Saturday, January 30, 2010

A BAKING CLASS FIT FOR A KING..........

And that King would be "King Arthur Flour"......the Famous flour company based in Vermont...
In the Atlanta area this week........if there's some sort of free class in town
You can always find me and neighbor Necie the first to sign up....They brought their traveling baking show to the Marietta County Club for two shows....
We opted for the noon class on "yeast sweet breads"....
The night time class was all about pies and tarts......
These two lovely bakers greeted us at the door with the recipe book
and our door prize coupon.......And alot of door prizes were about to be given out....

A bit blurry as we were sitting about a dozen rows back......but check out all that
flour and boxes of specialty mixes.....a few really great aprons.....some baking tools and one really great cookbook.....And who was the first person to score a door prize.....
No....not me.....neighbor Necie.....


with an overhead screen for good viewing the instructor gave us a full two hours of
wonderful recipes and baking tips using one basic sweet dough....

Here she is making a cherry cheese coffee cake.....
with the same batch of dough she also made a almond ring.....and every one's favorite
Sticky Buns.....
Here are a few simple but very helpful tips she gave us....
1.) if the recipe calls for unsalted butter and you only have salted in the house.....a stick of salted butter contains 1/4 teaspoon of salt....so just subtract that 1/4 teaspoon from the salt the recipe calls for.....
2.) 1 average size lemon yields 1 Tablespoon of zest.....
3.) You can use a cheap plastic shower cap (think the free ones from hotels and motels)
to cover your bowl when bread is rising.....
4.) to test bread to see if it's ready to come out of the oven......Don't tap it to hear if it's hollow....
use an instant read thermometer.......190 degrees....it's done!
5.) Instead of wasting a whole egg for just a bit of an egg wash....keep in the fridge a small container of "Egg Beaters"......I never knew that this is egg white with coloring.....
the egg white gives the bread a good shine and Egg Beaters will stay good in the fridge for
a few weeks.....
and finally.....
6.) When making those sticky buns.....so that they don't loose their round shape when cutting into individual rolls....use "Dental Floss" to cut the un-baked dough.....
Just place the floss under the roll of dough.....bring it around to the top and cross the floss over...
then pull.....it cuts it perfect every time.....
Don't these look fabulous.....and this is the Uncooked version!

Here is the Almond Coffee Cake.....the dough was rolled "jelly roll fashion"
Then formed into a circle....Snipped about 3/4 of the way towards the center of the ring....
Then twisted on it's side to appear that each piece is separate.....
This is Susan Reid....a graduate of the CIA and one great baking instructor....
It was fun.....it was very informative and she made you want to go straight home
and start baking......
She also writes a publication for King Arthur called
"The Baking Sheet"...
We weren't all lucky to go home with a door prize but what a nice surprise for
King Arthur Flour
To give to all the folks in attendance not only a little sampling of recipes.....
Some samples from their Baking Partners.....
Red Star Yeast and Cabot Cheese.......my favorite cheese of all time....If you
have never tried their
Seriously Sharp Cheddar look for it the next time your shopping.....
It makes the best Mac and Cheese.....
We also got a bench scraper.....and the best thing....
A $10.00 gift card to use online or in their catalog....
If you have never checked out their website visit.....
You can also go there and sign up to have their catalogs sent.....
They come about every 6 weeks......and right now they are having a great sale....
Free Shipping on their "secret ingredients"....
I prefer getting the catalog because it's just fun to sit at night and thumb through to see
all the goodies they offer.....and they have everything you could possibly want or need...
And check out their "Traveling Class" schedule online as they have these
classes all over the country....

On our way out......we stopped to take this picture of the
Marietta County Club....
We wanted to have lunch as the smells coming from the dining room were smelling
pretty good....
But it was just open for members.....
So.....we took all our freebies.....including Necie's bag of
Whole Wheat flour.....
and off we went to the Olive Garden......
LET THE BAKING BEGIN!!!!

18 comments:

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

What a fun way to spend an afternoon! I love to go to cooking classes and demonstrations. Looks like you had had such fun. I'll have to check out their site to see if they are going to be anywhere near me anytime soon. Enjoyed your post today!!

