Plant-based baking at OFFBEET Academy
On Monday I spent the most amazing day at OFFBEET Academy, the new plant-based cookery school at The Retreat New Forest.
There were three of us on the bakery course, which was a full-day affair lasting from 9.30am until 4.30pm. After a civilised start with coffee, croissants and introductions, we donned our aprons and got to work.
Our tutor was Peter Axworthy, founder and Head Chef of the inCREDible OFFBEET restaurant. Will Firmin, Head Chef at Crow Spotter (and now Director of the cookery school too) was on hand as his right hand man - and ours. He cleaned, tidied, washed up, wrapped and packed our bakes, provided advice and banter, cooked us lunch and even lied about my cookies being great when they went horribly wrong!
The kitchen itself is really stylish - very much a continuation of the restaurant. Each work station is spacious and well equipped with utensils, pots and pans, oven and hob. We were particularly impressed by the gorgeous knives, which sadly we didn’t get to use apart from to chop butter (ooh, but they chopped it beautifully).
Peter demonstrated each stage of the process before letting us loose on our own bakes, and it was great breaking it all down into simple steps. He imparted lots of wisdom along the way, perhaps most importantly how to rectify recipes when they go wrong. The most common problem with vegan baking because of the oil content is the mixture splitting. Peter showed us how to use a bit of (soya or other plant-based) milk to bring the mixture back together. I had to use that technique myself later when my muffin mixture split.
All of the recipes (which we got to take home with us) can be adapted, so are a good base for trying out different flavour combinations. In particular, I’m looking forward to trying some different muffin flavours and toppings. And I’ll definitely be making the little layered vanilla birthday cakes again, trying different things. They are quite the showstopper!
Another thing that I very much enjoyed about the course was that we used up all the waste (and no, I don’t just mean eating the offcuts). For example, when we cut our vanilla sponges into small rounds for our layer cakes it left a lot of waste. Peter showed us how to turn them into fun chocolate-and-sprinkle-doused cake pops, which were a big hit with my boys when I got home.
By lunchtime, we couldn’t quite believe how much we had done. Will prepared us the tastiest lunch of ‘meat’balls, pasta and tomato sauce with garlic sourdough toast and lemony leaves - a recipe that they teach on the Italian course. This carb feast lulled some of us (me) into needing a nap, so I had a brisk walk around the gorgeous grounds before getting back into the kitchen.
At the end of the day, we had made and took home the following:
Double chocolate brownies
Vanilla layered birthday cakes
Cake pops
Chunky chocolate cookies
Lemon and blueberry crumble muffins
Shortbread
All I’d advise is that if you do this course - and I’d highly recommend it whether you follow a plant-based diet or not - have a plan for what you’ll do with so much cake. Because you take home SO MUCH CAKE! Some can be frozen, other bakes like the brownies will last up to five days, but some needs eating as soon as possible. In very fortuitous timing, I hosted an afternoon tea for my mother-in-law’s birthday, and I STILL have leftovers.
I’ve been looking at the Academy’s website and deciding which class I should do next…Thai? Mexican? Italian?…because this one has definitely given me the taste for more.
offbeetacademy.com
