Cormo Bakery and Stocks Kitchen are the latest enterprises to join a growing community of producers at Balcaskie Estate, showcasing the very best of food and drink in the East Neuk. Artisan bakers Matt Malia and Julianna Barker are behind Cormo Bakery at Balcormo Farm, while Amy and Jack Elles, owners of Stocks Kitchen are expanding their business to launch a cook school at the Bowhouse food hub on the estate.
Jack and Amy Elles have launched Stocks Cook School, with their first classes this autumn, after more than a year of renovations to create a bespoke cookery school and demonstration kitchen at Bowhouse. A classically trained chef, Amy worked at Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin-starred The Fat Duck, Casa Marcelo in Santiago de Compostela, and London’s Moro, before spending four years as a private chef travelling the world.
Stocks Cook School classroom, credit: Stocks Kitchen
Returning to the UK, the couple moved to Scotland, operating the much loved Harbour Cafe in Elie, hosting BBC The Hairy Bikers Go Local and Amy appearing on BBC’s Great British Menu. Their passion for sharing their skills and meeting the network of food and drink makers based at Bowhouse inspired the couple to make the move to Bowhouse to open Stocks Kitchen, which is open 7 days a week, from 10am – 4pm. Their impressive network of contacts inspired their new series of ‘Cook the Book’ events, with visits from chefs like Roberta Hall, Jeremy Lee and Jess Elliot Dennison.
Classes and workshops will include:
- Autumn dinner party, demo and dine, 9th October 6 – 9pm, £70 per person
- Joining Jack and Amy in Stocks Shop after hours for seasonal canapes and cocktails, as the couple prepare a beautiful three-course autumn dinner, sharing techniques, stories and inspiration as they cook.
- Confident with seafood, half day workshop, 30th October, 10:30am – 1:30pm, £130 per person
- Working with the very best seasonal seafood, including locally landed fish from Pittenweem, guests will learn to select, prepare and cook a variety of seafood with confidence. The workshop will finish with a relaxed lunch together featuring the seafood prepared during the class.
- Cook the Books with Roberta Hall – The Supper Club, 2nd December, 6:30pm – 9:00pm, from £55 per person
- Fellow Great British Menu contestant, Roberta is behind Edinburgh favourites The Little Chartroom, Eleanore and Ardfern. Together Roberta, Amy and Jack will be cooking a special supper inspired by The Changing Tides. The evening will begin with a cocktail & canapés from 6.30pm in the Stocks Kitchen shop before guests sit down together for dinner, conversation and a chance to chat with Roberta, ask questions and have their books signed.
Speaking about the new cookery school, Amy and Jack said: “We can’t wait to welcome people into our classes to cook, to learn and, most importantly, to enjoy the very best produce the East Neuk has to offer from our talented growers and suppliers.”
Matt Mallia and Julianna Barker also made the move to the East Neuk looking for a change of pace and reconnection with nature, after closing their award winning bakery, Hobz on Leith Walk in 2025. Named one of Britain’s Best Bakeries, Hobz was particularly known for their selection of sourdough bread and pastries, but demand soon outgrew capacity. Having used Butchery at Bowhouse as a supplier, they met with Farm Manager Sam Parsons and toured the estate who are developing a new site in a former farm shed at Balcormo, which is already home to East Neuk Eggs, Vandyke Brothers Coffee and Fife Campers.
Co-founder Julianna Barker of Cormo Bakery, credit: Cormo Bakery
While the bakery space is developed, the couple have launched a Cormo Bakery website, where customers can choose from a selection of small batch weekly orders for breads and pastries for collection from the bakery, including tempting treats such as pistachio and raisin swirls, lemon almond biscuits, and peanut butter miso cookies. For the first time, the couple are also launching hand-crafted preserves, biscuits and bites with national delivery available to order on their website. They are also selling at Bowhouse Market Weekends and supplying wholesale clients around the area such as Spoiled Life and Stocks Kitchen. They plan to expand the space significantly to open for evening events during the summer season, as well as developing a sit-in cafe with a wood burning stove for cosy coffee and bakes throughout the year.
Speaking of opening Cormo Bakery, Matt and Julianna said: “We’re really excited to be back in a retail space again in such a special location, connecting with visitors who share a love for great, locally produced food.”
Sam Parsons, Estate Manager of Balcaskie Estate said:
“Cormo Bakery and Stocks Kitchen and Cook School are exactly the kind of businesses we’re passionate about having here at Balcaskie. Both businesses work closely with our network of producers and farmers based here, and seeing that collaboration happen is exactly the kind of thriving and connected community we want to build at Balcaskie.
“Cormo Bakery and Stocks joined us through our ‘Pitch Up!’ scheme, which we’re about to re-launch for 2026. The farmer-led movement invites businesses at all stages to share land and space on our organic and regenerative farm at a low cost. If this could be of interest, please fill out our expression of interest form – we’d love to hear from new businesses.”
Balcaskie Estate covers 4,500 acres of organic and regeneratively farmed land in the East Neuk of Fife. It is home to a growing community of producers, which works to transform local ingredients into artisan food and drink including those at Bowhouse.
For more information and updates, please visit cormobakery.com. For further details of Stocks’ upcoming cookery workshops and Cook the Book events, please visit stockskitchen.co.uk.
