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ID here 72074

Artisan Bread Baking Course

From £541 pp

Granada, Spain

4 Nights

Join a group of up to 4

Artisan Bread Baking Course

From £541 pp

What You'll Do

Join this 5 day artisan bread baking course (3 full baking days) in the host's very own micro-bakery just 15 minutes from the vibrant city of Granada; roll up your sleeves and get hands-on to prepare your own artisan loaves from start to finish and learn the tricks of the trade.

If you have been wanting to master the art of baking your own bread and love sourdough and croissants, this is the getaway for you. Head to this private artisan micro-bakery in a small town close to Granada, roll up your sleeves and learn all the tricks of the trade!

Although the perfect loaf may look difficult, it is just about finding the right ingredients, learning timing, some additional skills and patience. Follow this 3 day course and you could be well on your way to discovering a new hobby and you will never have to buy your bread again.

The bakery is an authentic, family-run business, and your classes will leave no stone unturned – you will be walked through the process from start to finish for 3 days until you have mastered your techniques and perfected the craft of sourdough.

Your hosts and bakers, Lydia and Mike, will guide you through making your own sourdough loaves as well as baguettes and the process of laminating dough with butter to create specialties like croissants, pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat.

This 3 day course is a far cry from anything you’ll find on YouTube. The hands-on, bespoke tuition will provide you with everything you need to know to easily bake top-quality artisan products at home with the most basic of equipment.

Classes are kept small, with a maximum of 4 people, to ensure individual attention and guidance. Each guest is equipped with recipes, a notebook and apron on arrival. You’ll join a group of other like minded travellers, making this the ideal holiday for couples, friends or for those on the hunt for a singles activity holiday in Spain.

Your 4 night accommodation will be in the family owned villa, with your own private room, where you will be welcomed like one of the family yet given privacy and space whenever you need it. There are plenty of spaces to curl up with a good book and take in some sun, and a sunny terrace for one of the family’s delicious homemade international dinners with regional wine.

If you have brought a car, you’ll have some time to explore and perhaps visit Granada, or theSierra Nevada National Park. There are also plenty of walking and cycling trails to enjoy.

Experience
Highlights

Stay in a family run B&B accommodation in your own ensuite room.

Learn to cook sourdough bread, baguettes, croissants & pain au chocolat.

Great base under an hour's drive of beaches, mountains and Granada.

Your Local Host:

Lydia and Mike

Mike and Lydia moved to the Lecrin Valley in Andalucia from the UK, and were overtaken by the beauty and fresh, lush regional produce available. However, they were missing one thing and that was good bread from back home. Following on from Lydia’s already proven recipe and technique for perfect croissants, Mike began an obsession with sourdough. And so their micro-bakery was born, the perfect place to master their favourite foods and share the experience with others. Although your focus of the course will be on the sourdough and other delicious baked goods, your hosts Mike and Lydia will be serving up an array of international foods during meal times, accompanied by amazing regional wines. All enjoyed together on the terrace surrounded by the mountains.

Experience Itinerary

Arrival

– Arrival and welcome drinks
– The afternoon and evening are free for you to spend at your leisure
– Outline the history of leavened bread from the time of the Pharaohs to the present day
– Explaining the benefits of artisan baking, natural leavening, and retarded fermentation
– Dinner with the family at 8pm

 

Accommodation

Features
Accommodation in a lovely family home in a spacious villa in Pinos Peunte.

The lower ground floor comprises the family dining and entertainment area, kitchen, bakery, bathroom, garage and utility room. Guests will join the family for all meals and are welcome to enjoy the entertainment area and to use the laundry facilities.

On the mezzanine floor there is a comfy lounge leading to a large patio, both of which our students are welcome to enjoy, and the  upper floor is dedicated to guests and offers a great deal of comfort and privacy. There is a lounge with sofas, dining table, TV and two balconies offering views of the nearby mountain

There are three guest double bedrooms and a single bathroom. All rooms have central heating radiators and  air conditioning or ceiling fans. There is no supplement for single guests, and rooms can be configured for either single or double beds.

At meals times your hosts will do their best to cater to all tastes.We cannot realistically follow strict Kosher, Halal or similar diets but we have a lot experience of catering for vegan, pescaterian or diets that restrict specific types of ingredients either due to allergies, food intolerances or particular dislikes.

An eclectic range of international foods will be served, so don’t be surprised if you are confronted with well known Italian, Spanish, Japanese, French, North American, British or West African food.

Please ensure that you to tell us in advance if you have any particular likes or dislikes.

Good Spanish wine is available with lunch and dinner, and refreshments are available whenever needed

Please note we do not make, or teach, gluten-free bread

The well appointed villa

Bread Baking

– Breakfast between 8 and 10am
– Hand out recipes, notebooks, aprons and briefing on safety and hygiene
Morning
– Preparing and refreshing a sourdough culture (“mother”)
– Preparing and growing a starter (first stage fermentation)
– Bake some prepared bread to eat with lunch
– Relaxing lunch at 1:30pm with a glass or two of wine
Afternoon
– 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
– Dinner with the family at 8pm
– Start laminated pastry
– Prepare and mix dough – refrigerate

Accommodation

The villa

 

Pizza & Baguettes

– Breakfast between 8 and 10am
– After breakfast, you’ll have time to master a pizza, sample a range of local oils, or take in some sightseeing with your hosts – they will leave it up to you
– Relaxing lunch at 1:30pm with a glass or two of wine
– Tip sourdough from bannetons onto oven peel
– Learn different scoring techniques
– Bake bread, in our Rofco stone oven and also in a conventional oven using an enamelled pot
– Sourdough baguettes: prepare sourdough for Wednesday’s baguettes, refrigerate
– Laminated pastry: prepare butter for pastry lamination
– Laminate pastry for overnight second fermentation
– Dinner with the family at 8pm

