Danish Pastry and Croissant Baking Workshop

I must admit that I'm a sucker for good deals. Today, there are just too many deal websites available. I am not sure if all are reliable but so far I have bought deals from Groupon, MyDeal, milkadeal, Livingsocial, and maybe a few others which I can't remember. But the above are my top deal websites which I normally browse and find good and interesting deals.

One time I bought a deal from Groupon for a danish pastry and croissant baking workshop. It was RM99. I went to the workshop on Saturday, 12 October 2013. The workshop was held at Millenium Square, PJ.

This was where the workshop was held. I arrived 15 minutes late because I couldn't find the place., or rather my GPS couldn't find the place. -___- And also because I had to stop at McDonald's to do my big business. -__- So I missed the first, most important part of the class, which is making the dough. Sigh such a waste.

Anyway, they gave us a sheet of paper with the recipe on it and they  also wrote it on the board so I didn't really lose much. It looks easy in writing but it is actually a tedious and quite a tiring process. We were also taught how to make the cream filling for the pastries. I didn't take pics because I was bust concentrating. Cewah.

The dough needs to be rested in the fridge after mixing. This is the part where the pastry fat or butter is added and kneaded. This is the hardest and most tiring part because you need to roll out the pastry to distribute the pastry fat or butter evenly. There is also the several folding methods to ensure that when the pastry is baked, you get the flakiness and layers of buttery goodness. Too much of kneading and rolling will cause the pastry to lose its layers.

We were taught to shape the croissants, to make the pinwheel shape, diamond shape, bear paw shape and square shape. There is a certain measurement that you have to follow to get the right size. Told ya it's not easy! And I really don't like the measuring parts. We actually used a measuring tape and a ruler to get the exact measurements!

These are my pastries before baking. You can either put the fruits and cream before or after baking. I also brought some unbaked pastries home to bake the next day. You can make the dough and freeze them in the freezer for several months.

The girl in the black apron was our teacher that day. She was assisted by her sister. They're both very young and friendly girls. Obviously she knows what she's doing and we were in awe every time she demonstrated to us. There are a few couples attending the workshop as well, which I think is very sweet. Next time I might drag my hubby along but he said if it's a cooking class, he's all for it but for baking, no way. -__- So much for enthusiasm huh?

This is the second hardest part actually. Not the baking part but the waiting part! The whole room smells like a bakery and the smell was so good! By the time we finished baking, it was past 12pm and everybody was starting to feel hungry. Class started at 930am by the way.

These were my baked goodies. Don't they look awesome and professional? Heh heh. Most importantly, hubby and Babycakes said sedapppppp! :) If you are too lazy to make the dough from scratch, fret not. You can just buy the frozen puff pastry in the supermarket and shape them as you please. I think I might just do that because it's just too much work! Now I know why a piece of danish pastry or croissant costs RM3 onwards! However if you make your own, you will use the finest ingredients like butter instead of pastry fat and you can use any and as much filling as you please.

Who knows, I might set up my own little cafe with cakes and pastries when I am done or bored with practicing as a lawyer. At least I have a back up, right? And it's something that I like to do. Next time I want to see if there are any bread or bun making workshops.

Checkout their fb at The Studio Kitchen if you are interested in joining their classes. They also offer a diploma course for 1 year at RM9999.