Nottingham's sweetest nutty bakes and treats
We spent a fortnight working through Nottingham's nut-laden brownies — hazelnut praline, walnut fudge, pistachio squares — and scored every one on crackle, gooeyness and nut-to-cake ratio. Here's what's worth your £4 in 2026, and what's just an expensive slab of cocoa.
We cleared a shelf’s worth of supermarket nut roasts and put them through a proper Nottingham kitchen test: nuttiness, texture, gravy retention and value. Here is the 2026 league table, plus the tins and local extras that actually earn their place beside the sprouts.
A three-stop trail through Nottingham’s nuttiest afternoon teas, from walnut scones in the Lace Market to hazelnut praline éclairs in Hockley. With price notes, booking tips and a firm view on clotted cream.
Almond, chestnut and hazelnut flours go head to head in Nottingham’s gluten-free bakeries — and in a home oven. Texture notes, local stockists and a forgiving friand recipe for anyone ready to ditch the wheat-flour substitute.
Commercial hazelnut spread has quietly become the default shortcut in too many Nottingham bakes, and it's costing us flavour. An argument for whole nuts, homemade praline and small-batch pastes — plus a friendly challenge for the year ahead.
A wind-bitten tour of seven Nottingham independents doing hot chocolate with a proper nutty backbone — praline stirrers, almond-milk mochas and peanut butter marshmallows included. Each cup scored on flavour, value and how long you want to stay put.
Pistachio is no longer a niche nut in Nottingham. From croissants to ice cream, this taste test ranks the city's best pistachio bakes on nuttiness, texture and value.
Nottingham's Christmas market is full of sweet stalls, but only some treat nuts as the main event. This festive crawl hunts down praline brownies, hazelnut stollen and pistachio shortbread that are worth the queue in December 2026.
Marzipan has been filed under Christmas cake duty for too long. This opinion-led Bake Trail argues for a proper almond paste revival, with Nottingham bakers, chocolatiers and a practical guide to buying and enjoying better marzipan in 2026.
A £5 note does not have to mean a sad desk biscuit. We tested nutty bakes and sweet treats across Nottingham, scoring flavour, texture, nut content and value, to find the best budget indulgence for 2026.
We bought four jars of nut butter available on UK shelves — hazelnut, pistachio, walnut and almond — ate them off a spoon and then baked them into brownies and shortbread. The results are a guide to what actually works in a home oven, and an argument that Nottingham's bakery counters could stand to loosen up a bit.
Four independent stops, one flat two-and-a-half-mile walk and an unreasonable amount of chestnut purée: our winter route through Sneinton Market, Hockley and Sherwood, with the bakes and hot drinks worth ordering at each. Plus how to plan your own nutty crawl without collapsing in a sugar heap by stop three.