What's on in Bakewell

Want to know what is going on in Bakewell in Derbyshire when you visit.  Have a look at whatsonbakewell for the latest news and events.

If you are looking for accommodation in Bakewell don't forget to have a look at Bagshaw Hall.

Derbyshire cookery courses

Bakewell Pudding Experience NEW date

The Bakewell Pudding Experience has proved to be such a hit with bakers visiting Bakewell that a new date has just been added to Hartingtons extensive range of baking and cookery courses.  For those that want to be taught by an expert in how to make the perfect Bakewell Pudding this course will be taken by Marion Wright of the legendary Bloomers of Bakewell - Bakers of the Original Bakewell Pudding.  Marion will share with you the secrets of how to make the truly original Bakewell Pudding and you will get to take home your own authentic Bakewell Pudding to share with friends and family.

Baking courses - Derbyshire

Gift for Mothers Day......

Well it will very soon be that time of year again when we want to thank our Mums for all the hard work they do. Mothers Day is next Sunday so if you want to give your Mum a fabulous treat this year why not surprise her and tell her she will be having a truly indulgent day on Friday 23rd March?

Treat her to our Ultimate Tea Experience which takes place just a few days after Mothers Day and we can even provide a personalised gift letter for you to give her on Sunday!

Arriving at 11.00 a.m. at our beautiful converted sawmill in Bakewell she can expect a wonderful insight into tea and its history and origins with the charming James Pogson of Northern Tea Merchants.

Next she will be taken on a gentle walk round Bakewell with renowned guide Sally Mosley who will give a fascinating insight into food in the town.

Once she has worked up a bit of an appetite she will return to our School of Food where we will be ready to welcome her for a sumptuous Ritz style afternoon tea exquisitely presented by Lorna from Heavenlies. Lorna's afternoon teas are in great demand and if that wasn't enough......to top it all we will spoil your Mum with a glass of 'fizz'!

The whole event lasts from 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and costs £35 ........so this year why not treat your Mum and perhaps treat yourself as well..........this event is proving really popular and there are only a very few spaces left now so if you do want to reserve a place you might want to book online or give us a call on 01629 888 586

BUY the Ultimate Tea Experience

Hen parties in the Peak District

Hartingtons is a school of food in the Peak District. We also like to entertain!

We have had numerous enquiries over the last few weeks from people looking at organising hen and stag parties in the Peak District.....so if you want to do something different in the Peak District involving your stag or hen party and focused around food why not drop us an email or give us a call.

We can put on everything from sausage making, cup cake decorating to "full on" cookery courses with a celebrity chef. No event is too big or too small. Let us help you put on something a little special for your big day.

Hartingtons School of Food - Bakewell in the heart of the Peak District.

Artisan Italian Bread Making Course In Bakewell

The latest artisan bread making course took place at Hartingtons School of Food on Sunday.

This relaxed baking course took place in Bakewell in the Peak District with students learning all about the mystery of the biga. It was refreshing to hear our tutor David Neville's first rule was to discard the constraints of a standard bread baking recipe. It was all about feeling the dough!

The students produced a fantastic focaccia and a ciabatta as well as producing their own personalised pizza. In addition to this they also made their own delicious pumpkin soup. Lunch was a bowl of the soup together with freshly made olive and rosemary focaccia.

All the students left inspired by their artisan bread making course.......so if you too want to be inspired why not have a look at some of the forthcoming artisan bread making courses at Hartingtons in Bakewell in the coming weeks.

We can guarantee that learning to make your own artisan bread will inspire you to bigger & better things in 2012.

See images from our artisan bread making courses.

Sourdough bread making course

The popularity of artisan bread making cannot be denied. One of the most resurgent areas of bread making that has come about is that of sourdough. You can tell sourdough by the irregularity and relatively large size of the air pockets within the crumb of the loaf (see image ).

What is sourdough?

Sourdough bread making uses a naturally occurring combination of bacteria and yeast which was first used as far back as ancient Egyptian times to leaven bread (make it rise). It was used exclusively until the middle ages but now has been replaced largely by cultured or 'bakers' yeast. Sourdough is particularly important in Rye bread making because rye does not contain enough gluten to make leavening with cultured yeast rise effectively.

The popularity of sourdough

Sourdough bread has become more available in recent years with the increasing popularity of artisan bread producers who champion the cause of real bread production and a return to more traditional styles of bread making.

Taste wise it has a more sour or tangy taste than cultured bread. I love it and it makes particularly brilliant toast.

