we've got a huge collection of wheat from around Australia and all over the world – not only new specialist types that are flavour and nutrition-based, but also older types that offer different protein profiles. We like to focus on nutritional value, ease of digestion, and most of all flavour. And we carry that through from the way we grow, what we grow, and how it is milled through to how we bake as well, so that the identity of each individual variety of grain is preserved from field to fork, so to speak. Each loaf isn't just some blend of commodity wheats; it’s actually a particular variety that has a different taste profile, digestive profile, colour etc. We're interested in that nuance outside the commodity system.”

Miller’s Bread Kitchen in Dromana and Miller’s Bread Cantina in Mornington are the mega-popular bakeries brought to life by the fascinating combination of twin sisters, a baker and a chef. The enthusiasm in co-owner Rebecca Graley’s voice is evident as she talks about their venture.

“My twin sister Vanessa and I had a lifelong dream of opening a café,” Rebecca says, “and when Vanessa married her husband Tyler, a baker by trade, we fell into this passion of opening Miller's. Our other business partner, Tommy, is one of our best friends. We all moved to Melbourne and lived overseas as well. Our favourite country is Italy; a lot of our inspiration is taken from our adventures overseas. It’s modern food but with really traditional flavours entrenched.”

They have a passion for the seasonal produce that’s used on their mouthwatering creations, including danishes and topped focaccias. “We source a lot of our produce locally,” Rebecca says. “We use flour from Tuerong Farm and we've got beautiful relationships with Torello Farm and Hawkes Farm, and we went to Simone Watts’s farm Barragunda in Cape Schanck recently and harvested lots of saltbush.”

Tucked away on Oakwood Farm you’ll find Hannah Ward, aka Mother Mary Bakes – the name was inspired by her grandmother, Mary – who runs a one-woman micro-bakery. Using the highest quality local and organic grains and ingredients wherever possible, this bakery boasts some of the best sourdough breads, handmade pastries and homemade cakes in the area.

Hannah clearly loves baking, and it shows in the quality of her products. They’re keenly sought by lovers of both savories and sweets, with such delights as decadent grainy loaves, pumpkin, feta and thyme flatbread, golden-brown oat biscuits, rye and raspberry brownies, and her signature item: irresistible cakes topped with the best-looking flowers from her garden that are perfect for special occasions.

You will find amazing bakeries dotted throughout the region, so seek them out and support them.

While life was on pandemic hold, we took great comfort in the simple pleasures – a rectangle of focaccia topped with olives and cheese, a crusty baguette, a doughnut oozing red jam, a loaf of sourdough made with specialty flours, or a feather-light croissant – and it’s all thanks to the Mornington Peninsula bakers who worked on, come grain or shine.

SARAH HALFPENNY