Lessons Learnt

I like to think I know a thing or two about baking. Well I do know the basics and can follow a recipe thats for sure. But there is definitely a lot more to baking than meet the eye as I found out recently.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon (yes I know that is hard to believe now) I went to Swiss Cottage to take a baking class at the house of Caroline Hope. Caroline teaches baking classes and has been doing so for more than 15 years, and is particularly interested in the history behind the afternoon tea.

I purchased a voucher for the class along with seven other women and together we spent the afternoon baking. In pairs we made small sponge cakes which included - coffee, chocolate and orange, victoria sponge and lime cake. To go alongside this we made plain and cheese scones.

A majority of the women in the class had actually never baked or didnt have that much experience in it, so Caroline made sure every step was explained and we took our time to understand each instruction.

Although I have baked before it was very useful to hear about history, tips and tricks and the reason behind why we do different things to create the cake of our choice.

I really liked Caroline's passion behind good quality ingredients. This can make such a difference even when making a plain sponge. It was also useful to be aware of taking your time and really mixing well whether by hand or a mixer. Im not sure if I will be mixing by hand again after all the mixing in the class however!

The most important thing I took away with me was how to properly heat your oven. I always thought it just had to reach the required temperature, or you would pre heat for about 20 mins, when I heard that Caroline usually leaves her oven all day it was a real surprise and something I will be looking in to for future baking.

The cakes turned out great and we all got to try some small pieces and take some home to enjoy. What we were taught during the afternoon and the time invested really showed itself in the taste and appearance of the cakes. I really felt like I learnt lots of new things and I think the novice bakers went away with the confidence to try baking in their homes.

If you are interested in any of the classes available please look at Caroline's website: www.teaandscones.org.uk.