Creative Pretzeling

Creative Pretzeling!

YES, YOU WILL LEARN TO MAKE PRETZEL SHORTBREAD

Everyone loves pretzels, but not everyone knows that everything can be a pretzel! Pretzel is a lifestyle and a state of mind. Join us and you, too, can pretzel your best life!

Traditionally, pretzels get their iconic flavor and color from a dipping into a caustic solution of sodium hydroxide, or lye, before baking. Perhaps because people are intimidated by working with lye, this process has remained mostly exclusive to pretzels, despite easy application to other baked goods and foods.

At Lost Bread Co. we are pretzel obsessed, and have dipped just about everything you can into a lye bath. Results are often strange or disastrous–hominy biscuits dipped in lye were tasty but looked horrendous, and most cookie doughs dissolve unless frozen first– but occasionally we come up with amazing products like pretzelled milk bread, and, of course, the pretzel shortbread cookies for which we are best known.

Besides the miserable failures, there are a bunch of interesting pretzel chimeras we’ve created over the years that don’t have a spot in our product line, but deserve to be shared, like pretzel pastas and dumplings or the pretzelized french fries that our bakers have been known to make from frozen pre-cut fries.

We’ll start with the basics: how to mix, ferment and shape a pretzel dough. We’ll walk you through how to safely source, handle, store and dispose of lye to address any of your concerns. You’ll learn proper methods for lye-dipping, draining, and baking before branching out to some more unconventional and innovative pretzel creations. Products may include pretzel versions of flakey savory pastries, chocolate chip cookies, crispy rye berries, and pierogi or gnocchi.

Along with a bundle of pretzel creations, you’ll go home with a booklet of information, recipes, and ideas, as well as some of our fresh-milled flour and sourdough starter so that you can experiment at home!

Details: 
Class Cost: $200 per person
When: October 4th OR November 15 10am-2pmish
Bring: Yourself, in clothing and shoes you don’t mind getting crusty, as well as a hat or hair tie.
Take home: Some of everything we make in class + flour, lye, and other items for pretzelizing at home. 
Where: Our bakery at 1313 N. Howard St, Philadelphia PA

email us at info@lostbreadco.com with any questions!