Where to Find Good Baking Flour Without Having to Visit a Busy Supermarket

During the COVID-19 lockdown, many Australians have turned to home baking for comfort. Scroll through your Instagram feed and you're sure to see an overexcited jar of sourdough starter, a misshapen loaf or a #squishvid. Head on over to your local supermarket, though, and you're likely to find empty shelves where the flour once sat.

This isn't just the scenario in Australia, either. According to Miller Magazine, flour demand has doubled in the UK and French supermarket sales have tripled, and in an episode of Samin Nosrat's new podcast Home Cooking a desperate Angelean asks how to make their wife white cake without the hard-to-find white flour (hint: you can't).

But, if you're keen to begin your own baking adventures, not all hope is lost. You might actually find the elusive powder hiding at your local restaurant or cafe. As restaurants have been forced to adapt during the closure of non-essential indoor venues, many have pivoted to providing their local communities with grocery essentials and produce boxes. And one of the essential products they're selling is — you guessed it — flour.

Emma Joyce

Many Sydney cafes, including Marrickville's Cherry Moon, Brickfields in Chippendale, St Peters' Sample Coffee and Surry Hills' Reuben Hills and Single O, now have flour on their shelves, available to pick up or (in some cases) deliver. If you're looking for the gluten-free version, Waverley's Wholegreen Bakery has you covered.

Two pubs, The Tudor Hotel and The Royal Hotel, are now convenience stores, stocking toilet paper, hand sanitiser and, yes, flour. Some restaurants are also selling produce boxes, including Fratelli Fresh, which are filled with a heap of pantry staples.

In Melbourne, non-profit cafe Sibling has its own online store with baking ingredients, including flour and yeast, while St Kilda East's Grosvenor Hotel and Lamaro's Hotel in South Melbourne both have their own a bottle-o and shop. Ted's Grocer — formerly all-day diner Theodore's — also has produce boxes and essentials.

If you've already jumped on the baking trend and are looking at other quarantine cooking projects to start, we're rounded up six fun, tasty and time-consuming recipes you can try out here.

If and when you do decide to head out to get groceries, remember to follow the Australian Government Department of Health's social distancing guidelines.

Top image: Cherry Moon by Kitti Gould