A Lake District of Cake & 3 Ply Prices Cut to the Bone
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
Imagine if the Lake District was made entirely of cake
This week I have a few more overstocks I’d very much like you to relieve me of, if you would be so kind, and today it’s Le Creuset’s 3 ply range of classic stainless steel saucepans and frying pans that’s having its prices cut to the bone.
But before I get to that, I should probably tell you about a small, childlike fantasy (as opposed to an adult one, so this one is clean if a bit sticky) that has been quietly forming in my cake-driven, cake-obsessed mind.
An aside
I’m beginning to imagine that the Lake District is made entirely of cake. A place where hills and valleys are carved out of an enormous Victoria sponge; a hotbed of cake debauchery, if you will. This unlikely vision is fed partly by my love of the stuff, and partly by the generosity of two people who have visited me recently, both arriving, as is clearly becoming the custom, bearing cakes from the Lakes.
The second, and most recent, visitor was Steve Hoblyn of i Gallos, and a reader of this email. He came to talk to me about a vision he’s been quietly ruminating on for the past year or so: mentally healthy high streets. Steve has spent nearly a decade working with global corporates on mental health, training, facilitating and supporting, he wants to see that thinking filter down to independent businesses, who would normally never be able to fund such work.
We had a good, thoughtful conversation about the potential benefits, not just for businesses, but looking at the benefits that it would bring for our communities too, not to mention the responsibilities that we all have of service to each other. We agreed that we should aim to bring together interested parties for a meeting by the end of February.
All of this was washed down with excellent coffee from our KitchenAid KF8 (which is downstairs in the shop), and Steve’s selection of cakes (the four layer Victoria sponge in particular was simply marvellous), fresh from his favourite Lake District bakery: Bakehouse Born and Bread. |  |
An aside to my aside
As an aside to my aside, the KitchenAid really does make outstanding coffee, which I (and my colleagues and customers) are lucky enough to have on tap every working day of my life, whether in Reigate or Cobham (both shops have demo machines running constantly).
As an aside to my aside, the KitchenAid really does make outstanding coffee, which I (and my colleagues and customers) are lucky enough to have on tap every working day of my life, whether in Reigate or Cobham (both shops have demo machines running constantly).
The reason is simple. It grinds the beans fresh, produces an espresso to my preferred (light) strength, and then adds only hot water separately to make an Americano.
This means most of the coffee I drink hasn’t been over-extracted by too much water being passed though the grounds, which is where that harsh bitterness usually comes from.
So much so that I don't even need sugar any more.
It’s a brilliant machine.
Currently price-matched from £1,899 down to £1,499, a £400 saving.
Not cheap, but exceptionally easy to use, very easy to programme (and I don’t say that lightly), and beautifully built.
A genuinely top-notch two-grand-ish machine at a properly good price.
To product
OK, after an extensive chat with, and picking the brains of, Em in Reigate, who has quite a few pieces of 3 ply at home, I thought that I'd highlight various pieces in the range.
The saucepans, the core and work horse of any range are well designed. They are well balanced, they heat up fast, the handles (cast stainless steel and hollow to reduce weight and maintain balance) remain cool under most circumstances.
They have capacities etched to the inside which Em pointed out is very useful when cooking rice (ratio between water and rice).
They have so called helper handles, riveted on, so if it's very full you can use two hands to control it.
And rather cleverly, if you're short of space around your hob, you can remove the lid and hang it off the front of the pan, by resting it on the helper handle and tucking it under lip of the pan.
Ingenious.
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 | The Sauteuse comes in decent sizes and with it's large flat bottom and straight sides, has a large cooking area, making it good for batch cooking as well. Great for recipes such as the Scalloped Potato and Smoked Fish Pot. It's light, without being low in quality. |
 | The Shallow Casserole or Buffet pan is a sort of wide shallow casserole with two short handles (can double as a large frying pan) is just gorgeous to look at, and food ALWAYS looks terrific in such a pan. |
The range is very large and now with four frying uncoated pans as well as the usual non stick, you really do have choice over how you cook.
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