An honest loaf

Mount Martha resident Michelle Ball is a self-taught baker and chef by trade. Michelle and her husband Adam are well known on the Peninsula for the delectable delights they create in their business Johnny Ripe. But during COVID lockdowns, Michelle had a new calling, like many people did: to bake sourdough bread.

When it comes to cooking, Adam and Michelle are opposites. “Adam’s very methodical,” Michelle says. “I’m very creative. So when I said I was going to bake sourdough, Adam said, ‘You can’t bake bread, it’s too scientific and methodical. There are too many variables. You’re too left-field for that’. I thought, ‘Hang on, I’m gonna show you!’ ”

And show him she did. Michelle became the Main Ridge Baker, selling her beautiful sourdough loaves to Main Ridge residents and her neighbours, and then at Shoreham Market post-lockdown.

When Michelle and family moved to Mount Martha in 2022, she shut up shop as Main Ridge Baker, but then on holiday in Tasmania she stumbled across The Bruny Baker and was inspired. “The Bruny Baker has a funky vintage fridge at the end of his road. He fills it with freshly baked sourdough, and an honesty box sits next to it. I thought that’s such a cool idea.”

After her holiday, Bread Box Baker was born. And now on a Wednesday from 9.30am in Helena St, Mount Martha, sourdough-lovers can find Michelle’s handmade loaves lined up on the shelves in a repurposed vintage wooden trunk. “For me it’s very much a passion. It’s not some sort of entrepreneurial venture; I’m not wanting to bake bread for the world. I bake so I can master the art and share with people what comes from that.”

For $8 placed in the honesty box, you can take home a loaf that’s made using a mix of Tuerong Farm-grown and milled flour and high-quality white flour. As Michelle’s Instagram page bio reads: “You should be able to pronounce all the ingredients in your bread.”

You can stay up to date with Bread Box Baker’s offerings on Instagram @bread_boxbaker. And if you’re curious about The Bruny Baker, go to @thebrunybaker