Traditional & Whole Grain Stollen

Craig & Pablo team up to teach their favorite versions of Stollen, one of the most famous of all Christmas pastries.

Craig Ponsford learned Stollen in 1998 from a Swiss baker, all white flour and lots of sugar. In true Ponsford fashion, over the years he has added more and more whole grain and reduced the sugars/used natural sugars. This is his best-selling holiday product over the years! He is excited to share his techniques with you.

German Meissterbaker Pablo Puluke Giet bakes hundreds of his German style Stollen every year for Christmas markets. He always uses freshly milled flour and candies all of the fruits himself. It will be a Stollen face off!

The course includes:

• Craig’s Swiss Style Stollen made with Seasonal Fruits & Whole Grain Flour

• Pablo’s Freshly Milled German Stollen

Lunch and a light breakfast will be served. You will go home with two Stollen which can be wrapped and keep beautifully until well after Christmas!

Instructor Bios

Craig Ponsford graduated from the California Culinary Academy with top honors and opened Artisan Bakers with his family in Sonoma California in 1992. In 1996 his breads won the Gold medal at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He then went on to coach the US Team to victory in 1999. He has coached each U.S. team since and served as U.S. judge at the 2002 and 2005 Coupe du Monde and 2007 Louis LeSaffe Cup held in Argentina.  He currently is an instructor at the Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, California and has his own bakery/innovation center, Ponsford’s Place, in his home town of San Rafael. Craig was an early member of the Bread Baker’s Guild of America and has volunteered as the guild’s chairman for the past eight years. In his teaching at various culinary institutions and in his international consulting for product development and systems optimization he emphasizes quality of ingredients, techniques and product.

Pablo Puluke Giet began training at 15 years old in the German baking tradition. He graduated from the Master School of Baking in Munich to become a certified baker, followed by gaining experience at Bäckerei and Konditorei Reichherzer in Munich. He went on to run the production for a small bakery on the Big Island on Hawaii, then worked as head baker and production manager for Kenter Canyon Farms in Los Angeles. He currently does research and development in fresh milled whole grains for Mockmill. Pablo is a certified instructor to train pastry chefs and retail staff as well as bread bakers. Armed also with a business degree from the Business School of Munich, he has managed big accounts such as Mercedes, Red Bull and others for Germany’s leading accessory producer. He began his own company in 2017, Der Meisterbäcker, teaching classes, performing live baking demos and consulting for restaurants and bakeries around Europe.

Categories: Baking Class, No Experience Necessary