At the center of a big metal table, Chef Simon Stevenson instructed 15 UMass students decked out in black aprons on how to knead dough. “Be firm, but gentle like you would with your children,” he said to the participants of the Baking 101 class last Friday.
Meanwhile, staff members in bright orange t-shirts ran around cleaning dishes, gathering supplies and assisting the chef as he gave each student individual attention during the three hour class open to all students with a meal plan. During the class, students learn how to make fresh bread, chocolate covered strawberries, fruit strips and palmiers.
Stevenson started the class three years ago, and said they “have certainly proved to be popular.” The fifteen spots fill up quickly, and many students who attend Baking 101 sign up for Chocolate 101, also taught by Stevenson, later in the semester.
“I thought it would be fun,” said freshman Allie Brady who attended the last class. She added, “I don’t really bake, but I’d like to know how to.”
Stevenson, who was department head of Connecticut Culinary Institute – now Lincoln Culinary Institute – before taking the job as Pastry Chef of the UMass Bakeshop six years ago, used the techniques he employed to teach culinary students before to help him decide what to teach here.
“It’s about giving variety but still keeping it basic,” he said, “and they’re easy enough for people to make at home.”
He caps the class at 15 students so that he can give everyone individualized attention because, he said, “I want everybody to feel included.”
Katie Sosnowski, a sophomore who attended the class, said she originally signed up for it because she “just wanted some free food.” But after the three hours of instruction, she felt like she had really learned a lot.
“I didn’t know how to bake,” Sosnowski said, “now I do.”
Stevenson said he thinks the classes are fun because the students that attend are excited to be there.
“People that come to it are enthusiastic,” he said, “[they] want to get their hands in the dough.”
There has been so much interest in Baking 101 and Chocolate 101 that Stevenson has tossed around the idea of adding more classes. While he likes the idea of teaching a cake decorating class or a jam making class, he doesn’t have the time right now.
“They are great classes to have, but yikes, that’s a lot of work,” he said. Stevenson, along with his staff of 10 full-time bakers, six part-time bakers and 30 students, run the largest campus bakeshop on the east coast. Servicing 30,000 people a day, it’s hard for Stevenson to find time to add more classes to the schedule. So for now, the chef is sticking to the popular Baking 101 and Chocolate 101, offering three sessions of each class the semester.
Brady said her favorite part wasn’t the baking itself, but working with fun people and making new friends. “I would definitely do it again,” she said.
Baking 101 will be held one more time, on Nov. 4 from 2-5 p.m. Chocolate 101 will be held Nov. 11, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9 from 2-5 p.m.
Michelle Woodward can be reached at [email protected]