Hartingtons is pleased to announce that we have the Peak Districts finest artisan baker Andrew Auld from the Loaf in Crich taking a full days course in the art of sourdough baking on 3rd May.

So if you want to learn how to make this truly traditional artisan style of bread come along for a full days bread making course in Bakewell and learn something new in 2012.

Hartingtons - Food Experience

And the winner is................

We are delighted to announce that Moira Gray is the winner of Hartingtons of Bakewell's recent free prize draw and has won a half day cookery course of her choice.

Congratulations Moira !!

We hope you enjoy your prize.

Chris and Julie

Hartingtons of Bakewell

Brewing up a storm in Bakewell.

Many would say that Bakewell is best known for its baking and the world famous Bakewell Pudding........but this could all be about to change if new cookery school and artisan food events business Hartingtons has anything to do with it.

Bakewell has recently acquired brewing credibility following the relocation of award winning micro brewery Thornbridge Ales to the town. Now Hartingtons wants to teach the whole world how to brew fantastic tasting real ales and beer at home using 100% natural ingredients.

Hartingtons Artisan beer brewing course has been specially designed for all those who want to learn how to brew real ale in the natural traditional way.

Paul Taylor from Murphy and Son in Nottingham will demonstrate from first principles how to set up a 'brew' using basic domestic equipment and using 100% natural ingredients. He will also carry out a tutored beer tasting highlighting some well known and distinctive beers and what in the selection of their ingredients and the brewing process makes them taste so different. By doing this he will highlight how the brewer can change the mix to personalise their own brews to meet their individual taste. Paul will take people through the entire brewing process and the resulting brew will form the basis of Hartingtons first ever beer to be called Hartingtons Pheonix Ale.

The full day beer brewing course comes with beer brewing notes and a light lunch and at the end of the day attendees will have all the skills and knowledge to go home and start their own brew from scratch.

The course is proving to be incredibly popular with 5 spaces having been booked since the weekend.

Payment can be made online, by cheque or with a card and both gift vouchers and gift letters are available for those looking to purchase the course as a present.

Hartingtons - Food Experience

Looking for something different for Christmas?

Ok..... so you've looked at choccies, smellies, clothes and books for your loved one for Christmas and despite your best endeavours it's looking like "same old! same old!" and you can fair see the disappointment on their face as they unwrap their socks and shower gel on Christmas morning ........but not this year........oh NO! put a big smile on their face with a very different present from Hartingtons.

If they are a keen cook why not book one of our full or half day 'hands on" cookery courses or if they are keen to learn but aren't so keen to get their hands dirty then why not treat them to the "Ultimate Tea Experience" with a tea talk/tutored tasting and a foodie tour round Bakewell followed by the ultimate afternoon tea? How indulgent is that?

Beer brewing, a pancake masterclass, cooking with Indian spices and a World Bread Tour are just a few of the highlights lined up for Spring 2012........so dare to be different.....bin the socks and give them something they'll be talking about for months!!

Inspired?.......then check out our cookery courses..........Hartingtons of Bakewell

11 Cookery Courses sold in 2 days!

Over the last 2 days we have sold 11 cookery courses.

This is in addition to all the courses booked at our recent Open Weekend in Bakewell and is a fantastic response to the quality of the inspirational cookery courses we are putting on in Bakewell in 2012 and a testament to the experience of our tutors. Particularly popular have been the artisan beer brewing and the Italian bread making courses.

There are still some spaces left on our cookery courses so if you are interested please book online or give us a call.

Why not come along to our next Open Day in Bakewell on the 17th December to have a look at our new cookery school?

I think you will be impressed.

Cookery School - Bakewell - inspirational cookery course in 2012

World Exclusive - Bakewell Open Weekend

Hartingtons Cookery School in Bakewell is opening its doors to the world for the first time this weekend (26th & 27th November).

Julie and I have been there all day with my parents cleaning tidying and finishing off.

Here are pictures of the finished interior released to the world for the first time and hot off the press.

We are delighted with the results & hope you agree.

Any foodies in Bakewell over the Bakewell Christmas Weekend please pop in and say hello and find out about the massive range of cookery courses and food events that we will be putting on next year.

Chris & Julie

Hartingtons Food Experience

Bakewell Tart & Tapas

Bakewell we know is world famous for it's Bakewell tart and Bakewell pudding.

