When I discovered my local bakers did masterclasses in bread making I was thrilled and eagerly emailed my mum to see if it was something she thought my Dad might like as his birthday present. You see for me I didn't want to attend it alone, I did that when I did my cake decorating course and although I really enjoyed it it's not the same as sharing the experience with someone else. Answer was he would love it, so I quickly booked us both onto it.
Fast forward a couple of months and one bright Saturday morning my Dad and I enter Warings demonstration studio, we were greeted by our baker Alan and his sister Janet. One side of the room was laid out for our afternoon tea while the other had 9 positions around a massive table, to the back of the room was a long table with 45 bowls laid out in 8 rows of 5 with each row having one of our names on it.
Once everyone had arrived we made a start on making our 1st bread, a Ciabatta. The principles of making the doughs to begin with are pretty similar. From there we made our Rye followed by the wholemeal, crusty rolls then lastly the enriched dough. After each dough was made they were left to prove.
Then came knocking back before the final proving then finally cooking. For each dough we were shown what could be made from it, so for example from the crusty roll dough we made a pizza and some rolls and then from the enriched dough we made a flavoured twist and a focaccia.
After each dough was in the oven it was time to relax and enjoy the afternoon tea while they baked. At the end of the day we were able to take home our bakes as well as a bag of white flour, live yeast and some recipe cards so we could give it a go our selves at home.
The masterclass cost £99 each (price correct as of 30/8/14) and I have to say it was brilliant value. The day lasted just over 4 hours, I learnt so much and had a very enjoyable day thanks to the other bakers, Alan and Janet. So much so we've already inquired about their sweet dough class.
Would I recommend it YES! It's a trully fabulous class one of the best I've done.
Thanks again Warings for a fabulous day
