Brook Bakery School

Basic Ingredients: This Somerset school takes baking very seriously with a strong emphasis on craft and technique. Essentially, they run two bakery courses, one focused on artisan technique with professional machinery, and the other for current craft bakers looking to develop their range or launch a commercial bakery. The former combines traditional and modern methods and is run by experienced course leader Michael Hanson, whose praises have been sung by non other than the legendary Den Lepard. Both courses are very hands on with exposure to professional equipment including various ovens and mixers suitable for large-scale automated production.  A one-day course costs £195 or £375 for two days and offers reduced membership with the National Association of Master Bakers. Ireland’s ‘finest cake decorator’, Saundra Drew-Larsen also runs two-day cake courses suitable for apprentices, advanced students and enthusiasts.

They say: Learn to scale up to larger machinery without losing your artisan style. And those looking to expand their repertoire of breads, learn new techniques and also develop their knowledge to enable them to use equipment in place of manual techniques will be able to. 

We say: This committed bakery school welcomes amateurs and can tailor courses to specific needs. They promise an informal environment that promotes plenty of interaction between students.