Saturday 23 April 2016

Session 13 - April 23rd- Baking Bonanza

Ms Hutchins taught the girls how to bake bread which they got to take home and enjoy.  The session began with a look at yeast, it's function in baking and how it ferments.  The girls watched as food (sugar) and warm water were added to the yeast to begin the fermentation process.  Ms Hutchins explained that yeast works by consuming sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol as byproducts. 

Following a recipe the girls began to mix together flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water to form a dough.  They learnt that the dough needs to be kneaded to develop the gluten and make the dough stretchy enough to make really good bread.  With aching arms the girls then shaped their bread ready to prove in the oven at a low temperature. 

After washing up and cleaning their work area the bread began the cooking process. The girls happily went off to enjoy cookies and juice and returned to a wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread before removing their wonderful creations from the ovens.  The finished results were very impressive and the girls were very keen to their creations.

Thank you to Ms Hutchins for a really great morning, it was wonderful to see the girls share their hard work with parents when they were collected.