Helm Baked

Helm Baked is a gluten free bakery where the whole operation, not just a corner of the menu, is celiac safe. Sue Helm spent 24 years baking birthday cakes, Thanksgiving pies and afternoon snack cookies for her family of six. She rebuilt those recipes to be indiscernibly gluten free and now runs the bakery with Sara, Rachael and Shelby. The business has been going since 2017, and in early 2023 it moved from a certified kitchen in Aylmer into a brick and mortar space; it has held a spot at the Covent Garden farmers' market since spring 2019.

The counter changes with the season: cookies, brownies and squares, loaf slices and muffins, sweet and savoury scones, pop tarts and hand pies, with dairy free options in the case most days. Saturdays bring the wider spread, including cinnamon buns baked that morning. The rest of the week goes largely to wholesale orders for cafes around the region, which is why the shop opens to the public only a few days a week. Bread and bread-style items such as viennoiserie are not part of the line-up here.

Cakes can be ordered ahead with a proper notice period, and holiday pies are taken as separate orders when a holiday menu goes up. Cinnamon buns are Saturday's draw, and the butter tarts are well worth a try. The appeal reaches well beyond a gluten free diet, and the cookies are a good place to start. The same baking turns up on pastry shelves around the region, including Sidetrack in Wortley Village and Hasbeans in Covent Garden Market.