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David S. Cargo's Class Notes for Bread Like No Other

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Class Notes for Bread Like No Other

These are the notes for the classes that I collectively call Bread Like No Other. This includes a beginning class (that I call basics), plus more advanced classes.

  1. Multigrain Breads
  2. Sweet Doughs
  3. No-knead Breads

Basics Objectives

  1. To show you how to make bread by hand (so you get the real feel for the dough), including mixing, kneading, proofing, forming, and baking.
  2. To show you how to tell when a particular step is done.
  3. To show you how to create variations on a recipe (which we will do in the class).
  4. To show you alternative forms that bread can take (loaves of different shapes, rolls, fougasse, pull-apart bread).
  5. I will also cover how make different modifications to the recipes and processes.
    1. How recipes can be varied and why.
    2. How shapes can be varied and why.
    3. How baking can be varied and why.

Multigrain Objectives

  1. To show how to adapt recipes for multigrain breads
  2. To show how handling multigrain breads might be different

Sweet Dough Objectives

  1. To show you how to create variations on a sweet dough recipe (which we will do in the class).
  2. To show you alternative forms that sweet dough can take (rolls of different shapes, coffee cakes, pie crusts)

No-knead Objectives

  1. To demonstrate and discuss different ways of making no-knead breads

Schedule

My current plans for 2010 are to offer classes whenever there are at least three people interested.

Current plans are

April 24 Basics Taking names

When I have a better idea about my schedule for May and June, I will schedule some additional classes.

If you want to register for a class, send e-mail to me to let me know what class or classes you want to register for.

If you have ideas for a more advanced class (topics you would like to see covered), let me know. If a consensus emerges, I will build another class around people’s wants and needs.

Topics that have been requested include:

  1. Small breads (rolls, buns)
  2. Bread sculpture (bears, bunnies, cats)

If you are interested in any of these subjects, send me an e-mail so that I can track interest and then schedule a class once enough people are interested.

I have also thought about scheduling a class for “easy cakes and bars.” This class would cover a technique that does not require a mixer to make cakes and bars, but produces delicious results. This would probably be a 2-hour class, and it could be on a Saturday afternoon or weekday evening.

Registering

If you are interested in attending any of these classes send e-mail to David S. Cargo (escargo) and I will add you to the list of interested people. I would want to know which day or days you could attend in order of decreasing preference.

Priority will be given to members and friends of the Church of St. Francis and people who have not taken the class before. (Several people said that they would like to take the class again.)

There is an upper limit of 6 participants per class and a lower limit of 3 participants. (If a scheduled class doesn’t have adequate registration, I will notify everyone who said they were coming and put them on the waiting list for the next class of the same kind.)

The Cost for the Classes

The Church of St. Francis is entirely operated by unpaid volunteers. (That’s everybody; all the clergy, the organist, and even the baker in the kitchen.) As a fundraiser for the church I decided to teach these baking classes. So, I’m not charging anything for the class, but I do ask that you make a tax-deductable donation to the Church of St. Francis for what you feel the class has been worth.

Note that for the basics class, you are going to take home a loaf of bread; that’s worth something.

For the sweet dough class, you are going to take home a dozen cinnamon rolls, and probably a coffee cake. You might have to pay $30 or more to buy the same items.

Dropping Out

Since the classes are for fundraising, and there are often waiting lists for the classes, if I have you on a class roster and you can’t make it, e-mail me or phone me as soon as possible so I can move somebody from the waiting list into the class.

Who Am I?

You have all received e-mail from me for shorter or longer intervals of time. I am one of the earliest members of the Saint Paul Bread Club. I have earned several ribbons in the club’s bake-offs. I have worked as a baker professionally at Trotter’s Cafe and Bakery and at Saint Agnes Baking Company.

I have experience as a home baker, a professional baker, and I develop my own recipes for breads, cookies, bars, and other baked goods.

Why Am I Teaching This Classes?

I have some theories about making bread that I eventually hope to turn into a cookbook (with the tentative title of Bread Like No Other).

I knew there was a pent-up demand for bread baking classes among members of the SPBC. I thought that by combining classes with fundraisers for my church that I could accomplish three worthwhile goals at the same time.

What’s Different About These Classes?

I don’t just want to teach how to make bread. I want to teach people to think about the bread they make. This includes thinking about what bread is, and why bread is. Once making bread becomes more thoughtful, it becomes easier to change some of the choices you make when making bread.

I hope it will lead you to becoming more confident to experiment, to try things you might not have done before.