By Emma Kirkup

If you fancy honing your cookery skills then one of our Wiltshire cookery schools is an ideal place to perfect your techniques. I joined Vaughan’s Kitchen Cookery School in Devizes for an artisan bread making course.

Last year I had the opportunity to do a basic bread making course with Vaughan’s so I had a bit of a hazy memory of how to make bread (I must admit I had been a bit lapse in the bread making after my course, not because it wasn’t useful but more because my busy lifestyle). This time I was determined to put my new skills to more use!

We began the class with introductions from Judy, our course leader and Kim – one of the chefs at The Bistro which is owned by Peter Vaughan. Other participants on the course included a couple from Surrey, a chap from Salisbury who’d done the basic bread making course earlier that week and a father and daughter.

The first step was to start with a basic white dough which we made up with flour, yeast, salt and a dash of oil. Judy gave us several tips for which Paul Hollywood would be proud including how to stop the dough sticking to your hands – which seemed to happen to me quite a lot!

From this dough we made a variety of different rolls all with different levels of proving so once they were cooked we’d be able to compare the differences. We made a French friendship bread and with the left over dough we made muffins – although mine were a little on the chargrilled side!

Whilst the bread was at various stages of rising/baking etc we then had the chance to make a flat bread using a heritage grain. Grown in Wiltshire on Doves Farm, there was a selection of five different heritage grains that we could try. I had to go for the Emmer grain purely for the name! With this we added olives and sundried tomatoes to taste and added a sprinkle of sea salt to the top.

Just before lunch we made some croissants, I must admit I found this the hardest of things that I made today purely as my butter didn’t want to play ball with me and as I tried to layer it on the dough, roll it and fold it. You had to work quickly with the dough as well as it’s chilled. Making them into croissant shapes was quite good fun through although I don’t think I’ll become a French baker anytime soon!

After a lovely mezze lunch prepared by Kim and a chance to have a chat with the fellow students, we finished the afternoon making some croissant dough that we could then take home to make into croissants during our own time.

As I left the class I was overwhelmed by just how much I’d made! The only dilemma for me was what I was going to do with all my produce so I had to make a detour home via my parents’ house to present them with bread and to store some of it in their freezer!

Vaughan’s Kitchen don’t just do bread making workshops but host a variety of cookery workshops throughout the year. So, why not find out more about our cookery schools in Wiltshire and see what you can learn too – who knows, perhaps you’ll be on the next series of Great British Bake Off!

Related

Vaughan's Cookery School
Cookery School
Peter Demonstrating at Vaughan's Cookery School

Vaughan’s Cookery School offers a comprehensive range of public, professional, bespoke, corporate and children’s courses, along with culinary hen parties and group sessions for a party with a difference or a fun evening with friends. Participants receive a very ‘hands-on’ and fun experience in small groups, producing healthy and nutritious meals. Vaughan’s Cookery School feel passionate about creating a ‘naturally balanced’ style of cuisine that maximises nutrition.

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