Croissants, buns and tarts from the oven, from £2.90
Pastries and buns
Butter croissants laminated the afternoon before, pain au chocolat, almond croissants from yesterday's, cardamom and cinnamon buns at eight, and a custard tart that sells out by eleven.
The pastries are laminated by Rhys every afternoon with Carmarthenshire butter, proved overnight, and baked in rounds from seven so that the counter has warm ones until about eleven. We make a fixed number and when they are gone they are gone, which is the honest way to bake with butter.
The croissant is the test of a bakery: a plain one should be crisp enough to shatter and soft enough to tear, and should taste of butter and nothing else. Ours use a 27-layer lamination and bake for eighteen minutes in the second oven, which runs cooler than the bread oven. Pain au chocolat uses a dark Welsh-made chocolate baton; the almond croissant is yesterday's plain croissant filled with frangipane and baked again, which is what the almond croissant was always for.
The buns are Scandinavian rather than French: a cardamom dough, knotted, baked at eight and glazed as they come out. The cinnamon version is the same dough rolled. The custard tart is a Portuguese-style one on puff, twelve a day, usually gone by eleven. Fridays bring a seasonal Danish: rhubarb in spring, plum in September, apple in the cold months.
The short version
- Laminated by hand every afternoon
- Carmarthenshire butter, Welsh chocolate
- Rounds from 7 until about 11
- Cardamom and cinnamon buns at 8
- Boxes of six, any mix, £17
- Order a dozen or more by 3pm the day before
Prices and when
Croissant £2.90, pain au chocolat £3.20, almond croissant £3.60, cardamom bun £3.40, custard tart £3.80. Boxes of six, any mix, £17. Prices include VAT where it applies. Everything we bake, with prices, is on the what we bake page, the cakes on the cakes page, and the wholesale price list on the wholesale page.
Questions about pastries
Do you have vegan pastries?
Two: a vegan cinnamon bun made with oat butter, and the seasonal Danish is vegan when the fruit allows. Croissants are butter; a vegan croissant made with margarine is not something we want our name on.
Can I order pastries for a meeting?
Yes, by 3pm the day before, for collection from 8am. Boxes of six are £17, a dozen £32, and a mixed platter for twenty with fruit is £55. We deliver within Llandaff and Pontcanna for orders over £40.
What time do they sell out?
Croissants usually last until eleven on weekdays and ten on Saturdays; the custard tarts go first. If you want a particular thing after ten, ring and we will keep it back.
Come in early, or order ahead.
Sourdough and croissants on the counter from half past seven, Welsh cakes on the bakestone, cakes to order with three weeks' notice, and wholesale to twenty-six cafés with the price list online. Ring, or use the form; a person replies within a working day.