Women in Food of WNY presents:
Baking Class with Baker Allison Duwe
Starting with Sourdough: Tending your starter and baking fresh sourdough bread
Join me (Missy) as your hostess for this next episode of Women in Food of WNY. In this Free Class with Allison Duwe, Baker at Art’s Cafe in Springville, NY, she’ll teach us everything you need to know to get started with Sourdough baking.
Usually bread needs some kind of rising agent, or yeast, to create those big, squishy loaves we all love. Sourdough is made by fermenting dough with the naturally occuring yeast around you. It is one of the oldest, most basic ways to bake requiring simply, the sourdough starter (which is just flour and water), flour and salt. That’s it!
As more people are asking questions about where their food comes from and how it is made, Sourdough regularly comes into the conversation because it is super local, sustainable and simple in its ingredients. No additives, fillers, oils, or fancy stuff needed (although lots of “fancy” things can be added for different flavors and styles!)
Allison has dedicated her most recent work not only to mastering sourdough baking, but doing so with a focus on locally grown and milled flours. She brings a mindfulness to what she creates and will be teaching us how to get a sourdough starter going and be in regular relationship with it for an on-going supply of delicious, fresh, home-baked breads.
Whether you cook along with us or just sit at the “table” and enjoy the conversation, I’m sure you’ll learn a few new things to add to your own culinary knowledge! In addition to learning with us during this live, play-along, how-to adventure in the kitchen with Allison, you will get a copy of the recipe to use over & over again and learn your own Sourdough Mastery!
About Baker Allison Duwe: Community organizer, non-profit director and mother turned baker, Allison first tested her skills at granola and bread baking, as well as brick-oven pizza making, in the dining co-ops of Oberlin College. Spending the last several years deepening her knowledge of all things bread, Duwe helps to oversee artisan bread and baking operations at the soon-to-open Art’s Cafe. Her scones, bagels, and rustic sourdough loaves are renowned throughout the community, beating out a nationally-recognized artisan bakery in the region two to one in a blind taste test. She looks forward to introducing more people to the simple wonders of flour, water and salt. Allison also brings her organizational and fundraising talents to the Art’s Cafe operations. She served from 2006-2012 as the Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice in Buffalo, NY and is the past President of Springville Center for the Arts and Partnership for the Public Good. She has been recognized by the John R. Oishei Foundation as a young leader in Western New York. In addition, Allison is in her second term on the Springville Board of Education and has served as President for four years. She is active in the Erie County School Board Association and the Springville Regional Service Coalition
About the Women in Food of WNY series: Being a solo Woman Farmer and Woman Entrepreneur I have always kept my eye out for fellow women in business with whom to connect (and commiserate). As i’ve established myself in the WNY area, I have loved meeting new chefs and farmers alike. However, one thing that I noticed was a serious lack in attention towards women Chefs and Farmers of the region, despite the fact that there are many of us. Here at Crown Hill Farm, we love to host Farm-to-Table dinners featuring local chefs preparing seasonal foods. From there, I saw a vision: A series of dinners highlighting the women chefs of WNY. Now, in 2020 with COVID keeping us all away from social gatherings in person, I had to get creative while hanging on to this vision of featuring women in food in WNY. And so, after many conversations with incredible women, this series was born! This is the first step to what I hope will be a Conference of WNY Women in Food. For now, let’s gather around our respective kitchens to chat, cook and learn together.