Been a bit too hot to bake

We have experienced some extreme  hot weather over here in Perth Western Australia for the Christmas / New Year  break  record temperatures  with 42 degrees and sustained high 30's for a couple of weeks the only baking was the poor plants in the garden that got well and truely frizzled

Fortunately we have just had a bit of a reprieve which was really good  as i had a bread baking class that was booked through an on line agency this last Sunday, The participants were both newcomers to bread baking and as part of the service i travel to them and we have a baking session in the comfort and familiarity of their own kitchen. i have in the past been able to conduct classes in a technical college which was great with the latest whizz bang mixing machines proovers and ovens etc but i realised that after those classes the participants  went home to a much different environment. So now that the Technical college has closed i  thought what could be better than have someone come to you that could coach you through the process.  I bring along all the necessary bits and pieces as well as the ingredients and we make two doughs by hand so that the sense of feel can be appreciated, but quite happy if they have a machine and want to use that too.  All that is required is some bench space and a working oven.i am able to show them the little tricks that we can employ to achieve desired results in the home setting. i am able to tailor the days class to the participant, from first timers through to more experienced enthusiasts that would like that guiding hand for the day. 

There is a on line booking agency that promotes a range of local and indeed Australia wide experiences, and creative workshops and they take care of promotion and bookings and payments.  They have a huge range of different classes from clay throwing , cooking, sour dough bread baking, candle making, painting, drawing, pasta making, sushi making , cocktail classes and so on. Lots of the classes are held in the larger venues with varying numbers being able to attend where as i offer either 1 on 1 or just you and a friend and  i come to you.       So i have done a couple of these now  and i must say it is a really good feeling when you have been able set people off in the right direction so here a few pictures of yesterdays baking day where newcomers to bread baking Kim and Sophie tackled a 50% Wholemeal  Coopers Stout dough with two loaves being produced 1 with raw onion incorporated and baked off in the Romantoph Clay baker whilst the other was proven on a linen couche  before being hand peeled onto a baking sheet. and scored. A rich fruit dough was also tackled and this was made into Cinnamon Scrolls