The tickets for each event are £15 per demonstration, including refreshments and £5 off the price of my new book “Short & Sweet”, a mammoth compendium on baking.
For tickets call Booka Bookshop on 01691 662244 or email mail@bookabookshop.co.uk
The demonstrations will be held at:
The Walls Restaurant,
Welsh Walls,
Oswestry,
Shropshire
SY11 1AW.

Ideally, come along to both sessions to get an intense top-up for your baking skills and understanding:

11am: Breadmaking – from easy breads to sourdough
In the morning I’ll start with explaining how you can easily customise a basic simple bread recipe – the sort that turns out crisp and light with a soft crumb, using everyday flour and little else – into something more elaborate using more unusual flours from mills like Little Salkeld, as well as how to add ingredients like onions, olives or herbs. Then we’ll look at different ways to get the crumb open and aerated, and I’ll explain how sourdough can help you achieve that. They’ll be lots of time for questions and do bring along you bread if you want help with it, or just reassurance. The morning is equally suited to absolute beginners as well as more experienced bakers, so bring along your questions as I’m sure we’ll answer or know where to look.

3pm: Cakemaking – soft cakes and delicious icing
Baking cakes that combine good looks with a soft moist crumb and a well-risen shape is a little tricky, but with a few secrets you’ll easily improve your favourite recipes and become more confident with your cake baking. I’ll explain how tweaks to the basic ingredients can dramatically improve the moistness and shape of your cakes made from your own recipes, and explain how different cake mixing techniques can be varied to, say, make a cake that slices better or keeps longer (yes, even the technique you use to mix the cake affects how long it keeps). I’ll explain about different ingredients affect the way icing performs, and look at how chocolate cakes can be both soft and rich with flavour. Again, suitable for beginners as well as more experienced cake bakers.

There’s also the issue of working with authentic stone-milled flour, that has a coarser texture that the more typical roller milled type. There are ways I’ll discuss that will help you get a dough that’s easier to shape with a good crumb structure from real stone-milled flour, and ways to combine it with roller milled flour so that you still capture the strong flavour and colour of the artisan milled type.

Simply, anyone who wants call themselves as an artisan baker can’t honestly do so without using at least some flour from a traditional cornmiller…otherwise you’re just hiding behind factory ingredients hoping no-one will notice. It’s time to come out and support the traditional mills that will help you make the best bread.

Saturday 16th April 2011,
The NFU Mutual’s HQ,
Tiddington Road,
Stratford-Upon-Avon,
Warwickshire CV37 7BJ
Tickets: £50, in aid of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
I’ll be speaking at 12:00 midday, in a session called “The Baker’s Tale”
Download a pdf booking form here

or go to www.spab.org.uk for more information

Dan will be running ‘hands-on’ sourdough bread making classes at Cookery School in central London on the following dates in 2011:

Saturday 26 March

Saturday 21 May

Saturday 30 July

Saturday 24 September

Saturday 26 November

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 with Dan, either over the traditional Cookery School lunch or at the end of the day, and to ask him about any problems you may be having with your loaves.

These classes are suitable for a passionate beginner or someone with some experience of bread making who wants to refine and develop their skills, and Dan tries to provide a fairly full day of practical bread making tuition. The location is not wheelchair accessible (one flight of stairs) and the class size is limited to 14 people.

All bookings should be made through Cookery School (email info@cookeryschool.co.uk or telephone 020 7631 4590), or email us if there’s anything you’d like to check before booking.

Several times a year I hold very intensive hands-on baking classes at Cookery School in London – details are usually posted at www.danlepard.com/forum under the heading Baking Classes. They may seem a little pricey, as you’re in a small group and it’s almost like a personal baking day with me – but perfect if you want to fast-track your baking skills.

However, this year I also wanted to do something more inclusive, affordable and easy, for anyone who has even the slightest yearning to bake without going overboard on techniques and complexity. So when the Oundle International Festival organisers wanted to make bread baking a big part of their summer event it looked like the right opportunity.

Tickets for each workshop are £12.50, children under 12 free. Book for both events and receive a £5.00 discount.

On Saturday 17th July 2010 I am doing two demonstrations:

10.30am: The easiest fastest bread making class in the world:

If you’ve never even made bread then this demonstration class will get you riding on a bread roll. We’ll use a very easy recipe, made with affordable ingredients, and produce a light textured, moist and well-flavoured bread with barely any kneading or shaping. You’ll leave thinking “that’s a bread I can make at home”. Demonstration lasts 90 minutes.

2.00pm: Sourdough: how to bake a better loaf:

Learn the three-stage sourdough method that will transform your bread and make it light, full of aeration, and produce a rounded loaf no matter what recipe you use. Whether you’re a sourdough novice or an experienced baker, the demonstration will give you the important techniques that will improve your baking quickly. Demonstration lasts 120 minutes.

The classes will take place in the Victoria Hall, West Street with tickets available from the Oundle International Festival Box Office, 4 New Street, Oundle PE8 4ED 01832 274734 or online at www.oundlefoodfestival.co.uk