Anyone seen Ghost (1990)? We may have been asking for it by setting up a Valentine’s Day Baking class this year. Pottery and dough have eerily similar properties. Especially when shaping. Oh my goodness. Chills run down our spines when we think about it. The bakery shudders and heaves a collective sigh of relief at the end of every ‘dough-caress-free’ artisan baking workshop.
So…perhaps we were tempting fate by setting up a Valentine’s Day Baking class for the first time ever at Brasserie Bread this year. Yes, some were doubtful, even fearful of this night. But we squared our shoulders, took a deep breath, and blazed forward with a strict ‘No-Ghosting’ policy on the night
The ‘No-Ghosting’ Policy – Community (2010)
Indeed, that may or may not be the scene that goes through our heads before the start of every baking workshop.
With a 3 course meal to prepare and dinner to look forward to, we set our 6 couples straight to work upon their arrival for a 6.30pm start.
First up? Prepping organic sourdough dinner rolls, otherwise known as petit pains
Rolling out Petit Pain baguette before trimming
Rolling in sesame seeds before the trim
Snipping the petit pain baguette to create individual rolls
After shaping the organic sourdough petit pains, into the oven they went. Next up was rolling out the shortcrust pastry …
Beginning shortcrust pastry prep
Rolling it out
Fitting the shortcrust pastry into round tart shells
….to create the entree of a smoked trout, rocket and onion tart (pictured below)
Smoked trout, onion and rocket shortcrust pastry tart
Then, it was time for the main course: prepping the puff pastry for a Lamb Wellington with mushroom duxelle, braised dutch carrots androasted kipfler potatoes.
Preparing their puff pastry together
Lamb Wellingtons ready for the bake
Once the prep was done in our Kitchen, the couples were seated in our Café area, which was jazzed up for the occasion
Brasserie Bread Cafe
Couples seated in the Cafe
We plated entrees, mains and desserts in the Training Room
Jeremy, Yudha and Matt plating our entrees
delicious roasted kipfler potatoes for the mains
The evening was filled with good food, lots of wine and smiling faces all around
Michael and Robyn with their Lamb Wellington mains
And not forgetting a spicy finish to an evening of smooth baking moves:
Dessert: Chocolate Chilli Fondant
Success! Love was in the air, but definitely not of the Demi Moore/Patrick Swayze variety. We live to fight another day it seems. What was your sweet treat for Valentine’s Day?
The Valentine’s Day Baking Class is similar to the Baking with Brioche workshop, baring the same food and recipe-focused concept, and baking wellingtons instead of salmon coulibiacs.
