Fresh cafe food ideas for breakfast, brunch, lunch and the cabinet, all starting with dough you bake in your own oven.
Toast, rolls, focaccia and scrolls can carry a cafe menu from breakfast through to the afternoon cabinet.
These cafe menu ideas are built on dough bases from the Suprima range. We make the dough from scratch, and you bake it fresh, without the extra time, effort and cost.
Read on for menu ideas by time of day, and how to bake them in a small cafe kitchen.
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See every dough base your cafe can bake, from Vienna loaves to scrolls.
Breakfast Menu Ideas for Your Cafe
These cafe breakfast ideas use dough you thaw overnight and bake fresh in the morning.
- French toast. Bake a High Top loaf from White Vienna dough and slice it thick for French toast, served with berries and maple syrup, or bacon.
- Avocado on toast. Toast a slice of Multigrain, Wholemeal or German Rye Vienna, or a White Vienna cob, and top it with smashed avocado and a poached egg.
- Bacon and egg rolls. Bake White Round Rolls, or Wholemeal or Multigrain Jumbo Round Rolls, as burger buns and fill them with bacon, a fried egg and relish. For a bigger breakfast burger, the 110g jumbo round roll takes a beef patty as well.
- Avocado and cheese scruffins. Bake Aussie scrolls in a muffin tin, topped with avocado and shredded cheese. They're a breakfast people can eat with one hand, and they look good in the cabinet.
- Cinnamon scrolls. A warm cinnamon scroll with a coffee is an easy add-on at the counter. Glaze them after baking.
Brunch Menu Ideas to Share
These brunch menu ideas are made to share at the table, and both start with a White Vienna loaf.
- Savoury twist. Roll spinach, feta, sundried tomatoes, olives and cheese into the dough, cut and fold the top into a leaf pattern, and finish with cheese and sea salt. An artisan-style share plate, baked fresh.
- Pull apart bread. Roll ham and cheese, or chicken, mushroom and herbs, into the dough, set it in a tin, cut the top and finish with cheese and sea salt. Serve warm for the table to tear. See our cinnamon pull apart bread for a sweet version.
Cafe Lunch Ideas
These cafe lunch ideas can be baked ahead and served warm or from the display.
- Olive and herb focaccia. Flatten Crusty White or Multigrain Vienna dough, dimple it, push in olives and herbs, and finish with sea salt and cheese. Serve it in squares beside soup, or split and filled as a lunch sandwich.
- Ham and cheese rolls. Cut the top of White Round Rolls and fill with ham and cheese. The dough rises around the filling as it proofs, so they're ready to sell warm.
- Cheese and bacon rolls. Our cheese and bacon rolls come fully baked, so they go straight into the display with no baking needed.
- Garlic bread. Bake a French stick, cut slits along it, fill them with garlic butter and finish it in foil. Serve it as a side with a lunch special. Our guide to making garlic bread has the steps.
For sandwich and toastie fillings, see our sandwich filling ideas.
Cafe Snacks for the Cabinet
Cafe snacks in a freshly baked display give people who came in for a coffee something to add.
- Cream buns. Fill fruit buns or finger buns with whipped cream and a little jam. Here's how to make cream buns.
- Iced finger buns. Bake our finger buns, then ice them and add sprinkles for the cabinet.
- Cinnamon scroll tea cake. Bake cinnamon scrolls together in a round tin and drizzle with glaze, then sell it by the slice.
For a cabinet line with no baking at all, our Grab & Go scrolls come individually wrapped and ready to display.
Seasonal Specials
At Easter, bake hot cross buns in Traditional or Double Chocolate. Outside Easter, the Traditional dough bakes as a fruit loaf or fruit-filled tea cake, and focaccia toppings can change with the season.
How to Bake Fresh in a Small Cafe Kitchen
The baked ideas above start with a Suprima dough base, so your team only handles the part customers see.
Thaw
Move the dough from the freezer to the fridge the night before, and only thaw what you expect to sell.
