Baking Short Courses

Short Courses in Baking by Prue Leith Chefs Academy

“Baker man, baker man, bake me a cake. Bake me a cake as fast as you can” goes the old English nursery rhyme. Do you bake? If not, you’re not alone. Many people would far rather leave baking to the professionals, but why?

Yours or the Store’s

Perhaps you don’t bake because you think that it’s way beyond your capabilities. Well, you’re wrong, because you can learn and we’ll teach you how through the Prue Leith Academy’s short courses. Most non-bakers will have given it a go at some stage, had a flop, been mortified, and never tried baking again, instead relying on store-bought goods. Nevertheless, this isn’t a reason enough to give up. Instead, it’s a great reason to enrol in one or more of our short baking courses, join us, and gain the knowledge, practice, skills, and self-confidence to produce your own treats.

Store-bought baked goods are all good and well, but there’s better – your own, made from ingredients that you purchased, mixed, and placed in your oven yourself, allowing the wonderful smell of freshly baked goodies to waft through your home in the most inviting, welcoming way. (Estate agents actually recommend this in order to give prospective property buyers that “I’m home!” feeling).

Popular Baked Goods

• Breads of numerous types, from a loaf with which to make sandwiches to rolls, brioche, or panini.
• Cakes – ingredients, types and styles are almost endless.
• Savoury snacks such as cheese straws and pretzels.
• Pies – sweet and/or savoury.
• Pastries – again, the variety is enormous. Pies, tarts, and quiches are generally classified as pastries.

All these items require that the baker begin by making dough or a similar mixture that has a more liquid consistency. Flour, butter or shortening, water, milk, sugar or salt, eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and yeast are typical ingredients, used in a variety of combinations, depending on what is being made. Because there are so many types of pastries that require different types of pastry dough, pastry making/baking became a specialised function – that of the pastry chef whose expertise lies in patisserie. The actual baking process, irrespective of what one is making, utilises dry heat, usually in an oven.

Prue Leith Chefs Academy Short Baking Courses

• Basic baking: 1 day – gives you the knowledge, ability, confidence, and practical experience to work with dough and an oven (bake).
• Art of bread baking: 2 days – produce 9 popular, classic breads.
• Advanced cakes and decorations: 4 days – techniques to make more advanced French patisserie cakes, including finishing and garnishing techniques.
• Art of tarts: 1 day – learn to make 3 types of pastries and 5 types of fillings, including sweet, savoury, and fruits.
• Certificate in sugar craft – 3-month part time course, involving 13 one-day sessions. Currently (January 2017), the morning classes are fully subscribed and there are only 5 places available for afternoon sessions (at time of writing, as mentioned previously).

Bake with the Best

Our academy is widely regarded by the hospitality industry in South Africa as being the best culinary training facility in the country. You don’t need the children’s baker man because you can’t go wrong by learning to bake with the best – Prue Leith Chefs Academy baking short courses.