The other night I ventured out in a torrential downpour and returned with a tray of Chelsea buns somewhat blackened on the bottom. Yes I had been to night class. It doesn’t sound very encouraging but the buns tasted delicious once the blackened bits were removed. The burning was the fault of a somewhat dodgy oven.
I’ve been to a number of night classes over the years – woodworking and yoga revealed my personal inadequacies in those fields but breadmaking has been fun and I have been learning heaps – not to mention eating some delicious fancy breads. My multicultural classmates and teacher bring all sorts of interesting traditions and ideas to the class. The course culminated in me producing a very nice wholemeal loaf. (Pictorial evidence provided on request).
Now I feel ready to practice what I have learnt and follow up by dipping into the great collection of resources at our libraries. One of the best known baking gurus writing these days is Dean Brettschneider who began his training at the famous Rangiora Bakery.