The popular Aran Bakery in Dunkeld is a spot we have wanted to try for some time.
With plenty of positive reviews on Tripadvisor, the Aran Bakery is well-known for its tasty offering.
The artisan bakery was founded by Flora Shedden, Great British Bake Off semi-finalist from 2016.
The open-plan kitchen allows anyone popping in for a cake to watch how the delicacies are made – and drool from their spot in the queue.
Poppy Watson (a fellow journalist at The Courier) and I couldn’t wait to get our hands on the cakes.
A very nutritious breakfast, we decided to try out the almond croissant, spiced plumb and ginger crumble Danish and chocolate brandy and rye tort.
These cost just £3.95 each which was a very reasonable price considering the size – and quality – of the pastries.
Almond croissant
First up is the almond croissant. It was a feast for the eyes and it smelled amazing.
While we found this bake very slightly dry, all in all it was delicious.
The almond flake topping was lovely and crispy, with a nice bite to it.
The puff pastry didn’t crumble away to nothing in our hands which can happen often with a croissant. It was dense and pretty filling.
The frangipane filling (finely ground almonds or almond meal) wasn’t as moist as we are used to, but it was very flavourful.
Poppy: 3/5
Joanna: 3/5
Spiced plum and ginger crumble Danish
This one absolutely wowed us.
Poppy usually isn’t a fan of stewed fruit, but the plum was absolutely mouth-watering.
It was juicy and sweet and the whole thing looked like a Christmas scene with powdered sugar over the top.
The tartness of the plum paired so well with the creaminess of the custard.
And the gingery crumble topping made it the perfect combination.
There was nothing dry about this Danish, it was moist in every bite and we never wanted it to end.
Poppy: 5/5
Joanna: 5/5
Chocolate brandy and rye torte
Though I am not always the biggest fan of chocolate desserts as I can find them sickly, this tort was rich but not too rich.
Again, this was perfectly moist. It reminded me of black forest gateau.
The delicious dollop of cream on top made for the perfect topping.
This was a lovely relief from the more dense texture of the torte itself.
However, it lost a mark from Poppy because it wasn’t as good as the Danish, though that is a hard battle to win.
She also noted that she couldn’t taste much of a brandy flavour.
Poppy: 4.5/5
Joanna: 5/5
This drive-thru review of the Aran Bakery in Dunkeld was a resounding success. The bakes were not only delicious but excellent value for money.
We will definitely be making a return trip to Dunkeld!
