one-day course bread making

location: nr Sudbury, Suffolk

John Lawrence will be running an intensive one-day course to help people to improve their bread-making skills. The course will combine hands–on baking with an understanding of what is going on in bread-making and will cover:

• Three different rising methods: sourdough, yeast and soda
• The role of gluten and alternatives as used in brioche
• Several flour types including white, wholemeal, rye, spelt and also non-gluten flours such as teff, rice, corn and channa dhal
• Working dough
• Different presentational styles and flavourings

John is keen to help people develop a feel for the subject so they can experiment in their own bread-making. After this course you’ll be confident you can make delicious, healthy bread that rises, and you’ll come away with 4-5 loaves for dinner, breakfast or the freezer. We will provide all ingredients (£7 per person) and baking tins, some notes on bread-making and recipes for the loaves you will have made.

NB:  We shall NOT be making a white loaf, but you can adapt your new skills to doing that at home!

What to bring:   participants should aim to bring with them the following:

• 2 mixing bowls, 8” – 10” diameter
• a wooden spoon
• if you like, an apron
• if possible,  electronic weighing scales and a roasting dish which can also be used to take your loaves away in
• some flavourings such as nuts, seeds, cinnamon or raisins to add you your loaves
• a small kilner jar, if you would like to take home some sourdough leaven

Tutor John Lawrence worked in commercial bakers and pie makers in his youth and always enjoyed baking in the form of his mother’s cakes. As a result of his wife developing a wheat intolerance he began to experiment with bread-making and found the widespread understanding of how to make bread was not very effective. He has now developed a range of techniques for creating delicious and healthy breads to suit a range of diets. Prompted by friends he has used this experience to create a short course to share these skills with others.

dates: see 'book online' below

more on bread & baking

the venue is a 70-acre organic farm near Sudbury in Suffolk