Christmas Bread Day
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!
- 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
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 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.
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.
