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 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

I’ll be holding two baking demonstrations this Saturday 5th November in Oswestry, Shropshire, one at 11am on breadmaking (everything from the simplest to the most complex loaves) and one at 3pm cake baking (yes, we’ll talk about Bonfire parkin) and icing. Really looking forward to this day. The Walls Restaurant where we’ll get together this Saturday is a beautiful old former school house built in the early 1800s (somewhat bizarrely, the rock band Marillion recorded an album there in 1998), and Booka Bookshop who’s bright idea it was to host the day, is one of those modern independent booksellers that inspire me.

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.

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.