A day of making pastry, well of course I was on this list to attend this course. I’m sure half of my body mass is made up of puff pastry, so I was very interested to learn more.

Ten students, keen to learn  and master the art of pastry making. I make my own pastry but have never made puff pastry, not even at school. So I was very excited about learning this new skill. I will always be fond of pastry, I love pies, crumbles and tarts. But HOW MUCH BUTTER, goes into puff pastry!!!

Shocked, yes I was. But hey that’s all butter puff. It was amazing. 500g flour to 500g butter. Well to say the least my puff pastry made awesome ‘Eccles cakes’, so hubby was happy. Choux pastry and buns, always a pleasure. Then to finish with shortcrust pastry. Perfect for my version of Bakewell tart when I got home. The left over scraps of shortcrust pastry were used by Natalia to make mini jam tarts. Delicious Natalia.

Karen our tutor was knowledgeable about all pastry. She answered all question and did not stop at all. Mark was an absolute asset in the kitchen with the equipment, and he was essential. The cookery school has been open for around 10 months and is simply beautiful. Set deep in the Northamptonshire countryside. I loved it. Beautiful beams, lots of character and light. As it is still a new kitchen the team are finding their feet with slightly temperamental ovens and not enough of the small equipment, scissors, jugs, baking trays and boards, but a very enjoyable day, and I am looking to my next visit hopefully over the Christmas period.

Thank you to Karen, Mark and the team for a lovely day.

Carmela x

Beautiful cookery school, love the beams

Dani, brushing off excess flour, before folding the puff pastry

Karen our fabulous tutor
Yvonne rolling her puff pastry

In goes the butter, stage 1…

Busy kitchen, such fun!

Lets get piping!

Picture perfection…

Swans…………………..yum