Christmas Spiced Shortbread Who doesn't love shortbread? A pointless question, unless you're vegan or avoiding gluten, I suppose—but even then, surely the idea of it still sounds good! Shortbread feels inherently festive to me. Maybe it’s the buttery richness or its association with colder months. I wanted to take this classic treat closer to Christmas, inspired by the warm spices and bright citrus notes of the season. Think Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake, Mince Pies, or Stollen—there’s something about cinnamon, clove, and allspice that perfectly complements winter’s chill. For my festive version, I’ve added a mix of spices, citrus zest, and a small twist: raisins soaked in Cointreau for a hit of fruity sweetness and orange flavor. (Feel free to switch up the soaking liquid—rum, hot tea, or even water will do.) A quick note on clove: it’s a potent spice, and not everyone loves its strength. If that’s you, reduce it to 1/4 teaspoon. I’ve also added almond extract for a subtle...
Bakehouse Wanders - Dorking Part 2
Hi foodies!
It's been a wee while since my last post. In all honesty, I can’t blame anything beyond a mix of procrastination and the general mundanity sapping my motivation.
I did start writing an article on mental health and the saviour that was, in part, the culinary world. There are words typed, awaiting their limelight; however, it’s such an important topic that I want to make sure it’s of the highest quality. Stay tuned for that one!
On the topic of returning—when I did my Bakehouse Wander of Dorking, I mentioned there would be a part two. Well, here it is!
Having lived in Dorking since the beginning—of my life, not Dorking; I’m not that old—I feel qualified to talk about the area. It’s such a beautiful part of the country that even with my very conscious bias accounted for, it’s still worth a few articles.
Denbies
Being a quiet Sunday with not much going on, I went for a stroll.
Since the 2012 Olympics, Dorking has become known for cycling—a large portion of the road cycling route wound through the town and local hills and past a giant Cock on the A24/A25 roundabout. Calm down, it’s a Cock with a capital C. Dorking’s mascot is a breed of cockerel.
There are, however, other things that Dorking is globally famous for: antique shops (a bit dull for me, sorry), motorcycles, the beautiful Surrey Hills, and Denbies Wine Estate.
Denbies is primarily a vineyard, though it also has a small third-party brewery onsite with some of the best beer I’ve tasted. Check out the Surrey Hills Brewery—you won’t regret it. With the assistance of some Spaniards, I once managed to drink a pub dry of it! Quite a notable achievement for the personal record of achievement that I’ve never found a use for before. Brits know what I mean.
I have mixed emotions about the vineyard. It’s beautiful for strolling, both Ranmore and Box Hill have been a weekend staple excursion for many years, but it has a darker side that chills to the bone.
At least one local school (from my experience) uses the landscape for mandated cross-country running. Freezing, caked in mud, in the pouring rain, and slipping about is the stuff of nightmares.
Said school also uses it for a 15-mile sponsored walk, which was always a great way to miss a day of classroom torture every two years. As soon as you finished, you could go home; in my youth, I could run exceptionally well when given the motivation.
Back to modern times, there is a shop, a restaurant far beyond my means, and a café. The café is what we’re experiencing today.
The Conservatory Restaurant
I’ve been here before, although it’s been many years. The vibe is largely unchanged. For such a refined venue as Denbies, it may be surprising that the café (or restaurant, as it’s named) has the feel of a canteen rather than a higher-end café.
What stands out immediately is the namesake conservatory setting. The café is set in an indoor courtyard with a large glass roof—a wonderful feature that lets in a great amount of light. On a bright day, the scene is fully illuminated, although the supermarket-canteen furniture dampens the potential finesse.
Coffee and cake feel appropriate for what seems predominantly a café, although I was surprised to see that meals were also served—from soup through to full cooked meals, including Yorkshire pudding (likely a Sunday thing).
On the canteen wavelength, the food is self-service with a tray. You’ve seen this kind of setup before, I’m sure—it takes me back to a Debenhams cafe. If you’re ordering hot drinks, these are made for you; otherwise, everything is self-procured. The hot drinks create a bottleneck in the process, be warned.
Looking around, there’s an eclectic mix of customers, weighted towards the elderly and families, but also several loners such as myself are present, either pausing for a coffee or chowing down on a Sunday lunch.
Food and Drink
Being out on a late morning stroll, I went for coffee and cake—Cappuccino and Chocolate Raspberry Cake.
