The Afternoon Tea Club Reviews: Gluten Free Afternoon Tea!

This week The Afternoon Tea Club was invited to sample some products from Warburtons Newburn Bakehouse - the home of Warburtons fantastic new Free From range. We thought what better way to do so than to create a very special, gluten and wheat free afternoon tea!



Gluten Free Afternoon Tea

We received a generous sample box from Warburtons' wheat and gluten free bakery, which aims to produce Free From products that taste just as good as those created in the Core Bakery. We were very excited to get our hands on this tasty lot: White Sliced Loaf, Brown Sliced Loaf, Spiced Fruit Loaf, Large Seeded Loaf, White Baguettes, Lemon and Poppy Seed muffins, Blueberry and Cranberry Muffins and Fruity Teacakes.

Here's what we thought!

Fresh Bread



Afternoon Tea has to make a great first impression. It must look good and get off to a good start with a tasty selection of fresh breads to create the perfect finger sandwiches. We put the Newburn Bakehouse loaves to the test with some of our favourite sandwich fillings and we were very pleased with the results!

The Sliced White Loaf was really soft and made for a wonderful substitute to a traditional white loaf. It was a good size and thickness too, which means it would be ideal to toast without the worry of getting lost in the toaster! Same goes for the Sliced Brown Loaf - almost incomparable and although the colour was a little bolder than perhaps standard brown bread, the taste was really wholesome and fresh.

By far the most interesting loaf we received was the Spiced Fruit Loaf. Absolutely packed with raisins and sultanas, this loaf has enough flavour to go solo without any classic fillings. The spicy infusions gave it a real kick that wasn't too overpowering and the texture was a real feat - just a lovely, juicy treat.

Fruit Teacakes

Up next, we thought we would give this afternoon tea a bit of a twist by utilising our Fruity Teacakes and giving them pride of place on our middle tier - and rightly so! These fruity nibbles are just the right size and the aroma when toasted is absolutely mouthwatering. With a dollop of butter, these are the perfect companion for an afternoon cuppa and they're positively bursting with currants and sultanas. We would love to wake up to these in the morning!

Blueberry and Cranberry Muffins

And finally, and possibly the bit we were looking forward to the most, the muffins. We were treated to both Lemon and Poppy Seed and Blueberry and Cranberry flavours. Both were absolutely full of flavour, especially the Blueberry and Cranberry which oozed taste from both of its distinctive fruits. The muffins are a really great size too making them perfect for a fruity snack to go with your coffee break.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover just how similar these gluten and wheat free products were to normal bakery products. There is a common belief that Free From products never quite match up to their peers but this new range definitely proves otherwise.

Overall - a scrumptious alternative to traditional afternoon tea!

For more information, check out our interview with Chris Hook, Managing Director at the Newburn Bakehouse here or to find out where to buy go to: www.newburnbakehouse.com

Interview: Chris Hook, Warburtons' Newburn Bakehouse

Warburtons recently invited a group of hungry bloggers to their very own Newburn Bakehouse in Newcastle - home of their fantastic Free From range. We caught up the Chris Hook, Managing Director at the Newburn Bakehouse to talk about their exciting new range, donuts and of course, afternoon tea!

ATC: Why did Warburtons revamp and rebrand their Free From range – how has it been received?

CH: We launched the new brand Newburn Bakehouse, to give it its own identity – which is good because it offers a lot more stand out value on the shelf. We did a lot of market research before we even launched which proved that Warbutons needed a sub-brand.

What we’re doing is improving the recipes. Warburtons launched the range in 2011 and it wasn’t as ideal as they wanted it to be – so we spent a fair amount of time getting the recipes up to a level which was more acceptable. The improvement programme continues – we never really stop.

What new products are being launched by the Newburn Bakehouse?

Some of the new products that we’re launching include; a white baguette, 600g seeded loaf and also a golden syrup and mixed fruit muffin – which we’re calling a morning muffin.

It’s interesting because people were saying what they would really like is a larger sliced loaf that doesn’t get lost in the toaster! And when we first showed it, it was a bit of a Blue Peter ‘Here’s one we made earlier’ moment, as the 600g loaf is just like a normal loaf of bread.

It’s exciting and it’s challenging. When you start out, you look for what the gaps in the market are but you also look for what consumers are looking for.

The real challenge is trying to translate those ideas and concepts into real products – that’s when the real hard work starts.

Can any bakery product be made gluten free or are there some things that just don’t work?

Most things are doable but some are more challenging than others. One thing that’s been asked for a number of times is a donut. And doing a donut is doable but because it’s a fresh product you have to eat it within a day and that’s a real challenge. Those are the areas that are challenging and we try to find ways around that.

What does the new brand stand for?

We are trying to benchmark our products not just against other competitors but also against what our colleagues bake in what we call, the ‘core bakery’ - so the normal Warburtons products.  Our aspiration is to make them taste as good as they do in the core bakery and also appear, look, taste and feel like the real product.

There are products even in our range now that I would challenge anyone to say are gluten free. For example the muffins and spiced fruit loaf. I know people who eat the Newburn Bakehouse spiced fruit loaf out of choice because they like the taste.

What is your favourite product from the new Free From range?

I think the baguettes are fantastic and a close second would be the seeded loaf. I took that one home whilst we were developing it. I’ve got 6 children and my oldest son is wheat intolerant. I just slipped it in and nobody could tell the difference.  



And finally, are you a fan of afternoon tea?

I’m a great fan of afternoon tea. I’m a fan of tea and cake and also toasted tea cakes! I’ve just had one of our gluten free tea cakes actually.

My favourite part of afternoon tea would have to be the selection of little cakes, especially those in hotels!

Any favourite afternoon tea places?

Probably the Grosvenor in Chester and also Bettys – they’re fantastic in there.

We'll have to check that one out! For all the latest updates on Warburtons Newburn Bakehouse be sure to follow @WarbsNewburnBH on Twitter and make sure you check back with us when we sample and give our verdict on their brand new range!