Accommodation

The villa

 

Pastry

Breakfast between 8 and 10am
– Sourdough bread: prepare starter and dough for afternoon’s high hydration bread practice
– Laminated pastry: prepare laminated dough pastries, including classic French croissants, pains aux raisins, and pain au chocolat
– Prove pastries, then bake in the convection oven
– Lunch at 1:30, including croissants with a variety of savoury fillings
– Sourdough Baguettes: cut baguette dough, shape, prove baguettes in a baker’s couche, score, then bake
– High-hydration Sourdough – practice high-hydration loaf shaping and scoring – the most difficult challenges!
– Dinner with the family at 8pm

Accommodation

The villa

Departure

Breakfast at 8:30am

You are welcome to join us and bake any bread or pastries you have prepared during the previous day.

Depending on the time of your return travel, this will give you extra tuition time and you can take home as much very fresh baked produce as you can carry!

Check out by 12:00, taking sourdough starter, bread, pastries, new-found skills and happy memories!

After the course, we will provide guests with high quality videos covering every step for each recipe. This will be really useful for you as you continue to bake at home.

Reviews (4)

Matthew Draper

Monday 28th November, 2022

Fantastic place! I went here for one of their courses and loved every minute. The course was tailored to my individual needs and I learned loads across the five days. The fact this was in a stunning setting with a lovely, lovely family only made the ...

Fantastic place! I went here for one of their courses and loved every minute. The course was tailored to my individual needs and I learned loads across the five days. The fact this was in a stunning setting with a lovely, lovely family only made the experience even more special. I have done quite a few baking courses in the UK which have not come close to this. The fact that you stay means you can really cover off all parts of the baking process rather than just getting a glimpse into it (as you do on day courses). Would 100% recommend this place to anyone

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M De Guzman

Sunday 29th September, 2019

Had a great time, learn the skills fast and warm and friendly welcome.

Had a great time, learn the skills fast and warm and friendly welcome.

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P Morrison

Saturday 15th June, 2019

Can’t say enough about incredible time in Mike’s, Lydia’s, little Lara’s and Matthew’s home. Learning to make sour dough bread and baguettes/Mike and croissants/Lydia was so informative. Instructions, knowledge and techniques were only surp...

Can’t say enough about incredible time in Mike’s, Lydia’s, little Lara’s and Matthew’s home. Learning to make sour dough bread and baguettes/Mike and croissants/Lydia was so informative. Instructions, knowledge and techniques were only surpassed by their patience. Recommend to everyone - 5 star plus.

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P Carr

Monday 25th March, 2019

Great holiday with friendly family, sharing lots of sourdough baking and eating. Enjoyed walks from village beside orange and lemon orchards. Visited the Alhambra palace and an olive oil tour on my extra days. Home with lots of tips, my signature loa...

Great holiday with friendly family, sharing lots of sourdough baking and eating. Enjoyed walks from village beside orange and lemon orchards. Visited the Alhambra palace and an olive oil tour on my extra days. Home with lots of tips, my signature loaf, photos and happy memories.

Read more

Location Information

This unique baking course is based in the small town of Pinos Puente, just 20 km from central Granada, a small town sitting at the foot of the Sierra Elvira mountain range. You will stay in a micro-bakery with charming accommodation in the baker’s family home.

There is  a large supermarket nearby and lots of typical Spanish shops, bars and good facilities within easy walking distance

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

There is plenty of easy parking outside the villa, for those who wish to hire a car from the airport, and a drive into Central Granada takes only 15 minutes

Taxis to and from Granada typically charge 20-40 euros. A morning or afternoon trip to the Albaycin (old Arab quarter) is feasible during our course, but sadly not a visit to the Alhambra palace and gardens as that will take a full day

Nearest airports:

  • 4 nights accommodation in either a single or twin/double room
  • Please note: prices are per person and there are no single supplements for solo travellers
  • 3 day complete sourdough course (15.5 hours) covering all aspects from obtaining ingredients, baking through to storage
  • Apron, recipes and notebook upon arrival
  • All meals including breakfasts, lunches and dinners
  • Snacks and refreshments served throughout the days
  • Sourdough culture to take home with you
  • Check in any time after 4pm on Saturday and check out by noon on Wednesday

FAQs

- All levels from beginner to advanced bakers welcome
- Minimum age 18 with no upper age limit (under 18s accepted accompanied by an adult)
- All classes are taught in English

- This is a small, family-run bakery specializing in all things sourdough started by husband and wife, Lydia and Mike
- This school is a working micro-bakery which is separate from the main kitchen of the house
- It is perfectly fitted with hardwood topped, stainless steel catering tables, shelving, cleaning facilities, Rofco bread oven, and all the tools, equipment and best ingredients you will need to create perfect sourdough
- This is school caters up to four ‘bakers’ at a time, so groups are small and attention is very individual, and you can learn at your own pace (please enquire if you are a bigger group or need additional accommodation)
- You will learn by mirroring your teachers step by step, until you have mastered a technique
- The baking school and accommodation is all run by your hosts, who will be there for limitless advice in regards to baking, tips on the area, local activities, as well as anything you may need during your stay.

Please note that making artisan bread is a long slow process, so lessons are nothing like the cookery lessons you normally come across. Not that it is ever boring - it is always good fun. It may look quite intensive (your hosts aim to give guests plenty of opportunity to master steps) but there is always lots of time during the preparation to go for a stroll, lounge on the terrace, take in some Netflix or have a nap!