There are more to modern bakeries then bread and pies
Puckles Family Bakehouse
Puckles Family Bakehouse has three locations in Ipswich. At Springfield, manager Kay Levingston swears their mud cakes are to die for. “Nobody else does them like we do. We specialise in small and large decorating cakes. We’re individual. Each day we will have different cakes in the window,” she said. “They are very dense and moist. We tell our customers to take them out of the fridge at least 10-15 minutes before they eat them to bring then back to a more neutral temperature. You don’t need a lot of our mud cakes because they are nice and rich.” They do chocolate mud, red velvet or white mud flavours. They also do two tiers in small, medium and large. “Celine Barros is our cake decorator from Portugal. She grew up in her own family bakery back home. “They look beautiful and they don’t cost as much as a traditional wedding cake,” she said.
Di..Licious
Mother daughter duo Di Avenell and Renee Hamilton own Di..Licious “We started nine years ago at the Brookwater Markets and Handmade Markets. Then we had a shop in the Old Flour Mill and now we have our pop up store on Warwick Road,“ Renee said. Loyal customers stalk their Facebook page to find out when they will be popping up next. “One of our best sellers is the Lemon..licious,” Di said. They are a double dose of lemon because they have lemon curd inside and lemon icing on top. Di love cupcakes because they are individual. “They’re little bits of yummy. You don’t have to cut them up, you don’t have to dirty a plate and knife,” she said. Customers often eat the top off first, then work their way down.
Hunter Street Bakery and Cafe
Pauline and Martin Cridland have owned the bakery, formally known as Billy Mac’s, for the past 10 years. The bakery underwent a revamp late last year and became the Hunter Street Bakery and Cafe. Hunter Street Bakery and Cafe manager Kati Brown said one of their most popular sellers was the mixed sandwich boxes. “It gives you variety, you don’t have to have one type of sandwich. “People like them because they are always fresh. We sell so many of them so they don’t sit there for hours. If we have run out, sometimes customers will wait a few minutes while we make them up.” There is one and a half sandwiches in each box, so you get 6 triangles. The flavours are: roast meat and chutney, silverside and pickles, egg and lettuce, ham cheese tomato, a salad, chicken and mayo. When Ipswich First asked Kati her favourite bakery item she had two that stood out. “It’s a toss up between them and the roast pork rolls,” she said.
Robbo’s Bakery
Robbo’s Bakery is located in both Karalee and North Ipswich. Andrew Roberts launched Robbo’s in 1993. “I don’t know if it’s just one product that keeps the customers coming back, I think it’s the combination of everything. Cakes, pies, salad bar, coffee and great staff behind the counter,” he said. But pushed to choose just one item, Andrew jumps to his mud bar cake. “We do a mud bar that is very popular,” he said. “They are great for a work meeting, because they are so convenient. “They are easy to cut up and easy to handle. They are great to take to a friends for morning tea and have a long shelf life. So you can take the left overs home and keep eating it for a few more days. And it tastes great of course.”
My Bakery Rules
Robyn and Craig Rule have been baking for Ipswich for the past 35 years at Dominique’s, formally in the Mall now in Bell Street and at My Bakery Rules in Limestone Street. “We’ve been here at My Bakery Rules for 5 years,” she said. “We make a napoleon cake which is an old time favourite. A lot of people come in and say I haven’t seen these since I was a kid.” The Rules had their first bakery at Redbank Plains, the gentleman who owned it before made them, so the Rules just kept on making them, same recipe. “We get so many comments from customers on how nice they are and how they remind customers of their childhood,” Robyn said. “It’s got pastry, mock cream, jam, sponge, jam, mock cream, icing and sprinkles on top. They’re very tasty.”
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