What You'll Learn
By the end of the class, you will:
- Be able to make perfectly tender scones
- Master simple canning methods for fruit jams
- Know how to prepare basic pie and tart doughs
About This Class
Tired of apples and pears? Us too! Late April in northern California welcomes early berries, cherries, rhubarb, and, if we’re lucky, even stone fruit. While the best local fruit can be dessert on its own, around here we like to gild the lily when it comes to sweets so join us in the kitchen and you can do the same.
We’ll put up some jam you can take home for scones (instant shortcakes!), spread on the fruit tarts and galettes you’ll learn how to make, or even turn into a filing for a spring layer cake. We will have a variety of fruit on hand – choose your favorites and use them in three or four different ways.
At the core of this class are building block recipes for pleasing desserts that will work with fruit from spring through winter, making them flexible go-tos year-round.
Menu
Classic Scones, Fruit Galette, Tarte aux Fruits, and Take-Home Cherry-Rhubarb and Strawberry-Vanilla Jams
Details
- Wine included
- Light meal served in class
- Work in teams
- Suitable for vegetarians
- Ages 18+
FAQ
All students must show proof of vaccine before entering school and will be required to wear a mask unless eating/drinking.
We understand and respect that lifestyle decisions during Covid are an individual choice. If you test positive for Covid while the class is in session, you will be asked to send a friend in your place until you have a negative test. Classes will not be rescheduled, credited or cancelled. Once the class session starts the class is non-refundable. This was our policy pre-Covid and continues to be our policy today. We hope you find this policy acceptable and understand that this policy is required for a small school like SFCS to operate and open our kitchens for great food experiences.
The average duration of our current cooking classes is 4 hours, which is predominately hands-on work. You will be standing for the majority of class, cooking at your work station as your instructor demonstrates techniques and walks around providing individual feedback. Most of the time you’ll be working with a partner or small group on a few different recipes.
Doors will open 10 minutes prior to class starting and we will begin promptly on time. Students will be asked to queue up outside the door of the school to have their vaccine cards checked the first week of class (these will only need to be checked once).
Please arrive at the school with your own mask on. New, disposable masks are available should you need to replace yours while in class.
Wear comfortable clothes and close-toed shoes (remember, you’ll be on your feet cooking). The kitchens at SFCS are fully equipped with everything else you need, including clean aprons.
You will sit down with your classmates to eat what you’ve all prepared, along with some wine. We do suggest you have a small snack before class as dinner does happen towards the end of each session.
Wear casual clothing you can easily move around in, and comfortable close-toed shoes. Long hair must be pulled back and masks are required while in the building.
Cancellation Policy
Amy Machnak
Amy Machnak is a pastry chef and food writer who has worked at such notable restaurants as Boulevard, Farallon, Gitane, and Hawthorne Lane. She was the recipe editor at Sunset Magazine for several years and contributed to many of their cookbooks and cooking videos. Amy won a James Beard award for food writing and both a Telly and Henry Luce award for cooking videos. She currently works as a columnist for the SF Chronicle covering baking and pastries in the Bay Area. Her first cookbook, Make it Spicy was published May 2015 and she’s currently working on a second cookbook about wedding cakes.