Aries Bakehouse
Bakery · Brixton ·
Giant 6oz cookies, Jamaican Rum Cake, seasonal specials
Giant 6oz cookies, Jamaican Rum Cake, seasonal specials
"This year, Aries Bakehouse will offer two types of Galette des Rois from its base on Brixton’s Acre Lane. A traditional almond frangipane galette is distinguished by a handsome shell of fantastically crisp pastry, that disperses into buttery shrapnel at the lightest touch. An orange and hazelnut version, meanwhile, fills inverted puff pastry made with spelt with a richly textured hazelnut beurre noisette frangipane. These will be available whole or by the slice throughout January from Saturday 7th — a day after the traditional Epiphany — when Aries Bakehouse reopens for 2023." - Emma Louise Pudge
"At Aries Bakehouse on Brixton’s Acre Lane, cookies are favoured as vehicle for creativity and experimentation. At any given time, there can be as many as six flavours available, ranging from a crowd-pleasing dark chocolate and crispy M&Ms cookie, to a birthday cake cookie made with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate,. Each cookie is a mighty 6oz beast, baked in muffin tins that prevent the dough from spreading. The mixture instead rises up, writhing and ripping to create thick, craggy cookies with a strong, walled crust and a sunken, squidgy centre housing all manner of playful additions." - Emma Louise Pudge
"Aries Bakehouse on Brixton’s Acre Lane is a community-based bakery founded by Jackie McKinson. Jackie was born to parents of Jamaican heritage and raised in Brixton, and Aries Bakehouse occupies what used to be her mum’s sweet shop in the 80s. Her Jamaican Rum Cake is aged in rum and family history — an adaptation of a recipe written on the back of a postcard from her paternal grandmother, which Jackie’s father brought back from one of his many trips to Jamaica in the late 70s. Her grandmother used to soak pounds of vine fruits for a minimum of 12 months in copious amounts of Wray and Nephew rum, which would be pulverised into a smooth paste lending the cake it’s distinctively moist texture and decadently boozy flavour. Whilst Jackie was tweaked the original recipe, it remains faithful in this respect: a blend of slowly aged booze soaked fruits, nostalgia and longing, contributing equally to what makes this cake so good. It regularly features on the counter at the bakery where it is available by the slice, however Jackie has also made this cake as a bespoke six tier wedding cake." - Emma Louise Pudge
"The queue of people eagerly waiting to fill their baskets with delicious treats from Aries Bakehouse could easily make it look like the trick-or-treaters had got their dates wrong. The community-based bakery on Brixton’s Acre Lane founded by Jackie McKinson, born to parents of Jamaican heritage and raised in Brixton, occupies what used to be her mum’s sweet shop in the 1980s. It is now home to some of the best bread and pastries in London — with a reputation for dazzling seasonal and weekend specials. A deep-filled pumpkin pie made with roasted crown prince squash grown by McKinson’s father and intensely sweet Delica pumpkin puree makes an annual return: Riotously flaky crust giving way to a flavour-packed, custardy filling. There is also a pumpkin spice loaf cake with maple cream cheese frosting — moist but not spineless with a crumb that retains some textural intrigue. Pumpkin bagels resemble lifebuoy rings, bright orange with pumpkin flesh and topped with toasted seeds, and in a city where truly great bagels are few and far between, these certainly feel like a lifeline." - Emma Louise Pudge
"Reusable cotton 'bag for life' printed with the bakehouse’s signature ram — practical, eco‑friendly merch for regulars of artisanal baked goods." - Lucas Oakeley
Siobhán G.
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Alice P.
Ale U.
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Don D.
Kate K.
Lubna S.