Squires Kitchen International School

Students creating sugar flowers in one of the classrooms at Squires Kitchen

Basic Ingredients: Squires Kitchen International School is the UK’s longest-running sugarcraft school and has been teaching the art of cake decorating for nearly 30 years. The school believes anyone can bake and decorate a cake, or create beautiful sugar flowers and delicious chocolates like the professionals, and it aims to nurture the confidence to create in its students.

There is an impressive range of baking courses, including how to make delicious cakes, pastries and breads from scratch, as well as cupcakes, French pâtisserie and fancy macaroons. If mastering the art of chocolate is your goal, a resident Master Chocolatier leads comprehensive courses where  you can learn how to make beautiful moulded chocolates, a stunning chocolate showpiece or even a decadent two-tier chocolate wedding cake.

At Squires Kitchen you can also develop a wide variety of cake decorating skills on classes that range from one to six days in length.  They also offer Foundation classes designed for complete beginners all the way up to professional-level Masterclasses, with dynamic, modern and trend-setting topics. Discover how to work with royal icing; create realistic and incredibly fine sugar flowers; cover a cake professionally with sugarpaste, or create novelty sugar models that will finish a cake perfectly.

The school is located in the beautiful Georgian town of Farnham, Surrey and has good travel connections (direct trains from London Waterloo in less than one hour). A team of over 25 professional, highly skilled tutors, ensure you will receive expert guidance every step of the way. Courses are intimate with a maximum of 12 students per class, and take place in two fully equipped classrooms with state-of-the-art Smeg appliances and KitchenAids. Refreshments and a light lunch are provided, too.

They say: We place a strong focus on developing new skills and techniques, our courses are hands-on, informative and encourage students to nurture their own individual talents. We offer courses that are modern, creative and that showcase the latest trends in the baking, cake decorating and chocolate industries. Come and discover new skills with a friend, create the perfect cake for that special occasion or even get help starting your own cake business.

 We say: This niche offering for the sweet toothed has been flying the flag for British cakes and baking since Mary Berry was just a middle-aged woman. As far as we’re aware there is nowhere quite like Squires Kitchen in the UK. Watch out for its lively schedule of best-in-the-business guest tutors visiting from around the world.