The Bertinet kitchen is an impressive cookery school set in Bath. I signed up for the pastry masterclass and although a great food lover and sometimes cook I immediately felt overwhelmed by the sleek glossy interiors and pristine staff.
As everyone chatted nervously over coffee it soon became clear that I was the least skilled of the group but we all shared the same passion and enthusiasm for good food, luckily the course is designed for all levels.
Within minutes Richard‘s sense of humour and Gallic charm had put us at ease and even my butter fingers were sifting the finest flour. We were learning from scratch to knead and roll the pastry, stopping along the way to chat excitedly and taste the raw dough. As the smell of the baking wafted through the air we all relaxed and started to have fun.
The course is designed to be very hands on with practical help and advice combined with lots and lots of tasting. We were constantly dipping our fingers into the creams and comparing textures, scoffing all the mince pies before they could cool and cooing over the most delicious Divine hot chocolate.
The day ended with everything out of the oven and then the whole group sitting down to lunch. We proudly examined our hard work before sampling with a couple of bottles of wine. The quiche and pies were amazing, the Divine chocolate tarts were fabulous and the choux pastry swans were so elegant sitting to attention on the cake stand.
For both foodies and novices like me this course has something to offer. I left having had lots of fun and feeling truly inspired, I even bought a rolling pin on the way home!
Written by guest blogger Jane Boyd