Christmas Baking & Pastry
Overview
Get ahead with your Christmas baking and spend a day perfecting your pastry skills in our hands-on Christmas cookery classes. You’ll learn tips and tricks for mastering various types of pastry, including rough puff and shortcrust, to create festive essentials that will indulge and impress your family and friends.
With expert guidance from the River Cottage chefs, you’ll discover that baking can be as easy as pie! Throughout the day, you’ll make Boxing Day buffet favorites, such as sausage rolls, cheese straws, savory tarts, stollen, and our twist on traditional mince pies.
As with all our Christmas cooking classes, you won’t leave hungry! Enjoy lunch prepared by our chefs and savour some of your own creations for supper, taking the rest home to get ready for the festive season.
HIGHLIGHTS
– Create a festive stollen to take home
– Rough puff pastry for chestnut and sage sausage rolls & cheese straws
– Shortcrust pastry for a savoury tart
– Sweet pastry mince pies
– A delicious lunch from the River Cottage kitchen team
Your day
10:00 - 17:00
Arrive at River Cottage
You’ll begin your River Cottage experience with a 10-15 minute walk through the wonderful pathways down to the farm, enabling you to really soak up the views of the valley.
Make yourself at home
You will meet your host and settle in with tea, coffee and treats fresh from the kitchen.
SESSION ONE
You'll start your day by mastering rough puff pastry. You'll use this buttery flaky pastry to make festive sausage rolls & cheese straws.
SESSION TWO
Next you'll tackle making shortcrust pastry, learning how to blind bake and seal the pastry ready to finish it as an indulgent savoury tart
LUNCH
Food is always the focus at River Cottage, and a seasonal lunch of local ingredients will be one of the highlights of your day.
SESSION THREE
After lunch you'll turn your attention to all things sweet and create a festive favourite- Stollen.
SESSION FOUR
You'll create a sweet pastry and use this to make the River Cottage Christmas classic - frangipane mince pies.
TO FINISH
Relax with a tea of coffee as now is a perfect time to ask your tutor any burning questions and reflect on your day.
DEPARTURE
Head back up the hill for 5pm with your pastry goods in hand and the inspiration to create a fantastic festive feast at home.
Further Information
Directions
This course is run from River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of HQ will be provided once you have booked.
Licensed Venue
We are a licensed venue. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines available to purchase.
Accommodation
If you would like to stay at the heart of River Cottage, we offer overnight accommodation at River Cottage HQ in our beautiful 17th century farmhouse. We have three stylishly refurbished bedrooms for B&B plus the 2-bedroom Gardener's Cottage. These get booked quickly so for more information go to rivercottage.net/stay to book. Alternatively, we have put together a list of our local accommodation which includes B&Bs, self-catering, hotels and camping.
Suitability
We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12 years of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. We put these guidelines in place for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.
Allergy Advice
Sorry, we’re afraid this course is not suitable for those with allergies or specific dietary requirements. However we do run courses that are gluten free, vegetarian and vegan friendly. Please get in touch if you have any questions or need further details.
