New Bakery, Café and Deli 11-week countdown
We are looking at the frames for our replacement wall to wall windows which will form the front of the Cookery School and the café. We are now also able to step through the frame of what will be our new glazed entrance door! All very exciting and amidst the building dust, bits of wood and steel pipes we try to envisage entering through it to the welcoming smell of Union coffee and freshly baked pastries...
New Bakery and Deli 12 weeks
The lovely old brick building which was the head quarters of legendary Cambridge stone masons Rattee & Kett is getting a wonderful face lift ahead of us moving in!
We are busy running a summer of Duke of Edinburgh residential courses for another 7 weeks and then we close the door to our existing kitchen and head over to the new building. The Café and deli will be kitted out and the new doors will open...
A Food Safari for 150 at Churchill college
Our corporate Food Safaris have gained a reputation for delivering high octane, slick cookery experiences on a large scale. When we host them in our own kitchen our upper limit tends to be around 55/60 guests so when we were asked by McKinsey to organise a safari for 150, we knew the venue had to be much larger than our own.
Yesterday saw us move 15 team members and as many crates of equipment and food to the Churchill college dining hall to set up 12 large tables for teams of 13. The Safari destination was Italy and our tables included wine tastings, canapé making and the creation of 200 mini Tiramisú!
We had the delightful Italian chef and cookery book writer Ursula Ferrigno with us and who better to inspire teams of management consultants to be creative with their cream and liqueuer? This is how we like ours:
50ml strong espresso
40ml Rum or Kahlua
1 pack sponge fingers
2 free-range egg whites
250g mascarpone
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Marsala
1 tsp cocoa powder
Make espresso, add the coffee liqueur, then leave it to cool
Break each Savoiardi sponge finger into about four and drop the pieces into small glasses, then pour the cooled espresso mixture over them. Press down gently, making sure the biscuits are soaked all over.
Using a ballon whisk beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks when the whisk is removed, and set aside for a moment.
Scrape the mascarpone into another bowl, adding the honey and, when smooth, slowly beat in the Marsala.
Fold in the egg whites, a third at a time, then dollop this mixture over the Savoiardi in each glass, using a spoon to whirl it into an elegant peak at the top.
Sift over Cocoa
New Bakery and Deli 13-week count down
At just over 3 months from the date we hope to open our doors to the brand new café/deli/bakery, we are looking at a proper flour slab and the first signs of a new solid wall following the under-pinning. Very encouraging - and the delightful guys from Balfour Beatty are just as happy to stop and smile for camera as they are building our new home!
What at first sounded like bad news is turning out to be rather fortunate for us, as our reconstructed building will have insulated walls and double glazed windows. And above those lovely old windows will be the box holding the original awnings which we love and which will form a nice canopy for our outdoor seating...we hope for a long, mild autumn
New Bakery and Deli 14-week countdown
The progress made on the old Rattee & Kett buidling we are moving into is good and this week we are delighted to acquire a floor! After months of looking at open soil and no facade following the discovery that this lovely old building needed under-pinning, we seem to be on the road to recovery.
Our landlords Homerton college are in charge of developong what will become known as Homerton Gardens and for preparing the ground floor of "School House" for us. We are on track for handover on 28th August and after that it is over to our builder and the wonderful team from Cambridge Kitchens & Bathrooms.
However, until then, we are busy with back to back weeks of D of E Gold Award residential cookery classes.
New Bakery and Deli 15-week countdown
As of this morning we are the proud location of not only one but two diggers!
Drains being laid and then our floor should start to take shape. Whilst the open-air design might be a bit extreme come the autumn, in the current heat wave we are rather pleased with it!
We have only 3 classes left to run before our normal busy program is replaced with wall to wall week-long Duke of Edinburgh residential award cookery courses until the end of August.
September is earmarked for our kitchen and deli fit-out by our trusted partners Cambridge Kitchens & Bathrooms and Neff, thanks to whom we will be the first cookery school in the country to be cooking on the next generation of appliances with "swipe" controls.
New Bakery and Deli 16-week countdown
We have ticked off another week on our countdown to our new building being ready for us.
The exciting news this week is that the post office has confirmed the new official name of our location as Cambridge Cookery School, School House, Homerton Gardens! We love it.
We are currently shortlisting breads destined for our new bakery...
Breads of Spain and North Africa master class
Our bread classes continue to sell out and to attract huge praise. This year we launched a new series of bread master classes with our Leiths and Cordon Bleu trained baker Clare Bermingham "Breads of the World". Clare's breads are second to none and her teaching style is incredibly calm and very instructive. Clare is busy planning which breads we shall be baking in our new Deli when it opens this autumn. So far our classic sour dough and soft Swedish rye have definitely made it into the shortlist.
Clare will be running her class on the great breads of Spain and North Africa this coming Sunday and guests will be learning how to bake these gorgeous breads and will leave with all their fantastic breads after the class. We love our Sunday mornings of baking and hope the warm weather will return so we can serve some chilled Gazpacho for lunch!
Joining Simply Good Food TV
I am honoured to have been asked to join a group of fabulous chefs on new app Simply Good Food TV @sgftv. This fantastic app offers easy to follow films by chefs ranging from @jamieoliver and @gordonramsey to - well me - and is the creation of clever TV chef and baker Peter Sidwell.
My 8 films will show me making some of my favourite Scandinavian dishes including the Cookery School signature bake; Swedish cinnamon rolls! Download the app now for first hand access to the latest uploaded films.
Strawberry Cordial
If you are not a dedicated and confident pickler and preserver it can seem daunting to have a go at home. This recipe is a great entry point as it takes 20 minutes from start to finish and does not include a conserving or preserving ingredient, just fresh fruit, water and sugar. The flavour of home made strawberry cordial is absolutely wonderful and epitomises summer. Made this way the cordial won't keep for very long and should be kept in the fridge. Serve diluted 1/4 over lots of ice and with a sprig of fresh mint. Or use it for a pretty and delicious summer cocktail mixing it with chilled Prosecco and a little lemon juice.
Simmer 2 litres of cleaned, ripe berries and 400ml water for 8-10 minutes, then sieve them through muslin. Return the juices to the pan and add 425g sugar per litre of sieved juice. Simmer for another 10 minutes and the cordial is ready to be poured into clean glass bottles just out of a hot cycle in the dish washer.