It takes time and effort to make the perfect loaf

When Dan and Johanna McTiernan were faced with this situation they started making their own. Not just for themselves but for friends and neighbours too. Dan is now one of the directors of the thriving bakery co-operative, The Handmade Bakery, in Slaithwate, four miles from Huddersfield.

Dan and his Finnish wife, Johanna, began a bread club just over two years ago. The price of the bread covered ingredients and some of their time. "The bread club was an experiment to see how popular handmade, slow- fermented bread would be," says Dan.

"Very quickly 150 people subscribed to the scheme and we also began selling at local markets." In February 2009 they opened the bakery as a co-operative with 10 members who bake, sell and maintain the business.

"The bread is slow- fermented, which gives it a chewy texture and better keeping qualities. Bread produced industrially has an average of 24 ingredients.

"Our bread has three – organic flour, salt and water. The yeast in our slow fermented bread occurs naturally. Most supermarket loaves take about 90 minutes to make, our quickest bread takes 16 hours from start to finish" explained Dan

Beautifully-shaped, rich brown loaves line the shelves of the bakery section of the Green Valley Grocer where the bread is sold. There's a Sleepless loaf, so called because it does all its work fermenting overnight while the baker is asleep. There is also a Hearth loaf made with molasses, millet and rye.

Johanna has introduced recipes from her native Finland, renowned not only for its crisp rye breads but for sweet breads.

Sleepless white bread

Dan advises: "It only has a small amount of yeast, which means the dough will take longer to rise." It can also be used to make fantastic pizza bases.

Makes two small loaves

1kg organic white bread flour; 2g dried yeast; 650g warm water ; 10g sea salt

The evening of day one. Place the flour, salt, yeast and water in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Draw the ingredients together to form dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead for about five minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover with oiled cling film and leave in a cool warm place (15C to 20C) to prove overnight. The next morning, place the dough on a floured board and knead for five minutes. Divide the dough in two and shape each into a large ball. Place onto an oiled baking sheet, cover with oiled cling film and allow place the loaves in a warm place to double in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230C, Gas 8. Place a dish of water in the lower part of the oven. This will create the steam which will give the loaf a good crust. Slash the top of each loaf with a sharp knife and place loaves in the oven. After 10 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 220C, Gas 7 and cook the loaves for another 25 minutes. Remove the loaves from the oven and leave to cool on a wire tray.

Finnish Coffee Bread (Pulla)

This delicious warm, sweet bread is delicately spiced with cardamom and cinnamon.

Makes 10

500g strong plain flour: 1tsp dried yeast; tsp salt ;250ml semi-skimmed milk, plus a little extra for the glaze; 85g unsalted butter; 110g caster sugar; 3 free range egg yolks; 1 tbsp cardamom pods, shells removed and seeds ground; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon and 1 tbsp caster sugar, mixed together

Preheat oven to 220C, Gas 7. Place the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Heat milk, add butter and sugar, and stir until dissolved. Pour into half the flour and mix well. Add two egg yolks and ground cardamom seeds and the remaining flour. Knead for about five minutes until you have smooth dough. Cover and place in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Knock back the dough and roll into a rectangle about 40cm by 30cm. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up the dough along its long side, as if for a Swiss roll, and cut into 5cm rounds along the length of the roll. Cover with oiled cling film and allow the pulla to rise for about 40 minutes. Mix the remaining egg yolk with a little milk. Brush each pulla with a little egg and milk and place in the oven to cook for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow to cool.

Fig, frangipane and rosemary tart

The Handmade Bakery is behind the Green Valley Grocer, which local residents bought after it was threatened with closure. It sells local cheeses, honey, fruit and vegetables. Any surplus home grown produce can also be sold in the shop. One local resident brought in several kilos of excellent, ripe figs while I was there. This is what I made with them.

Serves 8-10

200g ready made short crust pastry;

For the frangipane

150g ground almonds; 25g plain flour; 125g slightly salted butter; 125g caster sugar; 1 free range egg yolk; 1 tsp vanilla

For the fig topping

9 fresh figs, stalks removed;1 tbsp runny honey; 25g chopped almonds; a few sprigs of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 200C, Gas 6. Line a 21cm diameter flan case with the pastry. Prick the base, line with foil and baking beans and bake for 10 mins. Remove foil and baking beans and return the flan to the oven for five mins. Allow to cool. Place the ingredients for the frangipane in a food processor and blitz for two mins until smooth. Spread the frangipane over the cool flan base. Cut a cross at the top of each fig to expose the fleshy inside and arrange in the flan case. Dribble the flan with honey, scatter with chopped almonds and a few rosemary needles. Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 mins, or until the frangipane mixture is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Serve warm with a little mascarpone or crme fraiche.