Derbyshire artisan baker wins Britain's Best Loaf award with bright green Japanese brioche

Miyo Aoetsu, 53, who runs the Kuma-San Bakehouse from her home in Northwood, claimed the innovation category and the overall top prize at the UK Food & Drink Show on Tuesday, April 25.

Her Brioche Japanois features white chocolate, dried fruit, crispy macaron and matcha tea which means the loaf is bright green inside.

Craft Bakers Association president Neil Woods said: “In all the years I’ve been judging, I haven’t seen anything like this before.”

The recognition adds to two golds, a silver and two bronzes at the World Bread Awards which Miyo has earned since launching the business in 2019.

She said: “I’m very happy to win this one, to have all these important bakers say this is a special bread, and for Japanese culture to be acknowledged in England.

“In Japan we use matcha a lot for cookies and cakes. I was inspired by the famous chef Sadaharu Aoki, who helped introduce it in Europe from his patisserie in Paris.”

She added: “The process took three or four months. I had to find the right sweet ingredients to balance the bitterness of the tea. The matcha is quite temperature-sensitive too. You have to be careful or it comes out brown.”

Miyo spent years learning her craft at the Forge Bakehouse in Sheffield and the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire, but her love of baking began much earlier.

Having started out as a school teacher in her home country, in 2000 she was studying for a Masters in education at the University of Manchester when she met her husband David Hampson.

His career as an IT consultant has seen them move all over the UK and Europe. After a spell in France Miyo missed the fresh bread they had feasted on so much that she decided to make her own.

She said: “It was a hobby for about ten years while I was a housewife, but people kept telling me I could do it professionally. The first award it boosted my confidence a lot. It felt like I had finally found a second career.”

Kuma-San – Japanese for teddy bear – now supplies bread each week to Ginger Butchers and the Gallery and Rutland Antiques Centre cafés in Bakewell, as well as around 30 loyal customers who put in orders each week.

Alongside the award-winning brioche, Miyo produces a range of sourdough loaves, baguettes, focaccia, custard buns and much more.

Miyo said: “The thing I enjoy most is meeting the customers. Some have become my best friends. That community feeling is wonderful – though it is challenging to finish everything in time for Saturday morning.

“My customers want lots of different things, and I try to accommodate them all with a fusion of Japanese and Western baking.

“In Japan people traditionally prefer softer bread – they are used to rice as a staple – so my pullman is very milky and good for toast. We also do a lot of sweet buns now which are very popular.

“I never thought I’d win an award like this, but now I’m thinking how to expand the business, baking more days and more varieties of bread.”

For more details, see www.kumasanbakehouse.com or @kumasanbakehouse on Instagram and Facebook.

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