Ever thought of learning to bake and cook from a professional artisan baker? Well, now you can, and from New Zealander Dean Brettschneider, the brains behind the artisan bakery chain Baker & Cook, no less.
A TV personality and award-winning author of 12 cookbooks, Brettschneider has recently set up the Brettschneider’s Baking & Cooking School, much to the delight of local aspiring bakers. We decided to have a first-hand experience of his class.
Dean Brettschneider demonstrates on making Italian flatbread and pizza.
The school itself is modern, inviting and is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built kitchen located at Greendale Avenue. Class was certainly not a dull affair here. Dean was an engaging instructor who was able to deliver lessons in a lively and concise manner. He demonstrated to the class several dough kneading techniques and learnt that the key to creating food of high quality is following proper preparation techniques diligently.
We spent the beginning of the class preparing the base to make an Italian focaccia. Most of us were inexperienced with bread-making and Dean gave us a crash course on basic bread kneading. The approachable Dean was thorough in his instructions and made sure that we truly understood him before he proceeded to the next step.
The dough kneading process took up a significant amount of time but it was crucial in ensuring that our Italian focaccia turned out well. While we waited for our dough to rest, we wasted no time and prepared lunch in the meanwhile.
At Dean Brettschneider’s Baking and Cooking School, students make their own lunch. Our lunch was a Plank Sourdough pizza. We used sourdough as a base instead of regular pizza dough. The dough was prepared beforehand by Dean. He told us that the pizza base was made with a long fermentation process and showed us the techniques involved in stretching it.
After we were done with stretching the pizza base, it was time top our pizzas with toppings. This was really the most fun part to me, being able to customise our own pizza with a variety of toppings such as cheese, sweet pumpkin, beetroot and pepperoni. After popping our pizzas in the oven, it took a mere 10 minutes for them to get ready, and thankfully so because we really couldn’t wait to bite into our delish-looking creations.
Overall, the class was highly enjoyable and well-planned. Dean stresses on delivering quality lessons and certainly meets that on so many levels.
Brettschneider’s Baking & Cooking School
1 Greendale Avenue
Singapore 289495
Tel: +65 6463 5508
