Published on: April 29, 2024 04:00 PM
With Jeff Capesi, the first selected member Newtown Bee Copy editor Kathy Ronan will be holding a Sourdough 101 class on Saturday, May 4, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street.
Participants will learn how to make sourdough bread through an interactive classroom experience. You'll also learn the science and technique of sourdough, taste freshly baked sourdough bread, and be given a recipe and container of starter so you can bake your own at home.
The cost to attend this event is $15, and all proceeds from the event will be donated to the FAITH Food Pantry. Registration required. Please call us at 203-270-4349.
Shortly after they became friends, Capesi, who had been baking sourdough for more than six years, encouraged Ronan to try making sourdough. She was hesitant because she had previously made yeast bread and failed (the bread didn't rise and the inside turned out doughy when baked). Capeci assured her that her sourdough was easy to work with and offered to guide her through it. She agreed and was overjoyed when the bread turned out delicious. She now consistently bakes sourdough once or twice a week.
This experience led Ronan to write a feature article in the magazine's March 1 issue. Newtown Bee “In the Kitchen with Jeff Capeci” is about Capeci's hobby of making sourdough bread. After publication, requests began to arrive from people who wanted to know how to make sourdough. Capesi and Ronan happily agreed to share their love of making sourdough bread with others, starting with teaching this current class at his community center in Newtown.
Jeff teaches Newtown Bee copy editor Kathy Ronan how to roll out dough. Then he demonstrates folding it. The stretching and folding steps he does every 30 minutes for two and a half hours. Folding helps strengthen the gluten network that forms after flour is mixed with water, making the dough smoother and more elastic, as well as trapping carbon dioxide gases released by yeast. It also helps the bread rise in the end. —bee photo, glass
