Baking Christmas cookies with my mom is our annual holiday tradition, and by baking “with” my mom I mean standing back and eating the cookies while she does all the heavy lifting.
It’s safe to say I don’t have a knack for baking. Or cooking. My skill set ranges from frying eggs and putting frozen pizzas in the oven, so I was pretty nervous about trying ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen’s virtual Christmas Baking class.
The two-hour long class taught by Chef Leigh Ann teaches you how to bake Christmas stollen, a traditional German Christmas bread filled with almond paste, nuts and dried candied fruit. The second recipe is for vanilla kipferl, which are crescent-shaped vanilla shortbread-like cookies covered in sugar and cinnamon. Both sound equally delicious, but just looking at the ingredients list had me petrified. The recipes even intimidated my mom.
The ingredients list is available before you commit to the class, so you can see what you’re in for. You have to shop for the ingredients yourself, however, you might have some of the ingredients like sugar, milk and eggs in your kitchen already.
The class is taught over Zoom and you get to learn how to bake in the comfort of your own kitchen while in your sweatpants. You can turn your camera on or leave it off as you follow along.
I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe I watch too many bake-off competition shows, but the class wasn’t difficult at all or even intimidating. Chef Leigh Ann moved at a slow pace to ensure everyone was following along. The class is for all skill levels and the instructors don’t expect you to be master chefs.
Don’t fear if you don’t have all the necessary equipment or if you make a mistake because the chefs will offer suggestions and solutions along the way. I gained confidence in my baking abilities and even skipped ahead when the instructor was helping others in the class. ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen classes are a great way to learn new skills and they’re a fun way to spend an afternoon, so invite a family member or friend to join you.
Try your hand at Christmas Baking with ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen on November 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for $30.
