Bad Girl Bakery: The Cookbook

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We quizzed Jeni to find out about her circuitous route to cake-making success, her baking inspiration, and how the bakery’s breakfast muffins came to be served in First Class on the famed Caledonian Sleeper, the overnight train running between the Scottish Highlands and London. She is looking forward to the book launch in November which features over a hundred of her recipes, but she said, "I don't feel we are giving our secrets away, I've loved the process but I'm also petrified." We continue to get such a lot of support and we absolutely couldn’t have opened the business without the help from all the people we did and we are incredibly grateful,” added Jeni. Jeni Iannetta from Bad Girl Bakery has a cookery book coming out in November, with Kitchen Press, she admits to being a cook book fan owning over two hundred, "I'm obsessed with them and the fact that I have my own is just astounding like a fantasy."

Bad Girl Bakery Café and Cake Shop opened in 2017 in Muir of Ord, a village northwest of Inverness. Run by Jeni Iannetta, her husband Douglas, and a small, dedicated team, it has gained a hugely loyal local following and in 2018 was awarded a coveted Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Award, which recognises innovative businesses that help put the local area on the map.

‘We are bringing our cakes to Inverness’

I’d like to think it’s generosity. I don’t just mean the size of the portions but we think that people don’t treat themselves very often so when they do, the treat has to count so our bakes are generously filled, topped and flavoured and often have a hidden centre or another texture. That and the recipes: even the most eye-catching ones are pretty straightforward. It’s about making all the ingredients count and getting the most from the recipes without them being complex. Q: What is the single bit of advice you would give to home bakers who want to up their baking game? Pudding? That is tough. I haven't decided yet. It will generally be something chocolatey. I am not big on Christmas pudding. I love sprouts. My sister's recipe – I can't take any credit – is to boil the sprouts, fry them with some lardons, then add lemon, cream and almonds. They taste incredible. In our house they are called "Christmas sprouts". We will definitely be having some of those.

Our bakes are big, indulgent and generous. The name gently pokes fun at people who are disapproving of treats. Everyone has someone in their life who, if you reach for a sweet treat, they will say: "Oh, you bad girl …" When I started out cooking at home I was a big Nigella Lawson fan. I love the no-fuss generosity of her recipes and they always seemed to work. My friend and food hero Gillian Veal from The Parlour Café in Dundee wrote her first cookbook ten years ago and I still love it as much now. I’m an avid cookbook reader and own hundreds and read them cover to cover, so the latest one is always a favourite too!Then with a few turns of your spoon it turns into this silky, smooth and chocolatey mixture. To this day, it gives me huge pleasure watching it transform. Maybe a book was inevitable, but she tells you it came initially as a suggestion to Jeni by the Dundee-based publisher Kitchen Press. I don't think our business would have flourished the way it did anywhere else." Bad Girl Bakery Jeni with husband Douglas. Picture: Matthias Kremer Photography

The Bad Girl Muir of Ord front of house team were all able to continue working at the Inverness outlet with the production team remaining in Muir of Ord to support other parts of the business.

Bad Girl Bakery

The Muir of Ord bakery owners said they were delighted to be part of such an “exciting development” as the company continues to expand.