Go ahead, bake my day

Tucked away in Tokyo’s Higashi-Azabu is a quaint cooking studio called Mornington Crescent where you can learn to bake such traditional British sweets as Bramley apple pies, Welsh and Scottish shortbread, scones, Victoria sponge cakes, sticky toffee and date pudding, lemon meringue pies, Battenberg cakes, carrot cakes, hot cross buns and lots more – all under the watchful eye of Briton Stacey Ward.

Ward gives baking lessons at least four days a week and holds an open bakery day twice a month which attracts a growing number of customers. She also bakes to order, which is good news for anyone who misses those goodies from back home (if you’re British).

“I’ve always been interested in Japan ever since I was a child,” Ward recalls. “We used to have two Bramley apple trees and a cherry tree in the garden. I remember one day I saw a TV program about the cherry blossoms in Japan and I thought they were apple blossoms. That started my fascination with Japan.”

And so in 2001, she arrived in Japan on the JET program. After that, she did a few different jobs, including several years at a search engine marketing company. “I had the idea to start this business about three or four years ago when I started a blog called A Little Shop in Tokyo as a place to organize my ideas,” she said. “In writing the blog, I had searched for Bramley apples and never found them but they have been grown here for more than 20 years. I found them three years ago and I wrote about it. Then the Bramley Apple Fan Club in Japan reached out to me.”

Ward incorporated her company last fall and opened her doors in April with two objectives in mind. “Of course, I missed those baked goods from back home,” she said, “and I really love it when I get a reaction from an expat who says, ‘I haven’t had sticky toffee pudding in the whole 10 years I have been here.’ But the main thing I want to do with the business is to bring authentic British baking, and how to do it yourself, to Japanese people. So far, 98% of my customers are Japanese and I am thrilled with that.”

One of her missions is to improve the image of British baking in Japan. “Most Japanese people would just say scones if you asked them, unless they are fans. And I have met some very knowledgeable fans of British baked sweets. They even question me on my technique for making apple pies because they know it very well,” says Ward who is a self-taught baker.

Mornington Crescent got a boost after she appeared on an NHK program titled “Gretel’s Magical Oven,” which introduces a sweet, its recipe and some background story to it each week. “I had to talk about lemon meringue pie and what lemons mean to British people,” Ward says.

Facebook has helped spread the word, too, especially through the British Embassy’s “A Taste of Britain” campaign. The result is a growing number of Japanese signing up for lessons. “So far, they are all women, but I’d like to have moms and dads come in with their kids for baking lessons.”

Lessons, which last about 2 or 2 1/2 hours, cost 6,000 yen. Depending on what is being baked, class numbers can range from four to about 16. Tickets can be booked online.

Ward says she is not sure yet if or when she will expand the open bakery day concept to become a retail store selling items each day. “It’s only me right now, so I need to be careful and slow. I’m trying to do it in a manageable way. I can’t open every day and make everything all the time,” she says.

Sometimes, people do walk in off the street, thinking Mornington Crescent is a bakery, or looking for a cup of tea. Ward confesses that one friendly lady in her 90s finessed her into selling her some shortbread.

The next open bakery days are July 26, Aug 9 and Aug 23. Doors open at 11 a.m. Get there early. You won’t leave disappointed.

Address: Casa do Namaki 101 Higashi-Azabu 2-14-3 Minato-ku 106-0044

© Japan Today