What's on the menu for 2025

Opening a coffee shop bakery (sort of), writing a cookbook and so much more!

Hello, friends - and welcome to the first post of 2025! I hope you had a fantastic festive season.

I’ve spent the past few weeks thinking about how much life has changed since I started this little corner of the internet. We’re officially entering year 2 of Taisty Bytes - and what began as a clueless attempt to pretty much figure out how to even work the oven, quickly turned into something I love - and have so much passion for. My kitchen, once a room I avoided as much as I could, is now a space where I genuinely enjoy being.

The Prince of Naps hard at work

Without sounding too cheesy, 2024 was a year of discovering my confidence in the kitchen and as equally important - learning to trust the process. I’m pretty sure I can’t hide behind the guise of being a ‘beginner baker’ any more - but that also means that subconsciously I’ll stop holding myself back. Hopefully!

So, what’s next? Well, I’ve had a lot of ideas that have been bubbling away in the background - here are my top 5 things I will be working on and/or looking forward to this year:

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1. Welcome to beandog 👋

This year, I’m thrilled to announce that I am opening my very own imaginary coffee shop bakery! Confused? Let me explain…

So, my dream for the distant future is to one day open my own coffee shop bakery - and I thought it would be a great idea to build that dream from scratch here on Substack.

I’ve already thought of a name - beandog.

While opening a real-life bakery is still a ways off, if it ever even happens - this is where the fun begins. For me, every bakery needs three things (besides the perfect setting): amazing bakes, great drinks, and a well-thought-out menu.

Over the next few months, I’ll be testing recipes, improving my techniques, and essentially using this imaginary bakery to get everything just right. When the right time comes to launch the real thing, whether that’s a pop up or an actual shop, we’ll already have a menu of carefully curated (and practiced) bakes that feel like me. The classics will be there, of course — but I also want to create the kind of bakes that make people say, ‘Ooooh, I’ve got to try one of those!’

And of course, I’ll be asking for your input along the way! I’ll share polls where you can help decide what I should bake next, and together, we’ll figure out what works, what doesn’t and what absolutely has to make it onto the beandog menu.

With that in mind, and to get us started, one of the first items I thought of — something I’d absolutely buy with a coffee — is a rock cake. They were one of my absolute favourite parts of school dinners. I’m still not entirely sure what the difference is between a rock cake and a scone, but I do know this: they’re perfect with a brew.

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2. Cook the Books

If there’s one thing I’ve gotten really good at, it’s buying cookbooks. My collection is getting a bit out of hand at this point to be honest and as nice as they look on the shelf, I’m not making nearly enough recipes from them!

This year, I’m making it my mission to actually use them. Enter, Cook the Books. So the idea is: I’ll pick a cookbook and commit to making at least five recipes from it before I move on to the next. No skimming through, realising I don’t have all the ingredients for a certain recipe and putting it back - we’re committing, guys!

Much like the GTTBO series - I’ll report back on what I’ve made, what I learned, and what (if anything) I changed along the way. Perhaps I’ll finally get round to giving these books the attention they deserve, eh?

If you’ve got a cookbook you swear by, or one you think I have to try, let me know! I’m all for suggestions.

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3. I’m writing a cookbook?!

It’s absolute madness, I know! A self-confessed crap writer and someone who’s only just gotten the hang of baking thinking they can write an actual cookbook. But to that, I say… why bloody not?

I can’t share too much just yet — partly because I think I might actually have a pretty great idea, and I don’t want anyone nicking it! It’s something I’m really excited about, and I think you’ll love it too.

For now though, I’ll be sharing all the updates, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes chaos only with my paid subscribers. So, if you’re as curious about this as I am about creating it, now’s the time to join the club.

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Time for a coffee break

For my second bake of the week, I had a pot of yogurt and some blueberries that needed using up — so I made a Blueberry and Vanilla Yogurt Cake. It’s light, moist, and not a banana in sight! (if you know, you know 😉)

Here’s the recipe if you fancy giving it a go:

Ingredients:

• 150g yogurt

• 250g self-raising flour

• 175g caster sugar

• 75ml sunflower oil

• 3 medium eggs

• 125g fresh blueberries

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C (fan) and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, self-raising flour, caster sugar, sunflower oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

3. Gently fold in the blueberries, being careful not to squash them.

   Tip: you can roll your blueberries in some flour before folding them in to stop them sinking!

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. Push some blueberries gently on to the top.

5. Bake for 45–60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mine took about 55 mins.

6. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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4. Writer’s Weekend

Something I’m beyond excited for and feeling incredibly lucky about is that this spring, I’ll be attending a writer’s weekend hosted by the brilliant

Mark Diacono

and Diana Henry! It’s going to be a few days of hands-on workshops, incredible food and creative inspiration, all set in a beautiful manor house not too far from where I live.

As I’m planning to take Taisty Bytes more seriously this year, this feels like the perfect opportunity to sharpen my skills and learn from two of the very best in food writing. I’ve been told it’s going to be intense, immersive and potentially life changing.

I’ll admit that as someone who is painfully introverted, I’m a bit nervous! Stepping into a room full of talented writers sounds daunting. But I have a feeling this will be one of those experiences that sticks with me forever and will be the catalyst for great change.

I’ll share more about it when it happens, but expect stories, photos, and possibly a few moments of me questioning my life choices (in the best way possible).

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5. The Great Taisty Bytes Bake Off Returns!

Last year’s Bake Off challenge was, without a doubt, one of the proudest moments so far. It pushed me to grow my baking and photography skills further than I could have ever imagined in such a short space of time.

That said, I also could never have predicted that trying to make caramel would leave me wanting to rock back and forth weeping into a large glass of wine…

So stay tuned for series 2 of The Great Taisty Bytes Bake Off later this year — where I plan on attempting every challenge this time around!

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Well, that’s all from me today, friends. Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my little corner of the world - it’s good to be back :)

As always, feel free to leave a comment or just say hi. I love hearing from you!

Until next time,

Mark