above: the bread I baked at home just before the last sourdough class, which we ate with lunch.

I’ll be running more ‘hands-on’ sourdough bread making classes at Cookery School, Little Portland Street, London during 2012, and the first few dates are:

Saturday 28th January 2012 - SOLD OUT
Saturday 31st March 2012 - SOLD OUT
Saturday 26th May 2012

The classes will run from 9.00am to approximately 4.30pm, and will cover all the stages from making and keeping a healthy leaven through to the finished loaves coming out of the oven, with a special session devoted to shaping your dough to create that perfect effect. There is also time to talk about your baking with me, either over the traditional Cookery School lunch or at the end of the day, and to ask about any problems you may be having with your loaves. (more…)

It’s not often that I’m out in the big ol’ world, just baking, but for certain days it seems the right thing. So for World Aids Day on December 1st I’ll be doing just that: for one evening at the Wandsworth Oasis charity bookshop at 17, Trinity Road, Tooting, South London. It’s a small charity in my area of south London, helping local people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and having lost many very close friends over the years to this illness I thought I’d make a start by doing more to help them.

On Thursday December 1st, at 7:30 pm  I’ll be talking about baking and writing: about working in kitchens and how to survive in them without losing your mind, and how changing paths in life will invite new opportunities and ideas in. There will be sweet things I’ve baked for you to try, and everyone who buys a ticket – £25 per person – gets a signed copy of my book as well.

Space is very limited – hey, it’s a charity shop with only so much standing room - but equally it will be intimate with lots of time to ask David (my partner and the editor of Short & Sweet) or me questions, meet other people and help a charity that does brilliant work every day of the year.

To find out more and buy a ticket, call at the shop or contact:
Gill Perkins
Chief Executive
Wandsworth Oasis Trading Company Limited
via their website, at http://wandsworthoasis.org
or tel: 07970 349740

The event details:
when: December 1st 2011
where: Wandsworth Oasis, 17 Trinity Road, Tooting, SW17 7SD
time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
venue telephone: 020 8682 9813

A quick note to let you know about two baking events this week:

Tomorrow 18th October I’ll be at the Guildford Book Festival at the Electric Theatre, 12:30, talking about baking, books and getting the most from both: what to look for when you’re buying a baking book, how to choose one that will suit the baking you have in mind, and of course how to get the flavours and textures in the breads, cakes and cookies that you bake that seem a little elusive. I’ll be answering all your questions and wont rush away at the end. For further details go to the www.guildfordbookfestival.co.uk page about the talk. It’s a bargain at £6 and will leave you much more confident in your baking and with more tips to dazzle your friends with.

Then next Sunday 23rd October, up in Durham at the Palace Green (next to the beautiful Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle) at 12 midday I’ll be talking about bread, sourdough, and getting the perfect crust and crumb in your bread. Give me a nudge and I’ll get onto cakes and Christmas planning, but whatever baking you’re into we’ll have the answer. The event will be as much about exploring your own baking ideas and successes, and getting everyone exchanging ideas. One big mixing bowl of baking ideas. Even better: the talk is free. Just bring yourselves, something warm if this winter weather gets to us sooner than expected, and enjoy some of the baking from the Palace Green Café. For further details go to www.durhambookfestival.com.

See you there!

Next week I’ll be doing two baking events: demonstrating breadmaking, from sourdough to everyday, at 2:30pm on Monday 3rd October the Eden Project in Cornwall; and then later that week on Thursday 6th October at 6:30pm I’ll be demonstrating chocolate baking at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly. Both will be intense with secrets and tips to make sure you leave with a much better idea on how to avoid those bits in your baking you want to change. If you want to stop your bread going soft after baking, get a chocolate cake that’s extra soft and rich, or just make your baking that bit easier and less stressful then I’ll help you achieve just that.

The Eden Project details: Britain’s most respected and extraordinary ecological “dreamland” in Cornwall, The Eden Project is hosting a Harvest Food Festival, in part organised by Clive Cobb from The Town Mill Bakery with the aim to inspire baking in Britain and reconnect visitors with the seasons in grain growing and farming. I’ll be showing how to develop a sourdough, get that loaf light and aerated (you’ll never make a doorstop loaf again, I promise), and then use those slow and gentle baking techniques on everyday baking with simple yeast bread. The session runs from 3pm until 4pm, utterly free once you’ve paid your entrance to the Eden Project, and a lovely way to break you visit that afternoon. I will be there from lunchtime that day, so if you get there early do say hello. Absolutely looking forward to it.

Waterstone’s Piccadilly details: We’re going all chocolate on Thursday 6th October at the mighty Waterstone’s bookshop in London’s Piccadilly, easy to get to as it’s just by Piccadilly Circus tube station. I’ll de demonstrating how to get your chocolate brownies to hold a dense fudgy texture, keep the crumb of your chocolate cakes soft with a “just-baked” texture, explain why some forms of chocolate are better than others in baking, and guide you on where to spend and what to save on with baking: some ingredients just aren’t worth the price in some recipes. The evening is just £6 with a glass of wine (or something lighter if you want that), and plenty of time to ask you questions and get the most from the evening. For more info and booking either telephone 020 7851 2419 or go to the Waterstone’s website.