Name: 5 Day Sourdough and Artisan Baking in Granada
Brand: Lara's Loaf Sourdough School
Price: 595 EUR
Availability: InStock
Rating: 9.6 (13 reviews)

Accommodation

Check-in Time:

15:00

Check-out Time:

12:00

Guest quarters are on the upper level of the family villa. This area is exclusive to guests, with bedrooms and a comfortable lounge/dining area offering a great deal of privacy. There is a large lounge/diner with two balconies offering views over the park at the rear and the nearby mountain

There are three comfortable double bedrooms, which can be configured either for double beds or singles. All have central heating radiators and ceiling fans. Bedroom 1 has air-conditioning. There is a large well-appointed bathroom, and access to other shared bathrooms in the villa if needed.

The mezzanine floor has a comfortable family lounge opening onto an attractive well-proportioned patio with relaxation and dining areas

The ground level consists of the family dining and entertainment area leading onto the kitchen, bakery and utility areas. Guests can make use of the laundry facilities

Accommodation can be extended beyond course days on a BnB basis. This can be an advantage during the busy tourist high season when accommodation in Granada, or the ski centre, is hard to find and expensive. We have plenty of storage space available.

Program

Lara's Loaf Sourdough School's top-quality sourdough bread requires very little effort. It does need plenty of skill though and arguably a bit lot of love too!

They simplify artisan baking for you and drastically shorten the steep learning curve. You will create wonderful products from scratch, developing a real feel for the ingredients, the dough at different fermentation, temperature, and hydration levels, shaping techniques, and the final bake.

With classes of between one and four students, the school is able to provide a highly personalized experience, tailoring its approach to you and your own level of aptitude and experience. Each student gets a high level of attention and support.

The objective of the course is for you to learn some core skills which are essential to artisan baking and to perfect them to a very high level of proficiency, including:

Baking with a natural sourdough "mother"
Retarded fermentation, the key to artisan baking
Managing dough with a high water content
Laminating dough with butter to make a wide range of pastries

Throughout the course, you will be creating baked products from scratch. This is a hands-on course with a mission - to make you an accomplished artisan baker - so there will be lots of one-on-one coaching, with a focus on “practice makes perfect” until you are confident

Saturday

Arrival
Welcome drinks
Discuss the history of leavened baking from the time of the Pharaohs to the present day
Introduction to the advantages of artisan baking, natural leavening, and retarded fermentation
The health benefits of sourdough

Sunday

Breakfast 08:30
Hand out recipes, notebooks, aprons
Introduction to tools and equipment
Briefing on safety and hygiene
Preparing a sourdough culture (“mother”)
Refreshing an existing mother
Preparing and growing a starter (first stage fermentation)
Bake some prepared bread to eat with lunch at 13:30
Mixing flour, water, and starter to form dough
Autolyse (hydrate) then add salt
Stretch and fold the dough six times during the second fermentation
Prepare bannetons (baskets for individual loaves)
Weigh, cut, and shape the dough
Place in bannetons for overnight final fermentation in the fridge
Mix pastry dough, wrap, and overnight in the fridge
Drinks and dinner

Monday

Breakfast at 08:30
Learn how to make authentic sourdough pizza (which will be served for lunch)
Lunch at 13:30
Remove sourdough from bannetons
Learn different scoring techniques
Bake bread, using a Rofco stone bread oven and a standard enameled dutch oven (Le Creuset)
Lunch at 13:30
Prepare sourdough for Wednesday’s baguettes, refrigerate
Prepare butter for pastry lamination
Laminate pastry for the overnight second fermentation
Drinks and dinner

