The Coven, the Malaga micro-bakery that makes artisan bread to order

Baking is now much more than just a hobby for Sara Mayorga since she started selling her bread. Midwife by profession, Sara is from Malaga and has decided to start up a very original micro-bakery. She only makes bread to order. Customers pick them up at different collection points (in Malaga and the surrounding area, for the moment).

Sara has been passionate about her profession as a midwife for 30 years now, but also about making artisan bread. She fell in love with this hobby in London years ago, but from there it grew and she decided to learn from professionals such as Ángel Zamora and Matt Valette at the Baking School in Sabadell. There, two years ago, she trained for a period of two and a half months in bread and pastry making, both handmade.

Last March, at the age of 51 and with twin daughters, she decided to start her own bakery with a very concise and well-defined business concept, The Coven. It is a micro-bakery that only makes bread to order. From Thursday at 8pm until Sunday at 9pm, customers can place their orders. The bread will then be delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons the following week to the collection points chosen by the customers. These are, for the moment, establishments spread throughout different areas of Malaga city and municipalities such as Alhaurín de la Torre, Fuengirola, Rincón de la Victoria and Marbella.

Her repertoire of breads are made with organic flour from Coín (La Fuensanta), organic salt and sourdough starter made by Sara herself. Other ingredients such as muscatel sultanas from the Axarquía or cocoa and chocolate from Maychoco are added. But, as well as quality and local products, she has a clear commitment to making the most artisan bread possible, with three days of preparation. "I make each loaf, by hand; I explain this to demonstrate why production is limited", explained The Coven owner. She pointed out that she gives priority to "quality over quantity". This is the what led this entrepreneur to work exclusively to order.

Sara wants to make it clear that this is not a normal bakery: "Here the bread is made to order and this is a win-win situation; I have a friendly schedule and the customer is assured that their bread will be waiting for them at the place and time they choose," she explained.

However, it's important to bear in mind that, for the time being, production is small. The bakery currently offers almost a dozen different breads, from rustic loaves to one hundred per cent buckwheat, wholemeal, seed, spelt, rye, sultana and walnut or cocoa with chocolate and hazelnuts. Customers can even choose whether they want the bread sliced (unless Sara specifically recommends otherwise). The prices of each loaf range from 5.70 euros for the simplest ones to 11 euros for those with more ingredients or which are more complex. Approximate weights range from 750 grams for the most special ones to 800 or 850 for the more conventional ones.

As the dough is handmade and there are long, slow fermentations involved, the taste is "bread-like, not sour or anything extreme, but with flavour and it can vary slightly from one day to the next, as well as its weight and shape; that's what real bread has," explained Sara. "Toasting is also important for these breads, they are crusts filled with a lot of personality", Sara added.

While she has already completed her bread menu, Sara is trying to bring out her repertoire of handmade pastries as soon as possible. She has turned this hobby into a business and does not rule out the possibility of putting aside midwifery to focus on the bakery in the future. She knows that she still has a lot to do, with many goals, from circulation and teaching about artisan bread to joining the promotional brand Sabor a Málaga or the organic certification of her bakery. Sara is definitely not lacking in enthusiasm and passion.