BREAD BAKING COURSES

The times they are a changing! Over the years we have run our courses we notice a much larger number of "beginners" taking part, and wanting a wider choice of baking styles. In the coming year we are making ALL our courses suitable for beginners and more experienced home bakers!

With a maximum of four people, we ensure you get the most from the demonstrations of techniques, benefit from individual tuition as you do them yourself, with have plenty of opportunity to ask questions. This gives you an enjoyable baking experience and confidence in the skills you learn for more successful baking!

Home baked bread - more than just following a recipe

Bread making is not only an interest; it can become a way of life. Hand crafted bread is easy , and takes very little time, once you know the basic steps.

SO WHAT HAPPENS ON THESE COURSES?

All our bread baking courses have a practical focus and you will be guided through a series of well tested recipes appropriate for the domestic home baker. Baking bread is more than following a recipe and you will learn many of the baking techniques and artistry that are so often overlooked in the recipe books. Course materials are provided for your own personal use and include recipe sheets with timings, and prompts sheets covering the techniques and question and answer sessions.

The Well Cottage has a well equipped domestic kitchen with familiar equipment so that the bread recipes you try out and techniques you learn can easily be repeated at home.

Ingredients We pride ourselves on sourcing and using local organic ingredients and all ingredients and equipment are provided. For baking sessions all flour is stone ground from organic grain milled at local windmills. All you will need is an apron and suitable containers bags or basket for your bread!

Refreshments We include Tea/coffee/squash and home make biscuits/flapjack during the day and a vegetarian “Bakers lunch” with freshly made bread and home make and locally sourced produce.

One day Courses start at 9.30am and finish approx 4.30pm, depending on the bread! As well as developing your baking skills first hand, you will take home all your bread at the end of the day !

CHOOSING A COURSE

Base your course choice on your bread baking interest. Our range of courses are shown below.

Look at Baking Bookings for dates and prices

BRITISH BREADS - Introduction to Bread Baking

This baking course with a British Breads theme is the best place to start for absolute beginners!

You will make a range of British yeasted breads beginning with an “everyday dough” to make soft breakfast rolls. You will have the opportunity to make variety of breads such as a crusty Cob , traditional tin loaves, and a poppy seed bloomer a rustic wholemeal loaf. Our course includes an introduction to wholemeal flours to make wholesome rustic loaves such as a Welsh clay pot loaf. Tuition will follow a series of easy steps from mixing the ingredients, kneading, shaping and proving, to baking. With individual help you will learn many useful practical baking skills and will have time for discussion about the techniques, ingredients, and storage. Recipe sheets and technique prompts are provided for you to take away to use at home. Even if you already bake your own bread this will help you gain consistency in your baking. Armed with the best of British Your baking journey begins here.

Dates and booking

NON YEASTED BREADS- Introduction to Bread Baking NEW

This course shows you how to make traditional breads without bakers yeast. Often much quicker than yeasted breads, these recipes avoid the use of bakers yeast, but instead rely on other raising agents. This course will enable you to make a range of delicious rustic breads, including Soda breads, griddle or pan breads, and flat oven baked breads such as Piadini and crisp breads. Learn how to use raising agents, and how to make, handle, shape, and bake non yeasted doughs. We will use a variety of stone ground flours suitable for these types of breads, and recipe and tips sheets are provided summarising the techniques we encounter during the day.

Dates and booking

CONTINENTAL BREADS - Introduction to Bread Baking NEW

A course to show you how to use your conventional oven to be successful with a selection of of the regional speciality breads from countries bordering the Mediterranean. Using a range of stone-ground flours you will get a chance to explore the taste and texture of breads which will add a little warmth to a dreary winters day or equally add another dimension to your summer picnic. Included are flat "quick bake" breads such as Flamiche, and a rustic Fougasse with olives. A crusty French Baton , Ciabatta, and a rustic Sicilian loaf will allow you to explore a range of stone ground flours.

Recipe sheets and technique prompts are provided for you to take away to use at home. Dates and booking

SWEET AND SAVOURY BREADS- Introduction to Bread Baking NEW

Using a range of traditional yeasted recipes we will make a mixture of sweet and savoury breads . You will see how to work with bakers yeast to make enriched doughs containing butter, sugar and egg. The recipes will help you to understand how flour type and the addition of other ingredients affects the flavour and character of the bread, and how to incorporate sweet ingredients such as fruit and sugar, or savoury ingredients such as cheese or herbs ! Recipe sheets are provided for the enriched, sweet or savoury recipes, including Chelsea buns, a savoury "pull apart" bread, a delicious olive bread , an enriched four grain and a traditional "Lincolnshire Plumb bread". Recipe sheets and summaries for the techniques covered during the day are provided for you to take away to use at home. Dates and booking

TRADITIONAL BAKING – EXPLORING FLOURS, SOUR DOUGH AND SLOW FERMENTS NEW

If you want to expand your bread baking repertoire, try this course! This course is ideal for those who have already baked bread by hand or have done one of our other Introduction to Baking courses.

You will make a variety of traditional breads using three different types of ferments, each giving the bread a distinctive flavour and character. In addition our baking journey includes the use and blending of a range of stone ground flours such as organic white, spelt and wholemeal. We begin with fresh bakers yeast to make a Focaccia and a traditional Tuscan round, and rustic breads such as a Four Grain loaf . We use an overnight slow ferment to make a Beer and Oat bread or an Italian Pagnotta. Finally using a a “wild yeast” sour dough we will make a traditional "Country" loaf. Recipe sheets and prompt sheets to summarise the techniques we carry out during the day including making biga, and starting maintaining and storing sour doughs. This course will offer an insight into making a range of traditional artisan breads, and in turn help you to extend your baking repertoire Dates and booking

THE WOODFIRED BAKING EXPERIENCE (GROUP BOOKING)

A wood fired baking experience is now available as a group booking for 3-6 friends or work colleagues in a convivial bread baking experience. You will find out how to prepare doughs , then shape and bake a range of traditional breads in our brick wood fired oven, using our local stone-ground flour. Our day includes quick cook breads such as pizzas, Focaccia and other hearth cooked flat breads.

After a convivial lunch of your freshly baked breads, you will have the opportunity to make some rustic full flavoured breads such as Roman Spelt loaves or a Polish Rye bread, baked in the wood fired oven.

This is an opportunity to have a memorable baking experience and add a new dimension to your baking. All the recipes you will try can easily be replicated in a domestic oven and we will provide recipe sheets for use at home. No previous baking experience is necessary and our course tutors will guide you through oven handling and the traditional bread making and baking process! Dates and booking

WHERE ARE COURSES HELD?

Courses are held in Little Bytham, Lincolnshire. Little Bytham is between Stamford and Grantham in the West of Lincolnshire, about 10 mins drive from the A1

GROUP BOOKINGS? It may be possible to arrange a group booking for ANY type of course

(Minimum of 3 and maximum of 4 persons required) and arrange a special date. An excellent day for friends, family, or work colleagues.

reciPES

By popular request from those who have been on our courses

Organic pickles; Organic piccalilli and Spicy apple chutney

Biscuits ; Flapjack and Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS

Bread is more than following a recipe. It is important to make a careful choice of good quality ingredients and gain confidence in using what works well for you!

Click here to find out more about flour and other ingredients