The coffee was surprisingly well made; the flavour itself wasn’t notable, but at least it was detectable, which hasn’t been the norm of late when reviewing cafes and bakeries, so points added there!
In fairness, the portion size of the cake was quite impressive, and the cake was reasonable. Chocolate and raspberry does feel like an unusual combination, but it was a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam filling. I was expecting some raspberry flavour throughout the cake, but I’m pretty sure it was just the jam. The composition was a little odd, but it was a pleasant enough treat for a quiet moment on a Sunday morning.
I assume that most people are dining here because they happen to be visiting the wine estate or going for a walk in the extensive grounds open to the public. To that end, it’s a nice little spot for a break. On weekends, especially for Sunday lunch, I get the feeling the older generation rolls in for their traditional meal.
Considering the location is Denbies, one would expect prices to be extortionate and the food to be on the fancier side, but pleasantly, it’s not. The catering is relatively affordable and of reasonable quality, serving its purpose as a pitstop when enjoying the area.
A thus-far permanent issue is that I wish the physical environment was more inviting. There’s so much light with a beautiful ceiling, but as soon as your gaze returns to eye level, it’s an almost entirely school-canteen feel.
I don’t want to finish on a downturn—Denbies is such a beautiful estate, and it’s so generous of the owners to continue letting the public roam the grounds, making for a wonderful day out regardless of the season. I’m not a wine person, but I genuinely enjoy Denbies wine, and as far as I can tell, it’s not overpriced.
After enjoying the tranquillity of Denbies, I was eager to continue exploring what Dorking had to offer. Little did I know, my next stop would be a true hidden gem for coffee lovers.
Wild About Coffee
If you’ve followed along for some time, you’ll know that I enjoy a good hike, and Dorking is fantastic for this, with many established routes and trails.
Coincidentally, while at Denbies (as mentioned above), I bought a walking guide for Dorking—admittedly, I felt like I aged during the process. In the book, I found a route that I wasn’t aware of to Norbury Park.
The walk was picturesque, with a river, a farm, fields, and a hill—a big one.
I’m not as fit as I used to be. I somewhat underestimated the trifecta of my endurance, the route elevation, and the hot weather. I did bring a bottle of water, rather sensibly, but even rationing it, I got to a point about two hours in with only dregs left in the bottle.
At this point, you may have noticed that, outside of my insufficient liquid reserves, I haven’t really touched on anything culinary. It was at this point that I was both bewildered and possibly delirious. As I crested the vertical-feeling ascent, an outdoor cafe appeared. As far as I was aware, there was nothing around—we were in the woods, in seemingly the middle of nowhere.
The café had drinks and snacks—not instant drinks or anything as paltry as that, but actual brewed coffee from a coffee machine that had somehow been embedded into the side of a Land Rover.
There was ample seating, a fire for toasting marshmallows or warming one’s frostbitten extremities in the event of poor planning. Even dogs were catered for with water, should you have decided to torture them with the hill as well.
The coffee was reasonable enough and wasn’t any more highly priced than in a regular bricks-and-mortar café. The people serving were friendly—well, I think the lady was; the gent making the coffee didn’t stop talking.
In honesty, the selling point of this café is the people and the location; the ambience of a cozy fire, well-made drinks, and relief for wayward explorers was sufficient to make this one of the best cafes in Dorking, as far as I’m concerned.
I’m not deliberately going to go on the same excursion underprepared again, but should I happen to hike the route again, I will be stopping by.
As a follow-up, I did a quick check on an old-fashioned piece of tech called a map. The cafe is a lot closer to Leatherhead and Fetcham than Dorking, where I started, so if you’re in the area, stop by—you may not need to expend quite the same amount of resources to reach the mirage in the woods.
Out in the Countryside
We've only made a couple of stops in this post, the second one purely by accident—but what a find it was! While I could’ve gone on about the brewery at Denbies, it was the Wild café in the woods that truly stole the show.
It's amazing that somewhere that you've lived for more years than you could fit candles on a cake, there's still new spots squirrelled away to surprise you. Denbies Estate remains a beautiful spot for a wander, but what this adventure really highlighted is the joy of exploring—even in familiar territory. You never know what hidden gems are waiting to be found.
There’s plenty more content up my sleeve, but it may need to come in instalments. There’s a lot of ground to cover, and trust me, my feet have felt every bit of it!