CONGRATULATIONS to Rise and Co Craft Bakery and Kitchen, which won two silver and one bronze award at this year’s Perth Royal Show.
Rise and Co, which has only been open for just over a year, creates artisan breads that are handmade at the Bussell Highway location.
The bakery’s 24-hour white loaf and white sourdough received silver medals at the show, while its chunky steak pie got bronze.
Rise and Co co-owner Becca Hughes said all of Rise and Co’s breads were made using dough that has been rested for 24 hours before baking.
“The dough is made from about three o’clock in the morning,” Ms Hughes said.
“It is put into plastic containers where it is slowly folded over about a six hour process – that is how you get the volume in the dough.
“It is then cut into weights and shaped, and then we put it into bamboo baskets to give it a beautiful imprint on the loaf, before it is taken to set in the cool room for 24 hours.”
The next day the bread is proofed and then the baker puts the loaves into Rise and Co’s stone oven, which was imported from Europe.
“I think it is something ridiculous like 150 tonnes,” Ms Hughes said.
“We had a local company come and let us borrow their tractor, they actually came and helped us move it into the building – it was insane, I can’t even believe we managed to fit it, it was a monstrous thing.
“All of the bread is put into this stone-baked oven and cooked on the stone, so you get a lot more flavour through the bread.”
Ms Hughes said their sourdough bread, like all sourdoughs, was made using a starter.
“They say the longer you have your starter for, the more flavour you get in your bread, so it ages like a wine.
“The one we have got is actually 15 years old.”
The chunky steak pie is made using locally sourced meat, which is marinated in a gravy made up of honey, wine, garlic, balsamic, barbecue sauce, tomato paste, sea salt, cracked pepper and some mixed herbs.
This was the first year the bakery entered its breads and pastries into the Perth Royal Show.
“I knew our product was a good product but I did not know how good until we got the awards,” Ms Hughes said.
“It could not have been possible without the amazing Busselton community that we really feel a big part of, and loyal customers we have met since opening.”
The bakery’s loyal customers, Hodge Podge (the bakery’s sister store) manager and Rise and Co steak pie creator Lauren O’Farrell said, was a diverse lot.
“We get all of the policemen in, the ambulance drivers, the firemen,” Ms O’Farrell said.
“All the ambulance officers are at Hodge every Thursday so much so that someone put on Facebook ‘Oh my gosh, I think something happened at Hodge Podge, there’s like four ambulances there’.
“I was like, ‘no they just really like the coffee and the bread!’”
Along with Busselton’s emergency services, the duo say everyone from Nan to bubs and mums are welcome at the two cafes.
For more information visit riseandco.com.au and hodgepodge.com.au.