Create
Shape, fill or top it for the menu item you're making.
Proof
Let it rise until it reaches full size.
Bake Fresh
Bake it fresh and put it straight into the cabinet or onto the plate.
Each product comes with a method sheet covering preparation, baking and finishing.
Start with one or two lines that fit your menu, and add more once they’re selling. Many of the ideas above come from the same dough base, so a new cafe menu item doesn’t always mean a new product in your freezer.
Taste trials and ordering details are on our cafe wholesale suppliers page.
A Versatile Solution
Each Suprima dough is a versatile dough base you can bake more than one way. Every dough comes with method sheets for its creative variations, so you can trial a new menu item using a dough you already stock.
Here’s the Suprima product behind each idea. Our method sheets show how to make each creative variation.
- French toast: High Top loaf, a creative variation of our White Vienna 760g.
- Avocado on toast: Multigrain Vienna, Wholemeal Vienna or German Rye Vienna 700g, or the Cob variation of our White Vienna 760g.
- Bacon and egg rolls: Hamburger Roll variation of our White Round Rolls, or the Jumbo Hamburger variation of our Jumbo White, Jumbo Wholemeal or Jumbo Multigrain Round Rolls 110g for a breakfast burger.
- Avocado and cheese scruffins: Topped Aussie Scruffins, a creative variation of our Aussie Scroll.
- Cinnamon scrolls: our Cinnamon Scroll.
- Savoury twist: Savoury Twist variation of our White Vienna 760g.
- Pull apart bread: Pull Apart variation of our White Vienna 760g.
- Olive and herb focaccia: Olive and Herb Focaccia variation of our Crusty White Vienna 550g or Multigrain Vienna.
- Ham and cheese rolls: Ham and Cheese Roll variation of our White Round Rolls.
- Cheese and bacon rolls: our fully baked Cheese and Bacon Rolls.
- Garlic bread: Garlic Bread variation of our French Stick 480g.
- Cream buns: Fruit Filled Cream Buns off our Traditional Hot Cross Bun dough, or our Plain Finger Bun 80g.
- Iced finger buns: our Plain Finger Bun 80g, finished with icing and sprinkles.
- Cinnamon scroll tea cake: Cinnamon Scroll Tea Cake variation of our Cinnamon Scroll.
- Hot cross buns: our Hot Cross Bun dough in Traditional and Double Chocolate, with Traditional also baking as a Traditional Fruit Loaf or Fruit Filled Tea Cake.
Cafe Menu Questions
What is a typical cafe menu?
A typical cafe menu covers breakfast, a light lunch and a cabinet of sweet and savoury bakes, alongside coffee and other drinks. Bread can run through all of it, from toast and rolls at breakfast to filled focaccia at lunch and scrolls in the cabinet.
What are some simple menu ideas for a cafe?
Simple cafe menu ideas include toast on fresh Vienna bread, bacon and egg rolls, filled focaccia, and scrolls or scruffins for the cabinet. Baked from Suprima dough, they’re thawed overnight and baked fresh in the morning, saving your team time and effort.
What is the most popular cafe food?
Breakfast staples such as toast, bacon and egg rolls and French toast, with cinnamon scrolls in the cabinet, are familiar favourites on Australian cafe menus. It all starts with dough, so baking it fresh in your own oven gives customers amazing-quality food they love.
What sells well in a cafe cabinet?
A cafe cabinet can carry sweet and savoury bakes side by side, such as cream buns, iced finger buns, filled scrolls and focaccia squares. Bake small batches through the morning so the display looks full and fresh, and set the sweet items near the coffee queue where people wait.
Do I need a bakery to bake fresh bread in a cafe?
No, a cafe can bake fresh bread, rolls and scrolls with freezer space, room in the fridge for the overnight thaw, and an oven. Without a proofer, the dough can proof covered in a warm spot, following its method sheet. It takes a fraction of the space a full bakery set-up needs.
