I feel like being diagnosed coeliac at the end of my rent contract was a total waste of living in London for two years. My one regret is that I didn’t visit enough of the quirky, gluten-free places there are to eat in London. Despite visiting Borough Market on multiple occasions I never looked at The Free From Bakehouse twice as there were too many other delicious (not gluten-free options) on sale.
The day I left my little flat I took my mum and a friend to Borough Market for lunch, especially because I knew I could find something there without it being much hassle.
On approaching the stall the first thing I noticed was that everything looked exciting, nicely decorated and well baked. Nothing looks gluten-free or flavour-free. The prices are fair, not too high considering you are in London and in comparison to the other non-gluten-free bakery stalls the products are similar prices. Originally I wanted one of their new savoury muffins but sadly they were all out, so I opted for an ‘Oak Smoked Chedder, Leek and Potato Tart’ and a slice of their ‘Pear, Parsnip and Sea-salted Caramel Cake’.
The lady serving was very polite, apologised for not having any more savoury muffins and ensured that she picked me out the largest slice of cake and scooped the lost caramel into the plastic tray. For £2.50 the slice is huge and had plenty of salted caramel which complimented the pear beautifully. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the dried pears that are used in the cake, I found the pieces a little bit dry and made the sponge a little lumpy. However, saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the cake and can’t wait to replicate it at home (with lots and lots of extra salted caramel!).
As for the Oak Smoked Chedder, Leek and Potato Tart, leek will always be a winner for me but at £3.50 a tart I did feel this was a little overpriced as the cake was about three times the size of the tart. I re-heated my tart when I got home for dinner, but not before I placed a slice of pancetta on the top for extra flavour. The pastry was delicious and I would love to know how they make it.
Overall my experience of The Free From Bakehouse was great, there was a bit of a queue but the wait was totally worth it. It is definitely worth visiting Borough Market not matter what your dietary requirement as there is plenty of choice and a great atmosphere for any foodie! Take a look at their website, it shows you all their products and prices, alongside the places you can find their products.
Notes
I apologise for the lack of photos with this post, sadly about ten minutes before I visited Borough Market I smashed my phone! I did manage to get one lonely photo of my cake.
The Lazy Whisk 