Donna said...

I agree, what a great way to spend the day. The coffee cake looks delish! I also like all the tips ~ some I will definitely use. I think I'll sign up for the catalog too! Thanks!

Hugs,
Donna

Kathleen Grace said...

I have received a few of the King Arthur catalogs in the past, they always have the most interesting things in them, but I didn't know they had free classes like this. I will be checking the website to see if there are any near me. Thanks for the heads up Sue!

Cathy said...

What a fun day, Sue! I'm going to check out their web site to see if they are coming to Oregon. Wouldn't that be something! All the pastries look soooo good.

Salmagundi said...

I love going with you and Necie; because, as you know, I probably wouldn't be caught dead in a cooking class. I might have to go home and cook if I did go!! Well, only 10 days out of surgery, but I'm doing everything including cooking. Still fighting the oxygen thingie - go to the regular Dr. soon to figure out the underlying cause (probably hiatal hernia asthma). Hate getting old with a worn out body. The shoulder is wonderful, but now have to deal with the hernia. Hope you are all well and doing good!! Sally

Linda @ A La Carte said...

That looked like a lot of fun! I will have to check out events like that. Free is always good!

Susie Q said...

Oh you lucky girl you!!! What a fun thing to do, especially with a dear friend!
Not that I am any real great shakes in the kitchen but I do love such classes!!
Their catalogs are always interesting!!
Thank you for the tips!! I can use all the help I can get!!!
Love,
Sue

Peg said...

You and Neighbor Necie had fun and maybe got inspired to bake some of those cinnamon rolls that llok so pretty and delicious. I'm snowed in but so far I haven't been inspired to bake!

Linda Lou said...

I am jealous Sue, I need some help in the baking bread department. where did they hold the class-at Sur La Table or other cooking store? I am going to check out that website for King Arthur and thanks for the baking tips, FUN for you and your friend.

The Pleasures of Homemaking said...

That looked like fun! Thank you for the tips! I always try to buy the unsalted butter but sometimes they only have the salted left (you know when it's on sale) so that's good to know about the salt. I get their catalog and have tried several of their mixes.

Manuela

House and Garden Boutique said...

Thanks for the cooking tips and sharing your photos of the event. You stopped by my store back in August of this year and shared some blogging info with me. I have been hooked on blogging ever since. Now I have a blog for the store too. Saw your wonderful post on my favorite Italian restaurant, Vingenzo's .....what a great place! Glad you had a chance to try their food....once you do you are hooked. Stop in the next time you are up this way! Lynn

Mimi Sue said...

I was going to say that I've never even seen King Arthur flour in my neck of the woods and so I was sure they wouldn't be coming to Utah...I linked to their website and guess who'll be about 5 miles from my house on Feb. 17? You guessed it, King Arthur Flour demos!! THANK YOU for the info. I'm going!! Mimi

Nouveau Stitch said...

You're killing me here bringing back memories of my baking classes! Looks like lots of fun!! Guess this my cue to start recruiting a new dieting partner...

Ellen

Chatty Crone said...

Now that looked like a lot of fun. Glad you went and had such a nice time! Can't wait to see you Friday. Sandie

Joyce said...

What a bummer I had to miss this. It sure sounded like fun and you have to fill me on Friday. Prizes for Denise too? How lucky can you guys get!
Joyce

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Shower cap = brilliant!! I will be stealing that idea for sure.

Not to sound like a total infomercial (blogomericial?) but I'm a big fan of the King's flour. It really bakes better, in my humble opinion. It's the only one I use when I'm not using spelt flour (and if they made spelt I'd use that, too!).

csr said...

We do carry white spelt and whole spelt flour in our catalog. It's not in local stores, however. mary@KING ARTHUR FLOUR

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Wow Sue i am so behind on your blog! Great to catch up with you this snowy afternoon.

I've been a KAF baking class held on Long Island about a year ago...it was almost the same as this one except our instructor made whole wheat bread. I didn't win a door prize but go the same nice feebies.

I love their products and cook book and did you know they have a fabulous baking blog and are on facebook? The links on on their web site.