It's Friday! Do you have any plans to bake this weekend? That is - if you can get hold of some flour! If you're #baking with self-raising (self-rising) flour, you might give a nod to its inventor, Bristol baker Henry Jones.

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In 1845, Jones applied for a patent for a revolutionary invention that would change baking forever - a process of baking without yeast! The patent is now held @bristolarchives. Jones's patent flour made baking much easier and faster and of course he claimed it tasted better too!

Within a year, Jones's self-raising flour was so popular that he was appointed purveyor of patent flour and biscuits to Queen Victoria! Jones later worked with Florence Nightingale to improve the quality of bread given to soldiers deployed in the Crimea.
Image @ExploreWellcome

But what does this have to do with the Friends of Friendless Churches, you might ask? Well, in 1838 Henry Jones married Ann Pride, who was born in Llanfihangel Rogiet. They married there at St Michael's, now a church in our care.

By the 1860s, Jones was able to retire from his Bristol business to become a Gentleman Farmer in Caldicot, just two miles from St Michael's. You can learn more about this Victorian baking entrepreneur in this blog from our archives: https://bit.ly/2ygN0kQ 

Now, what better way to celebrate Henry Jones’s legacy than with a recipe for one of our favourite self-raising flour bakes - Lemon Drizzle Cake Do you have a favourite self-raising flour recipe to share? Wishing you all happy baking!