Skip to main content

Hands On Baking Lessons 2014

The schedule for October to March 2014 hands on baking lessons is now posted at www.breadmakinglessons.com. Please read the rules on making reservations for a hassle free enrollment to my class. I know the website is has a lot of texts here and there but please try not to skip the reservation details, the sketch (so you won't get lost) and other details about the class.

I sometimes request the students to read on commercial bread making while waiting for the class to start but not too many people comply so you can do this after you attend if you wish. It gives you an advantage if you know something about yeast dough baking, i know i would read on as many as i can find online not to be the bida in class but just so i will retain more information as i listen to the teacher.

I remember way back early 90s when i got hooked in baking that i used one 1 ream of coupon bonds printing articles on bread. I even entered baking message boards, clubs, etc., and read on what others are talking about when they bake. I tell you, it was not easy learning just on print. This is my inspiration to teach hands on only and NEVER DO DEMOs, nah ah. It is useless. I wasted a lot of money attending seminars, demos, workshops and tv shows on baking but nothing proved useful.

My 4 day class will be very exciting. There will be free lunch and drinks so students do not have to go out to eat and we can work with a much shorter lunch break.

Once again, there is an increase in the deposit or reservation fee so students or would be students will take the whole process of reservation seriously. I am still reeling from what happened to me last April when 3 students with reservation deposits DID NOT ATTEND, no calls, no texts, no emails. Nada. It was crazy if i did not reject 5 students because my class size is only 10 and i was leaving for New York a week after. When i tried to contact one student, she told me she forgot about the whole thing. How could you forget that you paid a deposit for a baking class in just two week time?

Anyway, there is also a Paypal button that you can click to make a deposit, but please email me before you click the button. Make sure that slots are available. The videos will all be free for the students but not the ebook. To view the videos hassle free, you need to sign up to google+, add me, Shirley Villafranca as friend and then i will send you the video links, a total of about 9 long videos from Yema Ensaimada to Malunggay bread etc.,

Lastly, thank you to Elaine Bellido for taking time to email me all the way from Canada. I am glad that you are finally making your dream come true.

Hello ms Shirley. Kumusta na po? Just want to make kwento na the 3rd class flour got through and all thanks to you for you advice. Been doing the ensaymada here for sometime and it was a great hit. Bought a KA pro mixer 6000 with greater motor and been doing 1 kilo batch or 48+ pcs...(yung po Lang molds nadala ko :(   And the other day while I  was with a friend scouring Calgary .. Lo and behold ... Bulk barn!!!!  Went in but can't find the soft wheat flour as substitute for the tercera flour...just soft whole wheat flour..kaya na sad ako. Malapit na kasi maubos 3rd class ko... Any suggestion ms Shirley? Although it was such heaven to be in that place...anyway can I call you sometime?
Thanks again
Have a great summer


I am still in New York and will be back October 1 so call me if you have any questions. See you there!


I wonder if my bread flour and margarine are still okay when i get back just like before. It was amazing when my bread flour and Spring Margarine did not go rancid and moldy after 7 months. I will find this out when i inspect them when i come home.  


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

3rd Class Flour, What's It All About

For starters i cannot make this Hard Monay if i did not bring any 3rd class flour or soft weak flour to New York. Once i ran out of 3rd class and tried Cake Flour, it turned bad, do not even think of using All Purpose, it will be soft but not chewy as this one made with yes, 3rd class indeed. So third class is hard to find here in the US if you will use that term. You have to say or look for soft wheat flour, that's it, not hard wheat flour, not cake or All purpose but something in between these two. It is easy to find in the Phil., just ask your local bakery suppliers and they know it is Tercera. Tercera is not for bread, bakers use it basically for cookies, cakes and other pastries, but we bakers know how to create bread recipes using part of this flour with the bread flour or hard wheat flour. It makes a softer version of any of your fave breads, with a cheaper price tag. Plus if i own a bakery, i get to use the third class for my cakes and cookies, lowering my food cos...

Cutting Pandesal, Baston Style

So how do we really do the Baston style "singkit" cut? First start with a slightly stiff dough, if your dough does not have eggs or eggyolks, a hydration of around 55% is ideal. I have seen bakers use less water, but that will make your Pandesal too dry and dense after 1 day or so so try to keep it slightly on the soft side, but not too sticky. Why? If you use a sticky dough for the Baston style cut, the dough will spread and will have a flat look rather than a rounded shape we are all familiar with. In Tagalog, "lalapad" ang dough so medyo flat ung Pandesal. So after you mix the dough, divide it into 2 to 4 portions if you are mixing  kilogram. Experienced bakers divide their dough into 500 gram portions, i do mine the same way. Flatten the dough, focusing more on the length and not on the height. The height of the dough should be around 2 to 3 inches only. Next, fold the dough while pinching the edges making sure the dough surface ...

Kape at Pandesal

When someone emailed me about Kape at Pandesal, i suddenly felt home sick. Just these two words. Dipping Pandesal in coffee. Who got this phenomenon or practice started? We all know the colonial Spanish era and Gregorio Zaide mentioned our fondness for idling around in the history books (Juan Tamad and siesta), but for breakfast? Who wants to jump up and down when you wake up? This is the answer. Dunking the warm, crispy Pandesal into hot, steaming coffee. How did this thing start? Who invented it? What made the Pinoys dunk their Pandesal? Maybe the Pandesal in those days are rock hard, or maybe it is one way to sweeten the bread. Baka may alamat dito. Is it because the Pandesal is salty in those days? After all, sal means salt right? The Italians love to dunk their Biscotti in coffee, but the Biscotti deserves it. Seriously, Biscottis if not dunked in coffee can give you a free tooth extraction. But the Pandesal? Okay to some, it cools down the coffee. Don't tell me they...