Tuesday

Breakfast at 08:30
Prepare starter and dough for the afternoon’s high-hydration bread practice
Prepare laminated dough pastries, including classic French croissants, pains aux raisins, and pains au chocolat
Prove pastries, then bake in the convection oven
Lunch at 13:30
Cut baguette dough, shape, prove baguettes in a baker’s couche, score, then bake
Practice high-hydration loaf shaping - the most difficult challenge!
Discuss making schedules and timetables that work well, fit in with your busy day and allowing for a good night's sleep
Cover suggestions and recipes ideally suited for sourdough
Learn how best to store bread
Discuss different types of flour, where to buy, and how to store
The tools and equipment needed and where to source them
Acquire lots of tips and tricks you won't learn from books or YouTube
Debunk common myths and misconceptions about bread and sourdough
Dinner

Wednesday

Breakfast at 08:30
Bake high-hydration bread to take with you and sourdough starter
Check out by 12:00

Instructors

Mike Sims

Mike is a retired Chartered Accountant from England, and has held senior directorships of many companies, including finance, renewable energy, and food. He fell in love with sourdough bread in the early 1980's during the first of many trips to San Francisco, and spent many years experimenting with bread recipes from different countries before discovering the "Tartine" recipe which, ironically, was created in San Francisco!

Lydia Sims

Mike's wife, Lydia, hails from Nigeria and is multi-talented and very resourceful. She has an excellent command of English. She specializes in cakes and pastries but considers her baguettes to be better than Mike's.

Location

We are situated on the outskirts of Pinos Puente at the foot of the Sierra Elvira mountain range, 15 minutes by car from central Granada. We have a large supermarket nearby and lots of typical Spanish shops, bars and good facilities, all within easy walking distance

Hiking trails are popular on the nearby mountain, which is thermally active and has splendid views of Granada´s Vega plain and the Sierra Nevada mountains

Taxis to and from Granada typically charge 25-45 euros. A morning or afternoon trip to the Albaycin (old Arab quarter) is feasible during our course, but a visit to the Alhambra palace and gardens really needs a full day

Malaga is a one hour thirty minute car journey, Cordoba is two hours

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Features

Activities

Cooking classes

General

Dining area
Kitchen
Terrace
Patio

Food

Meals are taken with the family including three young children ages one, five and seven (late 2023)

Lydia and Mike are well practiced in catering for most special dietary requirements or food intolerances, if given adequate notice. Regular meals are of a varied international nature, and guests are welcome Ito participate in the preparing meals if they like.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks
Drinks

The following drinks are included:

Water
Coffee
Tea
Alcoholic beverages

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Vegetarian
Vegan
Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
Pescatarian
Seafood

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

Things to do (optional)

The following attractions are nearby:

Granada, with the historic and beautiful Alhambra and Albayzín (please note you need a full day to visit the Alhambra)
The Sierra Nevada, the second highest mountain range in Western Europe, with Europe's most southerly ski resort at Pico Veleta (45 minutes by car)

What's included

Free transportation from/to Granada airport or Granada bus station
Baking classes
Cooked or continental breakfast
Lunch with wine
Dinner with wine
Snacks and refreshments
Use of aprons, tools and equipment for baking
Some sourdough starter and flour to take away
Bread and pastries to take away
High quality videos covering every step for each recipe
Aftercare, follow-up help and advice by phone or WhatsApp
4 nights accommodation

What's not included

Airfare

How to get there

Recommended Airports

GRX

Federico García Lorca Airport (Granada Jaén Airport)

7 km

Transfer included

AGP

Málaga Airport

91 km

Transfer available for additional US$ 106 per person

Arrival by airplane

We provide complimentary pick up and return from Granada airport, train or bus stations

For visitors arriving at Malaga airport we recommend taking the comfortable air-conditioned coach from the arrival terminal direct to Granada bus station at a very reasonable cost per person. Alternatively, car rental is inexpensive

Airport: Federico García Lorca Airport (Granada Jaén Airport) Airport transfer included: Federico García Lorca Airport (Granada Jaén Airport) No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.

Airport: Málaga Airport Airport transfer available: Málaga Airport (US$ 106 per person) Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.

Cancellation Policy

A reservation requires a deposit of 29.04% of the total price.
The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.

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