This class is for all of you who have little or no baking skill and want to learn how to make delicious cakes, pastries, breads (& more!) without setting you and your roommates on fire!

Benefits of joining our course:
You’ll get upper division units for basically feeding yourself baked goods (adulting!)
You’ll be the rockstar that brings homemade pie to a potluck
You can invite that cute classmate over to have cupcakes
You will be loved by all as the harbinger of pastry

In this DeCal, we'll teach you how to make a wide variety of baked goods, assuming little or no previous experience. You'll be taught the various techniques to make different baked goods, as well as the importance of essential ingredients and what they do in the recipe.

Class structure:
Each week, there'll be a berkeley-time based 1.5 hours of class: approx. 10 min. presentation and tasting (that's right, you get to eat every class), 30 minutes discussion, and 40 minutes lecture. Explain away the baked goods you eat by the 10 minutes you spend walking to class. We will meet once a week.

Group work:
You'll be put into pairs or trios at the beginning (don't worry, you can choose your partner if you want -- we'll also take into account where you live and whether you two get along) and you'll work together (and bond) to make a recipe at home each week. We'll give suggestions for recipes, but as you build your baking knowledge, you're also welcome to try recipes that you find online or in books.

Attendance:
One unexcused absence is allowed but you and your partner are still expected to do the baking for that week.

There will be very short readings assigned from an e-book. These are designed to help you understand more about the "why" behind baking. Attendance will be taken weekly in the form of a one question quiz that should be straightforward to answer if you have done the reading.

Final & Recipe Collection:
By the end of our course, there will be 4 scheduled “exams” at the Morgan Teaching Kitchen, which will take place before dead week -- don’t worry, you’ll only attend one! This will be a chance for us to all bake together and have a food party.

As a project, you'll compile your recipes (and any recipes that other people used that you like) each week into a recipe book with annotations and notes for improvement or modification. By the end, you'll have your own collection of recipes so you can continue baking in the future!

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at introbaking@gmail.com. Please do not contact any of the facilitators directly over social media or by their individual berkeley email.