What is Little Eye Bakery?

The Bakery

Launched in 2010 at the first Hoylake Food Fair in Wirral, to meet and stimulate demand for local, high quality craft breads, Little Eye Bakery is a micro-business which produces a range of sourdough loaves for direct customers, West Kirby and Hoylake farmers’ markets and local outlets such as Whitmoew & White Food Hall in Heswall. 

Why Little Eye?

Little Eye is a local island in the Dee Estuary - our bakery is also small and local, but we also keep our little eye on the wider worlds of  yeasts and bacteria, economies and the eating habits of people today. We keep it simple, and concentrate on harnessing natural processes for healthy foods. And we have a lot of fun amidst the demands of the deadlines.

Why do we make bread?

Making bread is a wonderfully simple and  satisfying activity - so many different shapes and sizes and techniques. Baking at home can be one of the centres of your life. Little Eye promotes the slow food approach, bringing together ancient and modern breads  - working with wild yeast starters, slow fermentation techniques, hand-kneading, and organic and local sourcing. We use no preservatives or artificial additives.

Who are we?

Malcolm Williams is the baker (and also does the admin and the washing up!). He has 25 years baking and cookery experience (including pioneering London sourdough bakery Natural Rise in the 80s, a contrasting 6 month stint on the night shift at Mother's Pride factory in his younger days, and baking for family and friends). He is not hampered by a professional catering or chef training background.

He works largely from home, making a variety of hand-moulded and tinned breads. He also cooks in wood-burning ovens, and on naked flame, serving up pizzas and chapattis for  outdoor parties.

His wife Deborah has also been home baking for 20 years - she works on our courses and at food fairs. She is also inspired by her father who was a master baker in Wiltshire.

Little Eye brings the experience of locally, traditionally-made sourdough breads – with excellent flavour, vitality and lasting qualities - to wider  Merseyside and Northwest audiences.
We love innovating, so expect new products from us in the shops and at local food fairs. 

And also

We want people to be confident to bake in their own kitchen, using our simple recipes, and making bread-making a natural part of their lives, so we have set up a series of classes described on other pages in this blog.
We also give our time and experience to local projects - we are involved in running a local farmers' market, and working with children at a local school to grow wheat, mill it and make bread.