I had a lovely day on Sunday! An entire day dedicated to learning how to make a good loaf of bread.
I have made bread before & the results have been fine - especially when baked in the Aga, but I've always wanted to learn more & to try something more adventurous than a plain loaf.
So, early on Sunday morning I headed off to Nailsworth to do a full day's bread making course at the well known Hobb's House Bakery.
There were just seven of us plus Claire from Hobbs House HQ & we had the entire place to ourselves. My fellow bread making enthusiasts were from far & wide - I was the only local one!
We were met by our tutor for the day - the very enthusiastic baker Tom & were then whisked upstairs to the cafe area to meet everyone & to enjoy coffee & a delicious breakfast made by their talented chef, Anthony.
It would take ages to tell you everything we were taught but the highlight was of course when we were able to see the finished results - we made sour dough, soda bread, white bread, bread rolls, focaccia, pita bread & cholla. They all turned out beautifully & made us feel like quite the artisan bakers!
In between we had elevenses & a delicious lunch once again made by Anthony, coffee, teas & juices.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day & I would recommend it to anyone. We eventually bade fond farewells at about 6pm & toddled off laden with bread, recipes & a tub of "Monster" - Hobb's 55 year old sour dough which we have to keep alive & kicking for our own baking.
You may recognise Tom from "Mary, Queen of Shops", he is also co-presenting "The High Street" which is currently being filmed in Shepton Mallet.
Here we are at the end of a busy day in front of the fabulous wood burning oven where all the bread was baked.
