Meet York's Sweetest New Bakery, Heppni Bakeri
Warm, welcoming and award-nominated just two months after opening, Heppni Bakeri in York has already made an impression
Congratulations on Heppni Bakeri’s success! Tell us about your background as a baker.
I started baking in lockdown. I had a friend who ran a bakery and she needed someone to help her make coffees, stamp bags and get orders ready. I’d finished a job in the event industry and because of Covid that didn’t continue, so I just jumped in and helped for a little bit. We were only open two days per week at the time. Then she went on maternity and she said she was going to have to teach me to bake. I had to learn pretty quickly so she taught me the rough basics and after that I pretty much taught myself. I just love it.
Was opening your own place daunting?
The way I always talk about it is that a lot of people limit themselves because they think that they can’t do things. It’s one of those things where if you have the idea and you have enough energy to put behind it, I think nine times out of 10 it will work, especially if you’re passionate about it, have a reasonable following, and make tasty things like I do.
What was your vision for Heppni Bakeri?
Having been to multiple bakeries and worked in different ones, in some of them you go in and you feel like you’re not cool enough to be there. For me, the main thing was I adore pastry but I love people even more. If I can make a space that’s welcoming that’s great – I like to tell people it’s like a warm hug when you come in. If you’re up early and you’re in town, we might be the first people you speak to which is quite a big thing. I’ve noticed working in bakeries that you really get to know customers and you go through their highs and lows with them, because you see them every day and you get to see their kids growing up. There’s nothing worse than when you’re paying money for something and people don’t even seem bothered that you’re there.
Your pastries look incredible! Tell us about how you develop recipes.
I think a lot of it is trial and error. The other baker and I will have a chat at the beginning of the week and ask “what do you think of this?”. Normally we keep the classics like a croissant, a pain au chocolat, and then we’ll swap out the fruit ones and do different combinations. I have an amazing book that tells you what fruit pairs well with what herbs and we also go for whatever is in season.
We use amazing ingredients, including milk from Acorn Dairy in Darlington and Xoco Honduras chocolate which pairs really well with my pastry. I wanted to use unique suppliers, especially for dominant ingredients like that. For our coffee we use a coffee roaster called Cast Iron. There’s loads of bakeries around but it’s about having something that’s slightly different.
What’s your favourite creation?
I would have to say the Paddington, which is a cross lamination where the layers of the pastry are on top and it has a plait so it looks like a bow tie. It has homemade orange marmalade, orange frangipane and we glaze it with lemon syrup so it’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
'I like to tell people it’s like a warm hug when you come in'
What has the reception been like?
It’s been absolutely unbelievable. I initially thought, it’ll be alright because I’ve worked in enough places to know what works, but then it turned into this roaring success. I haven’t been able to stop since it opened. I’ve got a phenomenal team of people and I’ve been blown away by the number of customers.
Tell us about your aspirations for the bakery.
It’s early days still and I think the bakery as it is still has room for growth. Hopefully, we can start to do wholesale orders to hotels and cafés, and I would love to have a bakery school where you can come and learn how to make pastry. I’d love to do farmer’s markets, and I want to see the people who work here grow in their skills. I think customers know when people genuinely enjoy their jobs, and we all do.
Tell us your top places to eat in York.
Goldee’s Bagels in Shambles Market – his bagels are unbelievable. Another hidden gem there is Krep with incredible homemade fillings. Los Moros which is about four doors down from the bakery and is a North African restaurant with the most beautiful garden at the back of it. Partisan on Micklegate do incredible Persian eggs and shakshuka.
What is your ultimate easy-to-make snack?
This is really rogue but mint sauce and peas mixed together. I would die on that hill.
What advice would you give to someone starting out with a business?
Most of the comments from people you can ignore. I got told by so many people that I wasn’t ready, but as long as there’s one or two people (including yourself) who believe in you, you’ll be fine.
For more, visit instagram.com/heppnibakeri
