We Tried a Baking Class at Blue Heron Farm & Bakery

I have very minimal experience when it comes to baking, so when asked to try a bakery class at Blue Heron Farm & Bakery, I felt a rush of excitement to learn a new skill (and eat it too). Jennie Boosey co-owns Blue Heron with her husband, James Boosey, and she teaches cooking and baking classes for people with a range of experience. 

Blue Heron originally started as a farm where the Booseys grew a variety of produce to be sold at farmers markets. A popular item they sold was farm-in-a-box, in which Jennie included sourdough rolls, hot-dog buns, hamburger buns and pastries. Their booth continued to grow, so the pair decided to purchase a bakery storefront. James’s experience with running restaurants in England helped them kick-start their new business. The couple had lived in England for a couple of years, so the interior design of their bakery is inspired by Europe. 

I visited Blue Heron Farm & Bakery to make sweet-filled galettes using homemade puff pastry. Located on Commercial Street, Blue Heron has an eye-catching blue exterior. Once you cross its threshold, the open interior invites you in with bright white walls and warm lighting. I felt like I had entered a quaint European bakery. Yellow and white flowers dotted the wooden tables and a bucket of fresh bouquets added charm to the decor. Portraits of Commercial Street business owners with their stories beside them lined the walls.  While I waited, I admired the portraits and learned more about the local community.

The students in the baking class included a variety of people from different backgrounds. One friend group had participated in Jennie’s classes before but loved returning, while others were about as inexperienced as me. 

Jennie began the session by explaining how she mixes the flour, sugar and butter together to reach the desired texture for the dough. Then, she gave us our own slabs of pre-made dough. We rolled the dough that would serve as the puffy, golden crust. We had to roll it in every direction to ensure the dough was spread evenly into a rectangular shape. 

Once we finished, we folded it horizontally into thirds and then into thirds again, then we allowed it to chill. This was the dough we would be able to bring home with us, but Jennie gave us pre-cut pieces to work with for the duration of the class. 

Next, we cut six half-inch lines in the circle so we could fold the flaps together with an egg mixture to achieve a flower-like shape. Although my cuts turned out a tad wonky, something magical happened in the oven to make the galettes look delectable. We glazed the shell with an egg mixture and sprinkled a light layer of sugar on the outside to get the perfect crunch. 

While we waited for the galettes to bake, we headed into a side room to eat dinner together. Jennie prepared a salad and mouth-watering roasted carrots, sausages wrapped in a pastry shell and a ham and cheese croissant sandwich. 

After dinner, we returned to the pastries. I filled my first galette with lemon custard and topped it with blueberries, and orange glaze. For my second galette, I used vanilla custard and raspberry filling, topped with whipped cream, raspberries and powdered sugar. The lemon custard galette tasted sweet and tart, and the warm pastry shell melted on my tongue. Adding the blueberries gave the pastry a refreshing taste as well. The raspberry and vanilla galette was even sweeter and the perfect treat to satisfy my sweet tooth. 

The end result shocked me! I felt impressed with the finished product and thrilled that I had made something with my own hands. I arrived with little baking experience and left with two sweet-filled galettes. If you want to tap into baking, Blue Heron’s classes are a great place to start for anyone ready to try something new and taste something great.