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Big up your baking, Oundle Festival, Sat 17 July

by Dan Lepard
Big up your baking, Oundle Festival, Sat 17 July

A few times a year I hold very intensive hands-on baking classes at Cookery School in London, There are two coming up, Friday 9th July and Friday 10th September. They can seem a little pricy, as you’re in a small group and it’s almost like a personal baking day with me – but perfect if [...]

Sourdough classes

by David Whitehouse
Sourdough classes

Dan will be returning to Cookery School, near Oxford Circus in central London, to teach his popular Sourdough masterclass on two dates in the next few weeks: Friday July 9th and Friday September 10th 2010. The classes will run from 9.30am to approximately 4.30pm, and will cover all the stages from making and keeping a [...]

Australia: Melbourne: Loafer Bread

by Dan Lepard
Australia: Melbourne: Loafer Bread

I took these photos when Loafer was owned and run by brothers Georg and Antoine von Baich and their family, two Canadians who were such a vital part of good baking in Melbourne during their years there. Though they’ve now moved to Europe to pursue new ambitions, I understand that Loafer continues to produce some [...]

Photo Gallery: Amsterdam: 108 Haarlemmerstraat

by Dan Lepard
Photo Gallery: Amsterdam: 108 Haarlemmerstraat

When we visited, this bakery was known as ‘Crust & Crumbs’, but we understand it has since re-opened as the ‘Vlaamsch Broodhuys’.

Hot, Cross & Bothered

by Michael Hanson
Hot, Cross & Bothered

We asked baker Michael Hanson to search out and compare the best and worst in Hot Cross Buns. “Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns, one a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross Buns”. Except that at Harvey Nichols, the ultra-swish London department store

Opening up the crumb

by Dan Lepard
Opening up the crumb

Combining techniques in the commercial bakery to create holes, lightness and a majestic slice Remember: baking is not a set of separate processes, but rather one single process defined by different stages. Thus, change any part and you will cause changes in every subsequent stage, from mixing to baking. Assess each of the ideas presented [...]

Crisp, golden, light, salty & oily

by Dan Lepard
Crisp, golden, light, salty & oily

Making a Focaccia Genovese in a commercial bakery (originally published in British Baker) Foccacia has a home, in Italy, and a birthplace in the town of Genoa. That’s what Italians from Genoa tell me. But then as every man, woman and child of Italian extraction seems to have a slightly different take on their homeland’s [...]

A baguette by any other name……

by Dan Lepard
A baguette by any other name……

…would smell as sweet. Recipes and tricks for improving your sticks (Originally published in British Baker) Recipes for the perfect baguette are probably as numerous as bakeries in France, and each baker appears to claim a secret ingredient or technique that makes him the star boulanger. But do they have anything in common? Well, flour [...]

A pressing time in Cambridge

by Dan Lepard
A pressing time in Cambridge

Apple juice, champagne and a wood-fired oven, with Jack Lang and Jill Grey.
The aims of the home baker are varied. For some, the

swirly

Bake class: is it twirly for cake?

by Dan Lepard
Bake class: is it twirly for cake?

Marble cake recipes involve what appear at first to be a simple technique swirling two mixtures together in the tin. But getting those curves perfectly placed involves a little delicate intervention in the kitchen (if you want to try the technique, there’s a recipe here). Surely a marble cake is a strike against good taste? [...]