We are all familiar with the story behind the origins of the Bakewell pudding. The cook at the White Horse Inn (now Rutland Arms) whose fortuitous mistake led to the creation of one of the worlds most famous desserts.

Hartingtons is happy to be based in a place like Bakewell with such a culinary heritage.

As well as acknowledging Bakewell's great food heritage Hartingtons is keen to push the boundaries of modern cooking.

One of the food events we are setting up in our cookery school in Bakewell is a gourmet supper club. This will involve some of the best and most exciting new chefs and cooks in and around the Peak District being able to showcase a tasting menu for one night only in a similar way that the Loft Project is doing in London. Accompanying the gourmet food will be a range of wines or drinks to compliment perfectly the chefs gourmet creations.

We had a fantastic meeting today in Bakewell at the Lime Lounge Coffee House on Bath Street with David Neville of El Toro in Sheffield. David has agreed not only to take a tapas course teaching students how to prepare some of the best authentic tapas dishes but also to put on a Spanish gourmet night including some dishes derived from the worlds best and most famous restaurant Elbulli.

The Gourmet Supper Club will be a regular monthly feature in Bakewell. With only limited spaces per event they are sure to sell out fast. For more details and to book online go to www.hartingtons.com


Hartingtons Food Experience

We sell gift vouchers!

Are you struggling to find a suitable Christmas present for friends or family?

Well Hartingtons of Bakewell may have just the answer. We sell a range of gift vouchers through our partner site Paypal ranging from £5 - £500. Just click the graphic LINK BELOW and you will be taken to the Paypal site where you can purchase.

Alternatively, call us on 01629 888 586 or send an email to: vouchers@hartingtons.com with the amount you want and we will sort it out for you.

To see our current range of cookery courses have a look at our website.

We will be releasing many more courses in the coming weeks including these tasty morsels .... so keep watching the website for more details:

1. A beer brewing & beer tasting course
2. Artisan cheese production
3. A weekend Italian bread making course
4. Cup cake making and decorating masterclass
5. Artisan oil and vinaigrette infusion course

Cookery courses in Bakewell

We have just returned from another fantastic Food Fair in Baslow. Yet again a number of our artisan food stallholders completely sold out including Heavenlies and Halls Home Produce.

Thanks to all the stallholders who were there today and a big thank you to the hundreds of people that came along and sampled, bought and supported the artisan food producers that work and live in and around the Peak District.

We were also overwhelmed by the interest shown in our new cookery school in Bakewell. So many foodies are interested in our cookery courses and coming along to Hartingtons Open Weekend on the 26th and 27th of November that we are bit worried about fitting everybody in! Seriously though....if you are in Bakewell for the Christmas Weekend then please pop in and say 'hello' and meet one of our star chefs, Frank Boddy, who will be preparing a range of canapes during the two day event for you to sample and enjoy.

Really looking forward to meeting you and we can't wait for our final Food Fair of the year in Baslow - the Christmas Food and Drink Fair on the 4th December.

Chris & Julie

Peak District Cookery Courses

The Peak District is one of the most beautiful parts of the country. In my opinion; the most beautiful.

Bakewell, for those that don't know the Peak District that well, is a beautiful market town nestling in a small valley with the stunning River Wye running through it. Bakewell has a great weekly market and one of the most popular farmers markets in the country running on the last Saturday of the month. Increasingly Bakewell is becoming a mecca for foodies across the country, with the availability of superb locally sourced food suppliers such as the world famous Chatsworth House Estate. Bakewell is also the home of culinary classics such as the famous Bakewell Pudding and more recently Thornbridge Brewery, one of the countries great new breed of micro breweries producing a selection of award winning real ales.

Bakewell, in the Peak District, will soon be welcoming another addition to it's fine food and culinary heritage. Hartingtons cookery school and food event business will be opening it's doors in 2012 and welcoming visitors to take part in a range of inspiring and innovative food courses and food related events.

Love food? Love the Peak District? So do we.....prepared to be inspired in 2012.

Hartingtons - food experience

International food overated!

Julie & I have just returned from a week in Sicily. We stopped in a small town near Palermo and had a great time.

As you would expect we spent time visiting the historic sights in the grand old town of Palermo. One thing, however, that we both commented on was how disappointing the Italian food was. This led on to a discussion about the quality and variety of food now available in the UK. It was very telling that we both felt that we have had better cappuccinos recently in both Bakewell and Sheffield.

