Short Courses for Creating and Baking Delicious Desserts

Short Courses for Creating and Baking Delicious Desserts

Humans have four types of taste buds on their tongues, responsible for detecting and producing four distinct taste sensations – sweet, salt, sour, and bitter. Virtually all are naturally drawn to edible things that have a sweet taste – dessert being one such universally favoured sweet food.

Intake of foods containing high percentages of sugar, like desserts, confections, and fruit, cause the brain to release “feel good” chemicals gratifying to one’s taste buds, sense of well-being, and satisfaction. According to some, man’s love of sweet things has an evolutionary origin. Even today, primates, our distant ancestors, naturally choose ripe fruit over other options, because the sugar content is high and this gives the body a quick energy boost, and the fruit a more appealing taste.

Dessert, the Final Course, Caps the Meal

Whether plain and simple, homemade and hearty, or stylishly smooth and sophisticated, dessert has been the usual final course with which to finish an enjoyable meal. This is particularly so when in the company of dinner guests and when dining out. No matter how many courses are served – two, three, five, or more – the final course that caps the meal is usually a sweet hot or cold dessert. Some people prefer to conclude a meal with a cheeseboard, accompanied by a glass of port. However, cheese lovers do not escape the sweet element; it is supplied by the addition of port, said to be a classic combination in the world of food and wine pairing.

Old Standby or Innovative Creation

 Do you have a couple of standby recipes that you use repeatedly when reluctantly making dessert, or do you rush off to the nearest deli to purchase something sweet, simply because the prospect of baking anything is intimidating? You might have made up your mind that an innovative dessert creation is beyond your baking capabilities. “Not so” say the folks at Prue Leith Chefs Academy, who have been teaching, training, and educating chefs and bakers of distinction in South Africa since 1997. Everyone has to start somewhere, and anyone can be taught to bake, prepare divine desserts, and produce their own innovative creations. You can too.

Prue Leith’s Dessert and Baking Short Courses

You do not have to qualify as a chef specialising in patisserie. Prue Leith offers short baking and dessert courses to both home bakers and to qualified chefs who want to refresh their skills:

• Basic Baking – 1-day course (morning or afternoon) for complete beginners who are overawed at the prospect of producing baked goods.
• Art of Tarts – also a 1-day morning or afternoon course that covers pastries and fillings of classic and modern tarts, savoury, and sweet, the latter being perfect to serve for tea or dessert.
• Certificate in Sugar Craft – during 13 morning or afternoon sessions, spread over three months, you will learn how to transform your baked creations into feasts for the eye through the art of decoration. Our Advanced Certificate in Sugar Craft may be taken hereafter.
• Advanced Cakes and Decorations – four days of demonstration and practical instruction helps advanced home bakers to develop their craft further.

Say “goodbye” to deli desserts. You will never be daunted by baking and preparing divine desserts again, once you have completed one or more of Prue Leith Academy’s short courses.