Crafting Curds & Developing Doughs!
When looking for our next Three Mills Collective partner we had a list of ideal values we were hoping for in a collaborator.
Top of the list was to be inspired. We were looking for a company stretching outside the realms of standard business practices.
We also wanted a company who’s brand and mission aligned with ours which would allow a creative partnership to bloom.
And we wanted to work with a company who put sustainability, craft and product quality at the forefront of their work.
And we certainly found all of that and more in Meredith Dairy!
But we wanted to do more than marry Meredith cheese with our breads and pastries.
We wanted to learn about their farming practices and production processes and let that inform how we were going to craft our products.
So of course, we had to go right to the source.
That led us to the Meredith Dairy farms in regional Victoria. Kit, our R&D Director and Taylin, our marketing guru to meet with the Meredith team.
From this first meeting, Julie Cameron, owner of Meredith Dairy, said that their focus through all of their growth over the last 32 years, is to be consistently consistent. Despite massive expansion of their operations they have refined their processes time and time again to ensure that the product is never compromised. This really resonated with us at Three Mills Bakery as we grow our operation.
From an environmental perspective we could see first hand how their regenerative farming practices, self-sustainability and the care and attention they give each and every animal is why their cheeses are so incredible.
This is no easy feat for a business that has thousands of animals to care for.
They have turned dry, overgrazed grassland into a thriving ecosystem with open farm sheds for the animals to enjoy.
Every year they plant thousands of saplings along the creeks, rivers and ponds to draw down carbon into the soil.
And with a combination of solar panels and biochar burner that uses waste, they are about to be completely off the grid.
Just as we had hoped…we were inspired!!
Turns out, the best farming practices and continual refinement of processes make the best food.
And we wanted to ensure our products for the collaboration followed those same Meredith tenets.
We are proud to say that we have been able to incorporate flour from Woodstock Flour in country Victoria. Woodstock uses regenerative and organic practices with their stone ground, small batch flour. These practices amplify the flavour and nutrition of the final product.
Each and every product we developed as a part of the collaboration respects and showcases the quality of the Meredith Dairy cheeses.
Check out the results…
Spitfire Sourdough
Made from flour produced by grower and miller, Woodstock Flour, this loaf includes ancient varieties of rye, spelt and an Australian wheat called Spitfire.
This loaf reflects Meredith’s care for their own land and showcases how that carries through from the earth, to our bakery and to you.
Plus…it’s nutty and delicious!
Brioche De Chèvre
Decadent and buttery, Brioche is the perfect vessel for gooey cheeses, jams and jellies.
We’ve added Meredith’s Chevre, caramelised onions and thyme to really kick it up a notch.
Goat Cheese Quiche
Meredith’s iconic marinated goats cheese is the perfect creamy base for a quiche custard.
Underneath, we’ve layered slices of candied beetroot and caramelised onions and wrapped it up in a flakey, Woodstock Farm rye pastry.
It’s topped with a black sesame charcoal crunch that was inspired by Meredith’s biochar burner. It converts waste sawdust into heat used for boilers and the charcoal by-product is used to put nitrates back into the soil.
Chocolate Yoghurt Tart
Not your average chocolate tart.
Meredith also have sheep happily grazing around their land and they produce a delightful sheep’s yogurt.
We combined this with a chocolate truffle ganache to create a creamy and incredibly smooth filling.
Italian Truffle Cookies
It’s truffle season!
We got our hands on some quality local truffles and transformed them into a chewy, italian style cookie.
We’ve added a little tang from fresh goat’s curd and the result is a flavour explosion.
These delicious, one-off products have been bundled up into our Three Mills Collective Winter Edition.
Find out more and jump on-board here:
https://threemillsbakery.com.au/product/three-mills-collective/
