‘Gardenscape Focaccia’ is the latest lockdown baking trend

Like reading books or talking to your family, crafts and baking are both enjoying slightly unexpected 2020 comebacks. Admittedly, this turnaround has happened in less than ideal circumstances, but that doesn’t make the activities any less enjoyable. 

Even though hand-rearing your new sourdough like a delicious Tamagotchi and turning old pasta into a mural are both enviable ways to pass your newfound time, there is one activity that will thrill efficiency-obsessed isolators like nothing else. Finally, bakers and artists can bring their two passions together by baking “Gardenscape Focaccias”. 

The fad, which has proved a serious hit on visually-orientated platform Instagram, involves bakers turning their bread into a miniature canvass, shaping and selecting brightly coloured ingredients to create a series of striking still lives. The result is a series of bakes that wouldn’t look out of place hanging in the Tate. 

While there are no hard and fast rules to Gardenscape Focaccias, the scenes depicted tend to revolve around simple still lives of flowering plants, and are generally made from a mix of tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs. Radishes, asparagus and peppers also feature prominently. 

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One of the most popular practitioners of the style is North Carolina-based baker “Blondie + Rye”, who regularly uploads snaps of her most stunning creations to her Instagram account. In addition to the focaccias, Blondie + Rye has also turned dishes as diverse as sourdough bloomers and quiche into intricately patterned and decorated masterpieces. 

Even if you aren’t ordinarily the sort of diner who values looks over flavour, it’s hard not to be a little enticed by loaves that look this good. If you’re hungry to both scratch your creative itch and eat something delicious, fashioning your own “Gardenscape Focaccia” might be the perfect remedy to lockdown blues.