Our Story

Handmade sourdough, baked with love in Queen’s Park.

How It All Began

Hello, I’m Fiona, the founder of, and baker at, Fred’s Breads.

I started baking sourdough bread about 2 years ago when, on the hottest day of the year, in a basement with the ovens on full blast I took a one day baking course. I thoroughly enjoyed the day but came home thinking “well, that was fun but what an enormous faff - I don’t think I’ll do that again” but…….. the next day I baked the dough I’d made and it was sour, chewy, crusty and delicious! So, the starter I’d been given was fed and, with a bit of trial and error I began to learn the art of sourdough baking. Along the way I took a few other courses to consolidate some of my learning and to find answers to the many questions that arise when you’re a new baker, More and more bread was baked, eaten and shared with friends until I decided it was time to take the next step and enrolled on a professional baking course. We baked, proofed, stretched and folded dough, studied different flours and gluten behaviour, learnt about the critical importance of temperature and ate vast quantities of bread. It was a joy and I learnt so much.

One Sunday morning back in London, I baked a big batch of loaves, sent a message to my neighbours to say there was freshly baked sourdough on offer and that was the start of Fred’s Breads!

Thank you to all the bakers who’ve generously shared their knowledge and their starters with me and to my lovely customers who make it all a pleasure!

Who’s FRED?

Hi I’m Fred! I’m a Maltipoo and the inspiration behind Fred’s Breads. I was named after two very important Freds - Frederick Chopin and Freddie Mercury and now I’ve got a bakery named after me!

FAQs

  • The order book opens at 6:00pm on Sundays and closes at 6:00pm on Wednesdays

  • Our order book opens at 6:00pm on Sunday evenings and you can order through the SHOP page on our website until 6:00pm on a Wednesday evening when the order book is closed. We’ll send you a confirmation of your order and your bread will be ready to collect on Friday afternoon between 3:00pm and 6:00pm

    When the order book is closed all products will show as sold out!

  • An Artisan loaf is a hand shaped rustic loaf. A Tin loaf is the same dough but baked in a tin - this loaf has a slightly softer crust than an Artisan loaf and is an easy shape for sandwiches. Only our large loaves can be made as Tin Loaves - the available options will be shown to you when you order

  • You can pick up your order from 16 Brooksville Avenue, Queen’s Park on Fridays between 3:00 and 6:00pm, Details will be sent in your confirmation email.

  • We’re sorry but we don’t currently offer delivery

  • All our bread is Sourdough. We always have our four favourites (Signature Sourdough, Seeded Sourdough, Cheddar & Jalapeno and Cinnamon Raisin.) on the menu plus two specials that change each week depending on the season and inspiration.

  • Our sourdough stays fresh for about 3–4 days if kept in a bread bag or wrapped in a tea towel. It also freezes beautifully— just slice it first so you can toast from frozen.

    You can also “refresh” a loaf by putting it briefly under a cold running tap and then popping it into an oven (at 180) for 10/15 minutes.