Derbyshire artisan baker scoops top 'Britain’s Best Loaf' award delighting judges with unique lemon brioche
Miyo baked a whopping 50 different varieties of lemon brioche before the baking perfectionist was happy with the result
A Derbyshire bakery creating artisanal delights from a Matlock bakehouse has scooped a top baking award.
Miyo Aoetsu and David Hampson are the dynamic duo at Kuma-San Bakehouse in Darley Dale.
The wife-and-husband team have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and thrilling people with their exquisite bread including beautifully crusty sourdough, brioche, light-as-air apple custard buns and more.
The bakehouse creates scrumptious masterpieces frequently, but it was the Lemon & Earl Grey Brioche which was named Britain’s Best Loaf 2025 triumphing over a record number of entrants for the competition.
The win for Kuma-San Bakehouse repeats their success from 2023, where they won the top prize with its Brioche Japonais.
This year’s winning loaf also topped the Innovation category, impressing judges with its unique flavour profile featuring Earl Grey tea and limoncello-soaked candied lemon peel, combined with lemon curd and juice for a zesty, aromatic finish.
Now in its twelfth year, Britain’s Best Loaf 2025 took place on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at the NEC Birmingham, as part of the UK Food & Drink Show.
As reported by Derbyshire Times, Miyo baked a whopping 50 different varieties of the bread before the baking perfectionist was happy with the result.
She said: “Lemon is acidic which can make the dough hard. I wanted it to be soft as a brioche. That’s why I went through so many different versions. But it was worth it. The judges said it was the best loaf by far.”
Miyo first started baking as a hobby, enrolling onto a bakery course at Forge Bakehouse.
Once she had caught the baking bug, she became a professional baker and baking success soon followed.
In 2023 she was crowned and praised for her Brioche Japanese – a soft and sweet green loaf which contained Matcha tea and chocolate.
Miyo said she lived in places including Japan - where she is from, and France and Luxembourg, where freshly baked bread was available and the norm every day.
“It was my hobby to go to every bakery in town. In Japan soft and fluffy bread is very popular. We also use tea to bake. I decided to combine the two and the fusion of Japanese and Western baking became my speciality.”
How to order Kuma-San Bakehouse bread
The weekly menu is published on the Kuma-Sun Bakehouse Facebook page.
People can email orders through and collect on Thursday (11.30am -7pm) and Saturday (11.30am - 2pm).
For more information click here: kumasanbakehouse.com