I just wanted to tell you that I must have been really good last year. Father Christmas was extraordinarily generous. Not only did he get me a swish winter coat, but he also booked me on to a Bread Baking Masterclass at Hobbs House School in Chipping Sodbury. I had been dreamily looking at the courses there for ages, which makes me think he'd been keeping tabs on me, or that someone tipped him off. Either way, I'm eternally grateful.
I had just over a month to wait, and all I knew is that Tom Herbert, one of The Fabulous Baker Bothers (you might have caught them on the TV), would be leading the class, teaching us - hands on - how to make the perfect loaf, from sourdough to soda. I was informed that the day started with coffee and pastries at 9am, then would end with dinner at 5pm, so the promise of being fed for the day definitely added to my excitement. Anyway, the weekend before last saw me tootle on over to the South Cotswold town, both nervous and eager eyed.
The school is above the award winning bakery and butchery on Chipping Sodbury's high street, in what was once the Herbert's family home - its a beautiful building, with quirks and character, and yep, the bathrooms do actually have baths in. Hobbs House was established in the 20s, and is now proudly in it's fifth generation. The school is a recent addition to the business; the leading brothers (Tom and Henry) aim to use it to share their enthusiasm, and in turn pass on their experience and traditions for many generations to come.
There were ten of us attending the course, all of varying ages and baking competence; we sat around the long table in the dining room, chatted over coffee and picked out our favourite pastries (I went for the almond croissant - it never fails to hit the spot - buttery bliss). We heard all about the history of Hobbs, and how the brothers have got to where they are today. They're just as they appear on screen, jokey, passionate, and not an ounce of arrogance, which made for a laid back environment. Having introduced ourselves and attached name badges - classic - we went through to the classroom with Tom to kick things off. (Henry was to be bound to the kitchen for the day, making us food and drink, and generally acting as 'baking bitch'.)
Now, I don't want to divulge too much as I'd much rather urge you to go and participate in a masterclass yourself, so I'll just give you a brief run through of what we got up to. Each armed with a Hobbs School notebook and dough scraper, we started with sourdough as it takes the longest to make. Scribbling down the weights of the ingredients from the old fashioned black board, we then watched Tom mix a massive amount of dough on the table top, before he dished it out to us to knead for a good 15 minutes. We talked about many of the misconceptions we have in bread baking, he gave us tips on what to do/not to do, and discussed different flours. Shamefully, I'm a "flour floozy", I never stick to the same one - I'm a changed person now, honest.
Morning exertion out of the way, we put the dough in front of the fire to prove whilst we moved on to soda bread. But before we busted out the flour, we had a little task to make our own butter; the process of over-whipping double cream separates the solids from the liquids, producing super soft butter (which you can roll up and whack in the fridge), and buttermilk, which is key for making soda bread. It's the best bread to make in a hurry as it doesn't require time to rise, just mix and go, hey presto!
With little loaves in the oven, we moved on to 'The Great White' before lunch. We split into four teams, and following the recipe, we competed to see who could make their dough the quickest - I think we may have been last. Once kneaded until smooth and stretchy, all four were combined and left to prove. I think thats what's nice on the course, you don't make your own personal selection of bread to take home, it's a group effort and everything is shared out evenly. How lovely.
Lunch involved our soda bread, hot from the oven, with the homemade butter and some accompaniments courtesy of Henry; houmous, a blue cheese dip, and pickled cucumbers; toasted with a glass of prosecco. Afternoon boozing and baking? This is my kind of course..
A quick shape up of the sourdough, ready for it's second rise, and we returned to the white dough to play around with the endless possibilities of how you can adapt it - not just your average loaf dont'ya know. We made pittas (mine looked like a comedy speech bubble), ate pittas, rolled the most spherical dinner rolls, made focaccia, tossed pizza bases - then topped them with swanky cheeses and meats fresh from the butchers below, baked them in a Chadwick Pizza Oven, and scoffed them too - twirled cheese straws, plaited a jewish sweet bread called Cholla.. And I think that was it.
All palmed off to Henry to cook, we ended where we began, the sourdoughs. Luckily, we each had a kilner jar of the Hobb's 50+ year starter to take home with us, so Tom talked through the process of keeping "The Monster" alive and how to plan your weekly/monthly cycle of baking bread. The bubbly beasts were put in the oven, and we finished the day with a hearty puff pastry pie - chicken, bacon, leeks and herbs - with a dollop of fluffy mash, and fresh green veg on the side. Oh and a chilled glass of white vino too.
I'm pretty sure I ate more pastry/breaded goods over the course of this one day than I did in the whole of January; I was totally stuffed, and it was totally worth it (you can see our greedy grins in the snap of all of us). I'm still surprised at how much we made during the day, dividing it up at the end seemed like I was robbing the joint.
So, whether you're a beginner in the bread department, someone who has had a few failing attempts, or even if you consider yourself a dab hand with the dough, I'd 100% recommend Tom's masterclass (they have plenty of other classes too, if bread isn't your thing). Hobb's provides a day full of foodie fun, smothers you with confidence, and inspires you to go home and perfect what you've learnt - along with a beefy bag of hand crafted goodies.