For years the UK has had a reputation for being in the culinary wilderness. Now with a whole new breed of artisan food producers I would say that the range and quality of food available would challenge that available anywhere in the world. There were a couple of exceptions. The local Caponata we had a starter for our Sunday lunch was fantastic and a seafood risotto made by a local fisherman was simply outstanding!

We are both passionate about the local food producers who come to our regular food fairs in Baslow. Our cookery school in Bakewell is opening very soon and we will be putting on a range of courses to inspire people to get involved in artisan food production, perhaps setting up your own business to produce great tasting artisan food. We are almost ready to release the full details and dates of our forthcoming courses on our new website so keep checking this blog for details of when we go live! We've already signed up some great visiting chefs and two fantastic artisan bread makers and we are currently working on a food blogging and writing course.

Interested? Then .....why not come along to our open weekend on the 26th & 27th of November?

Hartingtons Cookery School & Food Events
1st Floor, Rutland Mill, Rutland Mews, Off Coombs Road, Bakewell.

Hartingtons Food Fairs Famous

We don't like to brag....but although we only started to put on the Baslow Food Fairs in the Peak District earlier this year Hartingtons are already getting a national profile!

We have just found out that our Food Fairs are now being featured within Derbyshire Life and the East Midlands Trains publication "Go Out".

"We is famous!!!!"

Can you imagine what coverage we are going to get when our Cookery School and Food Events business starts in Bakewell?

I'm just licking my lips with anticipation.....we can't wait to welcome all those eager foodies looking to experience some great events and inspirational cookery courses at our premises in Bakewell.

"When will we will we be famous?"

Hartingtons - Food Experience

Bakewell Cookery School - Work starts

Despite a bit of a 'cock up' by the company contracted to deliver the kitchen and appliances for our new Cookery School .....we finally have the fridge freezers, ovens, induction hobs and tens of carcasses on site this week.

Steve and Gareth have started the job of putting the units together in Bakewell and it's all looking good for the Cookery School to be ready by the middle of October.

The great thing is that everybody who comes to the building loves the space; the open beams, the views over Bakewell's livestock market and in the opposite direction into Bakewell itself with the Church sitting prettily on the hill.

Here's a view of our cookery school premises BEFORE work started. It will be interesting to see how different it looks after we have finished.

So what about doing a course in Bakewell before Christmas? Perhaps an 'alternative' works do?

We will be putting a small number of events and courses on before the end of the year. Some of the ideas we have are: an introduction to bread making with a local artisan baker, a sausage making course, how to make sushi, beer tasting and a 'posh pie and pea supper' or maybe the ultimate afternoon tea!

If you would like us to tailor make an event for you; whatever your ideas are just email us at: hartingtons@gmail.com

NEW WEBSITE COMING ....real soon!

Bakewell Market Day

For anybody who loves a traditional market Bakewell surely has one of the best. It's held every Monday and the town hums and throbs with visitors, tourists and locals all eager for a bargain.

Bakewell, for those who have not been before, is a very attractive market town nestling in the heart of the Peak District and a stone's throw from Chatsworth House. It's a beautiful place to wander around and enjoy the boutique shops and cafes.

Soon it will have an exciting new addition. Bakewell will be getting it's own cookery school located in a converted saw mill on Coombs Road right near the heart of the town where Bakewell Market takes place. If you are interested in local food, where it comes from, how it's prepared, want to learn how to be a better cook or just want a fun day out with friends doing something new........Hartingtons cookery school in Bakewell will offer something for you.

Interested? Watch this space....

Bakewell Farmers Market tales

One of the artisan food producers we bumped into the other week at Bakewell Farmers Market was Debbie from Staffordshire Savoury Eggs. Now Debbie has a very interesting take on a traditional snack food, the trusty Scotch Egg.

She's been producing her range of bite sized snacks for 5 years. Very kindly she gave me one of her Staffordshire Pepper Bites to take away and try and very delicious it was too. This modern version of the rustic snack was a red hot pepper with cream cheese centre encased in pork sausage meat and finished with wholemeal bread coating.

Now you may think that the Scotch Egg was a bit of a peasants snack enjoyed by farm workers and the like. Not so. It actually has almost regal lineage. The scotch egg was invented in 1738 by Fortnum and Mason as a nibble for coach travellers who stopped off at the Piccadilly food emporium.

I'm hoping that Debbie will be coming along to one of our 9 food fairs taking place at Baslow nr Chatsworth this year.

Don't forget our Spring Food Fair on the 2nd and 3rd of April. Have a look at our exhibitors here.



HARTINGTONS - food events