Former Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite reopened his Ruff Puff Bakehouse at a new, larger site in Lancashire on Saturday, selling out of pastries within two hours as customers queued in large numbers. Queues continued on Sunday as supporters came to try his cakes, croissants and new bread range.
New bakehouse at Cedar Farm
The new bakery occupies a large space at Cedar Farm in Mawdsley, Lancashire. John, who won GBBO in 2012, had previously run a smaller unit at the farm shop village but announced its closure in January, telling fans at the time that it was "not the end but a necessary reset".
In recent weeks, he confirmed that work had started on a brand new bakehouse, which now includes breads and focaccias. The space features green tiling and disco balls above the counters, a nod to his time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Thank you to customers
John thanked everyone who attended the reopening. He said: "I just want to say thank you again to everyone who came this weekend and who have sent supportive messages."
"When I last closed Bakehouse earlier this year I kind of just thought it didn't matter, I was like it didn't mean anything, it's just pastry. But this weekend our first customer was a young lad who queued up for 45 minutes to get in on Saturday morning when we opened and he was so excited. And then all day Saturday and Sunday people were so happy. It's so good to see the joy that food can bring to people."
He added: "Hospitality is important, because while the world can be a cold and dark place and there's no meaning to life - we put our own meaning in it - and that's love and joy. And so what we do at RuffPuff is important, I've realised that."
From online bakery to bakehouse
John, the series 3 champion, started his Ruff Puff brownie business as an online-only bakery in 2024, with regular sell-outs of his sweet treats. He opened his first Ruff Puff Bakehouse last year at Cedar Farm, selling brownies alongside an expanded range of pastries and cakes.
The bakehouse regularly saw queues out the door and complete sell-outs of the pastry range. However, John, a former Strictly Come Dancing finalist, previously spoke of the "relentless" pressure of running a bricks-and-mortar bakehouse.
He made the "painful decision" to close the bakehouse after being involved in a collision with a car last year. In January, he explained: "Over the past six months, the pressure of running a bricks-and-mortar bakery has steadily intensified. The workload was relentless, the margins unforgiving, and the emotional toll heavier than we'd allowed ourselves to admit."
Reflecting on the accident, he said: "More recently, being knocked over by a car brought everything into sharp focus. It was a frightening, physical jolt that forced me to stop - quite literally - and confront the reality that I had been running on empty, pushing too hard, and holding too much together."
The plan remains for the Ruff Puff Brownies website and online sales to resume later this year. Ruff Puff Bakehouse is open from Thursday to Sunday, from 10am until sell out.
