Pollen Bakery

Pollen Bakery is a sourdough and viennoiserie bakery based in a railway arch underneath Manchester’s Piccadilly Station. Owners and bakers Hannah Calvert and Chris Kelly decided to leave their jobs and embark on bringing great bread to central Manchester, opening up Pollen in 2016 after five years perfecting the art at home. A few months after opening Pollen was name-checked in The Sunday Times ’30 best bakeries in the UK’ and a quick visit reveals why. The staple bread at Pollen is sourdough, made with naturally occurring yeast from their sourdough culture and only three ingredients are used in the base of the dough; flour, water and salt. Pollen have some delightful variations on their essential sourdough such as oat porridge and rye and it is unquestionably the best bread you can find in the city centre; however their talent doesn’t stop there. Pollen also specialise in viennoiserie, making croissants, pain au chocolat, Danish pastries and Cruffins, daily. Yes your read correctly, their very own Cruffin - croissant dough, rolled up and baked in muffin tins, then filled with a flavoured cream or curd. These handfuls of flaky beauty are worth the visit alone!

Bisous Bisous

Residing in Didsbury Village, Bisous Bisous is a beacon for the finest French patisserie in South Manchester – owned by the Moreau’s, Manchester’s celebrated culinary family who also run French fine dining restaurant 63 Degrees in the Northern Quarter. Opened by Alex Moreau and Kirsty McAlpine, Bisous Bisous stems from their love of good food and a passion for baking. Their philosophy lies in preserving the art of French pastry; providing a truly authentic product made the traditional way, by hand. Within the shop you will find freshly made products every day, comprising: brioche and baguettes, pain au chocolat, macarons, mille-feuille and ganache among plenty of other Gallic favourites.

Hey Little Cupcake!

At the edge of Spinningfields on Little Quay Street, sits Hey Little Cupcake, a cute cupcake boutique created by Sarah Wilson. Sarah started out baking in her home kitchen and in 2010 Hey Little Cupcake! opened a temporary pop-up shop in Spinningfields; the pop-up shop was such a success that Spinningfields became the permanent home for Hey Little Cupcake! in February 2011. Cupcakes, cake-pops and brownies are freshly baked on site daily, yet imaginatively decorated cupcakes are the speciality here and flavours range from strawberry cheesecake to Irish cream. The space is bright and quirky with a retro feel and on the weekends you can indulge in afternoon tea; if you can’t make it to Spinningfields they also have concession stands in Selfridges Manchester city centre and the Trafford Centre stores.

Slattery

Slattery is an award winning confectioners and chocolatiers situated in Whitefield, Bury. This family company has almost 200 years combined knowledge and expertise in creating hand-made chocolates, tortes, tarts, pastries, and intricate wedding cakes. Located in an imposing, three storey Victorian building which includes a wedding cake showroom and a shop where you can watch the chocolatiers and cake decorators at work, creating the latest bespoke creation. Also on the first floor is Masons, a busy dining room serving meals from breakfast to dinner with the usual cakes and chocolate on offer too.

MilkJam

Take three of Manchester’s supreme artisan dessert makers and fuse them together in the city’s first dessert bar and what you get is MilkJam, a trifecta of all things yummy and sweet. Ginger’s Comfort Emporium owner and ice cream virtuoso Claire Kelsey, Bakeorama’s Charlotte O’Toole, and Lushbrownies Nicky Griffiths have taken over a space on Oxford Street which is guaranteed to fulfil all of your gluttonous desires.  MilkJam serve handmade ice cream – both hard scoop and soft serve with flavours ranging from pear and Tonka Bean to salted caramel and peanut butter, complemented by a variety of wacky homemade toppings and sauces; high quality milkshakes; over fifteen varieties of brownies and blondies; extravagant and colourful cakes the like you will have never seen before and the eponymous milk jam, a caramel akin to dulce de leche.

Patisserie Liberte

Francophiles rejoice, a second French patisserie has made its way to Manchester. Set up by Lyon native Sabrina Chiboub, Patisserie Liberte has launched on Hilton Street in the Northern Quarter and carries with it a name first used when Sabrina’s business partner’s grandfather opened the first Liberte café in Algeria in 1962. In-house, head patissier Mehdi Hadj-Mebarek, who has moved from St Etienne certainly has a talent for French baking as the marble counter is always chock-full with the most delectable cakes, macarons, tarts, croissants and mille-feuille.

Black Milk Cereal Dive

The name may conjure Stephen King-esque visions in the mind’s eye but don’t let that deter you! Black Milk is Manchester’s premier cereal and milk café located in the city’s hipster epicentre, Afflecks Palace. Inspired by milk bars in New York the team serve up over 50 different cereals from around the world with more than 20 crazy toppings including flying saucers, smarties, cookie dough balls, party rings and caramel buttons, all with a range of flavoured milks. Cereal is the main course here but for those who are less inclined to grab a bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast there are smores, toast (from Trove bakery), brownies, cakes, ice cream, porridge, milkshakes and plenty of hot drinks on offer.

Bonbon Chocolate Boutique

Bonbon Chocolate Boutique is an artisan chocolatier and café from the team behind Teacup Kitchen, selling fine chocolates, truffles and treats in a shabby-chic venue on John Street in the Northern Quarter. The dark and luxurious interior at Bonbon is surpassed only by the gloriously indulgent hot chocolate on offer, which is famous city wide; a rich Latin-American style chocolate espresso which contains no milk or boiling water just melted chocolate and a dash of water. The only chocolatier in central Manchester selling handmade chocolates produced on the premises offers a rolling collection of truffles and bars made in store, alongside a selection of the fine chocolates from around the world. All of the bonbons are crafted from world renowned Valrhona chocolate and are filled or infused with inspired flavour combinations like stilton and caramel or coconut and lemongrass.

Altrincham Market House

Arguably the finest artisan market in the North of England, Altrincham Market House has developed in to a hotbed of foodie activity with some amazing eateries producing astounding grub, which has meant it’s always packed to the rafters since re-opening in 2014. All tastes are catered for at the market house, including those with an insatiable sweet tooth. Wolfhouse Kitchen and Bakery, a Lancashire import, create an array of handmade cakes and brownies, cinnamon rolls, a myriad of doughnuts and pies including bourbon pecan and caramel apple crumble. Wolfhouse have now opened a little sister in the market called Hoke Pokey – serving handmade, small batch ice-cream with incredible flavours like passionfruit curd and brown sugar rosemary pecan, milkshakes, floats and ice-cream sandwiches. In the same hall you can also find Sam Joseph Chocolates –skilfully run by Sam and Claire who have 18 years’ experience working in pastry at five star hotels and fine dining restaurants across the country. Sam Joseph make the very best chocolates, truffles, single origin hot chocolate and artisan ice cream.