The shops might be filled with plastic pumpkins, cinnamon scented candles, and plaid scarves but, despite what Lord Capitalism wants you to think, it is, in fact, still summer. The mob bosses of Primark, B&M and the ASDA homewares range may want you to be restarting Gilmore Girls and thinking about what you’re going to dress up as for Hallowe’en, but there are still three weeks of summer left to enjoy before September hits properly. Three weeks of barbecues, holidays, late ev

Some people read The Guardian. Other people prefer The Times. Or The Economist. Or Heat Magazine. Me? I like to kick back with a hot cup of tea, a warm, fudgy brownie, and a copy of the Wetherspoon News. And who wouldn’t, with articles like New Hotel Is A Boon For The Toon, Much More To Cider Than Apples, and Loo Of The Year, or poetry that contains the immortal line 'The bee’s knees? More like the knees freeze' Ok, it mostly consists of me pointing at photos of pubs and goin

Football. You run up and down a pitch. Someone might kick you. But, like riding a motorbike through a flaming hoop, some things are more interesting when they’re being done by someone else. I confess that I have never watched a game of football. I don’t know the rules. I don’t know the words to Three Lions. I don’t know how long a game is or when the big important matches are. I can’t name anyone who’s played it since I stopped getting the Beano in 2006. But, thanks to Guild

In the immortal words of Cole Porter, I’ve come to wive it wealthily in Padua it’s too darn hot. If you’ve managed not to melt out of your own shoes just yet, you’re probably dealing with the other major issue of the summer - dinner. You can’t put the oven on. You can’t boil water for pasta. Don’t even think about getting out a frying pan. So you’re left with two options: 1) hosting a barbecue. 2) lying on the kitchen tiles, eating handfuls of shredded cheese out of the bag.

Pride month is here, bringing with it a deluge of glitter, rainbows, and a lot of angry Reform councillors. There are lots of stereotypes associated with the LGBTQ+ community, from the negative (bad at maths) to the positive (obsessed with Cher) to the - well, questionable (not being able to sit on a chair correctly / not being able to drive / walking really fast). And, in recent years, iced coffee. As a queer, I honestly don’t know when I last bought a hot coffee out*. Sure,

Summer is (almost) officially here. The next few months are just made for iced coffee, picky-bit-teas, barbecues, tinnies in the park, half-melted Mr Whippys, and those all-important post-work spritzes on a harbourside terrace. Whether you’re heading out of your too-hot Montpellier flat, avoiding dining al desko, or just sick of getting the hoover out after another BLW mealtime fiasco, nothing makes beating the heat better than a picnic*. But what are we packing in our basket

Filled with jam, dipped in glaze, or just dusted with caster sugar, you can’t go wrong with a hot, fresh donut. Whether you yearn for youtiao, crave churros, or you’re mad for malasada, this week is National Doughnut Week, and we’re celebrating everyone’s favourite ring-shaped treat. There are recipes for doughnuts scattered throughout history and across the world. In De Agri Cultura, Cato (234-149 BC) records a recipe for globi, a ricotta-enriched spelt dough that is fried i

Bread? In a bakery? Groundbreaking. The Devil Wears Prada is definitely having its (second) moment in the spotlight. The original 2006 classic* spotlighted brands from Gucci to Chanel, Vivienne Westwood to Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein to Valentino. And, of course, Starbucks. In the same way that those Chanel boots became an iconic look, the it-girl accessory for busy office employees quickly became one of their mermaid-embossed cups, filled with nondescript brown liquid and

The 90s. A decade of landlines, playing outside, and drinks that accidentally turned us orange (RIP original Sunny D). It feels like we revisit a random decade every year as some kind of nostalgia kick, but this year’s trend is a little closer to today: the 90s Butter Mom. Think Chessy from The Parent Trap, Miss Honey from Matilda, or Jill from Home Improvement. It’s about wellies, VHS players, double denim, freshly-picked flowers, dungarees, gingham. So much gingham. And, of

Sure, you could be in Paris, watching the F/W Haute Couture shows for Givenchy and Chanel. Or you could be where it’s really happening: on your phone, reading the Guild Of Dough blog, right at the forefront of 2026’s food trends. We’re like Vogue for vittles. Hojicha Matcha’s sophisticated older sister. Hojicha is roasted green tea, making it taste more nutty, with hints of toasted caramel. We’re expecting to see this in place of matcha in iced lattes, desserts and baked trea

Cloud Dancer? Mocha Mousse? Veri Peri? Sure, they’re cute names, but what do they really mean ? Here at Guild Of Dough, we’ve taken some of our favourite shades of our bakes this year. Each crumb, each dash of flour, each missed chocolate chip – we’ve analysed them all to come up with colour profiles that really mean something to us. Like that golden pastry flake left on your jumper from your morning croissant. The caramel of the sesame seeds that fall off when you first slic

Halloween is here. Turn off the lights, put out your jack-o’-lantern, load up on miniature Mars Bars - it’s time for marauding groups of disguised children to demand sweets from strangers. And what do we get in return? Nothing! No songs, no rhymes, no praying for your soul. Not even a rapping horse’s head. We may think of trick-or-treating as a modern imported tradition from our American friends, but its origins actually lie in medieval England. Souling is a practice that goe

What’s round and orange? If you said an orange, WRONG.* It’s October, which means the only round orange things that matter are pumpkins. Pumpkin spice - whether you love it, hate it, or have a weird ambivalence towards it, it’s everywhere this time of year. From tea to candles to hand sanitiser, this spicy combo has transcended the limits of the coffee cup and moved straight to being a full-on lifestyle trend. But that doesn’t mean we should forget the humble origins of this

Some fashions are obvious, classic, and enduring. A good red lipstick. The LBD. Every outfit in that one montage bit in The Devil Wears...

The hot girl walk. Not just for hot girls (trademark pending, presumably), because you don’t even need to be hot. Or a girl. Or even...

the delicious Easter treat James I doesn't want you to know about Hot cross buns, Good Friday buns, teisen groes , Easter buns, ‘them...

Spring has sprung (sort of), and that makes it Jane Austen season. Here’s what we think would be the go-to orders of our favourite...

Lemon and sugar, chocolate spread, maple syrup and butter - however you like to load them up, Pancake Day is almost here. But what if...

For our friends across the pond, February 21st is National Sticky Bun Day! Whether you’re a fan of honey buns, Belgian buns, Chelsea...

Stuck for a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift idea? If dinner and drinks isn’t quite going to cut it, don’t panic - here are Guild Of...