Autumn 24

BURNT HONEY BAKERY, COPACABANA
A taste of heaven, and an artisan baker with heart.

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Burnt Honey is a community bakery in Copacabana that’s making (delicious) waves in a quiet, sleepy corner of the Coast.

Here you’ll find the likes of honey jumbles, buttered rum cake, custard and mango turnovers, and double-choc salted-caramel croissants! But as they like to change things up, you might find a lemon and violet meringue tart one day and a vanilla slice the next. And that’s why we love it.

Hayley Thorncraft is the co-owner–baker, and her experience reads as a who’s-who of the bakery world. She’s floured benches at BlackStar Pastry in Sydney, at Honey & Co in London and at Dominique Ansel’s bakery, whose owner was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017.  

Hayley bakes everything on site from scratch using staples that have been sourced for their flavour, ethics and traceability.

‘What is particularly special about our breads is the use of fresh-milled flour,’ says Hayley. ‘Our wholegrain is fresh-milled in Seaforth so our breads are a lot more flavourful and contain a lot more nutrition than your average loaf.’

She also bakes sourdough, Israeli Bread (think a soft bagel with a sesame crust), and a Mountain Bread packed with pepitas, sesame seeds, almonds, oats, sunflower seeds and linseeds.

Hayley’s partner and co-owner Jo Fairall is a phenomenal front-of-house manager and barista. She sources her coffee from Little Italy, her milk from Little Big Dairy (a single-source farm in Dubbo), and has ditched paper takeaway cups for bespoke handmade Claycups, which you can keep or return for your deposit. 

And why the name, ‘Burnt Honey’?

‘I’d been trying to develop a recipe for some gorgeous burnt honey cookies for about 12 months,’ says Hayley. ‘It became a little obsession of mine. I just love burnt honey — the flavour, the golden colour — it’s so rich. So one day I just said to Jo, “that’s our name”.’

We defy you not to be able to resist their namesake cookies. The sweetness and bitterness of burnt honey, salted almonds and choc chips blend and balance into something very close to heavenly.

Burnt Honey Bakery: Shop 1, 224 Del Monte Pl, Copacabana; https://www.burnthoneybakery.com.au

WORDS KATIE STOKES. PHOTOS JACS POWELL.

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