Bake Off is back on TV so time to drag out the food mixer. Can’t be bothered? No, quite right. Here are some brilliant bakeries instead.

It’s Bake Off season and boy are we ready for it this year – the reliability of great bakes (now common parlance thanks to GBBO!), good humour, and pure simple TV-shaped joy…

GBBO is – by far – my favourite show on TV and the televisual equivalent of an open fire and hearty bowl of stew on a freezing February day. It warms the cockles, so it does.

Anyway, I don’t know about you but now it’s back on the box, I’ve got a hankering for pastries and cakes with ‘a good crumb’. Here’s Muddy’s pick of the best bakeries in Berkshire.

Bakedd, Maidenhead

Make like the Bisto kid and follow your nose to the fresh goodies at Bakedd – you’ll find it in the new Chapel Arches development of Maidenhead at the bottom of the high street. An artisan bakery and café, Bakedd has a Mediterranean vibe selling the delicious fresh breads, pastries, cakes, awesome coffee and, er, wine. It’s a great spot for a light lunch or cake stop. Don’t just take our word for it, the late, great Michel Roux raved about it too.

Heidi’s Bakery, Windsor

If you’re a sucker for the sweeter side of baking, then make sure Heidi Bakery is on your radar. The OG is tucked away in Daniel Department Store, but Heidi has also opened a smaller takeaway shop in Royal Windsor Station and whizzes her bread and cakes in her blue van – the Bakemobile 001 – from Berks HQ to her other shops in Hants and Surrey. There are plenty of precision pastries standing to attention, so pop in grab a cup of thier world-famous Megharrycinno coffee and a jam roly poly – Harry Redknapp’s obsessed with them. Whatever your order, every bite is worth the calories.

Rex Artisan Bakery, Windsor

Rex Bakery is one of the most awarded independent bakeries in the UK – and has recently opened a new shop in on Peascod St in Windsor. Every loaf sold is ‘real bread’ – nothing artificial additives here – and they’re Sourdough specialists. The bakery’s founder Glenn quit his job in the City in 2021 – swapping making dough for the bank for making dough for the community. His first artisan bakery opened in Little Chalfont, but 2021 the Berks bakery opened its doors offering organic, nasty free, delicious breads, cakes, sandwiches, pastries, toasties, coffees and cookies.

Birch Bread, Pangbourne

Lucie Steel started her artisan bakery in a shipping container in her garden. How cool is that? Artisan loaves were flying out and she was running bread-making classes too. Now Birch Bread has moved out of the shipping container and can be found on Pangbourne High Street. It is a lovely bakery selling freshly made bread, pastries and cakes. For Covid-safety they are currently running a hatch service through their window. Judging by the queue snaking down the pavement, people will do whatever it takes to get their mitts on Lucie’s sourdough loaf.

Gail’s Bakery, Wokingham and Windsor

Gail’s Bakery is something of a London religion. Gail Mejia kicked off her artisan bread adventure baking for top chefs and restaurants. In 2005 she opened the first Gail’s in Hampstead, and we will soon have three Berks – Wokingham, Windsor and coming soon to The Lexicon in Bracknell. Artisan loaves, pastries and cakes are made daily and the cafés give you a little bit of the Big Smoke in Berkshire. If you haven’t tasted the famous cinnamon buns, then you must. Just don’t blame me when the scales scream stop.

Blue Orchid Bakery, Wokingham

Mary Berry would be proud. Blue Orchid Bakery in Wokingham is cake utopia. Owner Elena Jenkins started her bespoke cake biz at home in 2011, then two years’ ago, opened her café and cake studio in Wokingham’s Peach Place. The locals have been gathering like bears to honey ever since. The cakes are amazing, they do a lovely afternoon tea and with a seriously impressive number of outside tables, it has brought continental café culture to town.

Cuppies N Cream, Hartley Wintney

Commando crawl a smidge over the Hants border to Hartley Wintney and you’ll find Wokingham’s Natalie Dickinson and her gorgeous café and bakery, Cuppies N Cream. Natalie is a self-taught genius with a creative eye. So pop in and enjoy the great coffee, too tempting to share cakes and a decor so Instagrammable, you’ll never want to leave.