Best eco-friendly bakeries in North London

Here we continue our series on London’s best bakeries, each chosen for their commitment to sustainability – caring for our planet (and, as a byproduct, our health). This week, we’re shining light on North London’s finest fluffy treats – who not only use minimal processes, cut their plastic use and source locally where possible, but serve up the crème de la crème of pastries, tarts and the other magnificent oven-born goods of this world.

Sourdough Sophia, Crouch End

Sourdough Sophia (credit: Liam DeBois)

Revitalising a stale product is a pretty strong business model, and we could say that’s exactly what Sophia Handschuh – the brains (and hands) behind Sourdough Sophia – set out to do. Handschuh wanted to take baking back to basics without all the fluff of additives and chemicals typically found on our supermarket shelves – and baked bread for locals from her kitchen.

Her goal was to revolutionise bread consumption, which turns out to be quite simple – as all that’s needed is water, flour and salt. Conventional wheat farming is particularly damaging for soil health, and without drastic change in how we produce and consume bread, we’re well on our way to eliminating the world’s topsoil. Recognising this environmental toll, as well as using less than a handful of ingredients, Sourdough Sophia ensures all its flour is sustainably sourced.

The micro bakery in Crouch End may be a small spot, but its influence looms much larger. As Handschuh’s baking garnered increasing attention from hungry locals seeking out wholesome hits of baked goods, the bakehouse is taking North London by storm, opening in Islington, Highgate and just recently Hampstead.

If you happen to be north of the river, her bread can be delivered directly to your doorstep, but if not, one of Sourdough Sophia’s doughy croissants after a stroll on the Heath is worth making that journey for.

Quince Bakery, Islington

The bakery is named after the uniquely shaped and scented yellow fruit

Anna Higham, the award-winning Scottish pastry chef and runner of the pastry section at London’s beloved The River Café, named her small neighbourhood bakery in Islington Quince for several reasons. The hard, aromatic, pear-shaped fruit is her favourite and to her, embodies British food heritage perfectly, which she dubs as “slightly old-fashioned and individual.”

With a firm belief in independent bakeries being a “small, affordable luxury” that can be “magic” when regular customers feel known and chitchat in the queue, core to Higham’s vision is a bakery centred around community. She describes the “perfuming and inviting” fresh smell in the morning from crates of quince as more than a pleasantry – it inspires the warm and welcoming atmosphere that’s so important to the way her bakery is run.

Close relationships move beyond the confines of the bakery itself, with Higham and the team spending time getting to know Quince’s producers. The bakery drafts up a new menu each week based around seasonal availability and the team’s relationships in the field.

Staying loyal to British goods through-and-through, it’s all about buns, scones and pies here, rather than viennoiserie croissants. Each finished item is fully traceable, from the flour milled on their New American Stonemill in Somerset to their British farmers practising agro-ecological and organic methods.

Fink's Salt and Sweet, Finsbury Park

We definitely leant towards the sweet side at Fink’s Salt and Sweet

A couple running a deli of exceptional coffee, celebration cakes and cult-worthy sandwiches sounds like a romance dream. But in the humble surroundings of Finsbury Park, that’s exactly what Jess Blackstone and Matt Appleton set into reality nine years ago after quitting jobs in the city.

Now in four locations, Fink's Salt and Sweet is something of a cult special – with locals popping by for a caffeine fix or to pick up some natural wine or organic deli bites. While the coffee alone is something to write home about, there are exceptional daily sandwiches, salads and cakes made from scratch.

The thoughtfully curated deli is committed to supporting local suppliers, including Scenery Coffee Roasters, Wildfarmed, and Natoora, while pastries and breads come down the road from Caravan Coffee Roasters and Dusty Knuckle. The bakery most recently spread its wings to Clissold Park: this isn’t an offering Stoke Newington’s café culture would want to miss.

For those with a special occasion coming up, the bakehouse can create your very own large celebration cake or cupcakes – using only what’s in season with fruit from their local suppliers and decorated with non-toxic flowers or fruit. Flavours throughout the year include roasted rhubarb, fresh raspberry, roasted apricot, poached quince, roasted plum, or fresh strawberry or loganberry.

We’ll be back soon with the best bakeries acting with our future in mind in West and South London. And if you missed East London’s top eco spots, you can catch up here.