Back to River Cottage Courses

Christmas Bread Day

£245.00

Book this course
No dates available
1 day
Adult
Close
10:00 - 17:00

Overview

Join us for our Christmas Bread Day course, the heart of River Cottage’s festive cookery schedule. Here at HQ, we bake all our bread and love sharing our expertise in these bestselling classes. As the year winds down, our talented tutor chefs bring out special festive recipes, transforming everyday staples into delicious Christmas delights.

The day begins with the principles of bread making, inspiring you to leave behind shop-bought loaves and embrace the world of home baking. You’ll kick off practical sessions with a golden, buttery brioche before mastering a traditional farmhouse loaf, enhanced with sage, onion, and chestnut. You’ll also create salt-specked grissini, festive pizzas for Christmas Eve, and a Boxing Day focaccia made with delicious leftovers like roast potatoes, stuffing, and herbs.

Explore our beautiful old walled kitchen garden, enjoy tasters, and sit down to a delicious seasonal lunch prepared by our chefs. At the end of the day, you’ll head back up the hill, filled with Christmas spirit and carrying home your handmade treats!

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 start the day with tea, coffee and treats fresh from the kitchen.

SESSION ONE

We will begin the day with getting your Christmas brioche under way and you’ll learn about the baking journey.

SESSION TWO

You’ll learn the basics, get to know the ingredients, learn about the differences between flours and yeasts, and get to grips with your sage, onion and chestnut loaf.

SESSION THREE

Next we will be mastering grissini, beautifully flavoured, and served with seasonal dips from the kitchen.

SESSION FOUR

We’ll prepare a Christmas tradition of Christmas Eve pizzas, using festive toppings.

LUNCH

You’ll refuel by tucking into your pizzas with a seasonal side prepared by the River Cottage chefs.

SESSION FIVE

We’ll prepare a focaccia and learn about this delicious style of sharing bread, perfect for your Boxing Day guests.

TEATIME

After all your hard work, you’ll sit down to sample your own freshly baked brioche with homemade River Cottage jam.

Q&A

By now you will be probably be bursting with questions, so this will be your opportunity to take away some expert advice for festive baking at home.

DEPARTURE

There will be time to chat to your fellow scholars and the River Cottage team, before heading back up the hill at 5pm, Christmas bakes in hand.

  • Learn the art of brioche
  • Create a sage, onion, and chestnut loaf
  • Discover how to make grissini
  • Tuck into your homemade pizzas
  • Make a festive focaccia
BakingChristmasRiver Cottage Courses
Can’t find the right date? Click here to receive an alert
when new dates are released for this event.