The Poilâne Bakery, founded in 1932 and famed for their wonderful breads, continues to be located at their flagship store at 8 rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. But now you don’t have to travel to France (though who wouldn’t want to?) to buy a loaf or even find one of the bakeries in the U.S. that sell Poulaine breads. Instead you can learn to make your own through MasterClass, the streaming platform where offering learning experiences from the world’s best across a wide range of subjects, is featuring Apollonia Poilâne who will be teaching a class in bread baking as well as sharing family anecdotes and expert techniques.
In staying true to its founding principles—making high quality bread for all—and in creatively joining the arts of living well and eating well, Poilâne has flourished, offering its savoir-faire across France and all over the world.
“In this flash-in-the-pan world, Apollonia represents the things that endure—a company passed down through three generations and a commitment to honoring the timeless tradition of bread baking,” said David Rogier, founder, and CEO of MasterClass. “In her MasterClass, she will intimately share her passion and help members understand how to best utilize their senses while baking.”
In her MasterClass, Poilâne will teach an approach to bread baking that is sensory, fluid, and adaptable, sharing her passion for honoring the philosophies and techniques that her family has perfected over the last eight decades. Through rich stories of Poilâne’s personal history alongside expert tips, MasterClass members will learn her family’s method for making five kinds of bread, including brioche, rye, and her novel sourdough starter.
Incorporating her warm energy and profound determination into her lessons, Poilâne shows how a loaf of bread, and the practical ways to use it, change over time. She’ll share her rare insight on the evolution of bread, paired with a number of creative and practical recipes involving bread at all stages, which she calls breadcooking. From a true-to-form take on pesto to an innovative riff on granola, her view on using bread as an ingredient should inspire members to never leave a crumb behind. Regardless of prior baking experience, members will leave Poilâne’s class feeling inspired to try their hand at her recipes and feel a deeper appreciation for the timeless traditions of baking bread.
“Baking at home, putting your hands in flour, getting a feel for the dough and seeing your bread rise is a one-of-a-kind experience, one that you must do in your lifetime,” said Poilâne, whose book Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery (Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) was released last year. “In my MasterClass, the most important lesson I will teach you is how to attune your five senses to what it is that makes the perfect loaf.”
Beginning life cradled in a crib made from a breadbasket, Poilâne was poised to take over Poilâne, her famed family bakery in Paris, founded by her grandfather in 1932. Following the accidental death of her parents in 2002, she assumed the title of CEO at the tender age of 18 and ran the international bakery and business for four years from her Harvard University dorm room.
Poilâne’s class is now available exclusively on MasterClass.
ABOUT MASTERCLASS:
Launched in 2015, MasterClass is the streaming platform where anyone can learn from the world’s best. With an annual membership, subscribers get unlimited access to 100+ instructors and classes across a wide range of subjects, including Arts & Entertainment, Business, Design & Style, Sports & Gaming, Writing and more. Step into Anna Wintour’s office, Ron Finley’s garden and Neil Gaiman’s writing retreat. Get inspired by RuPaul, perfect your pitch with Shonda Rhimes, and discover your inner negotiator with Chris Voss. Each class features about 20 video lessons, at an average of 10 minutes per lesson. You can learn on your own terms—in bite-size pieces or in a single binge. Cinematic visuals and close-up, hands-on demonstrations make you feel like you’re one-on-one with the instructors, while the downloadable instructor guides help reinforce your learning. Stream thousands of lessons anywhere, anytime, on mobile, tablet, desktop, Apple TV®, Android™ TV, Amazon Fire TV® and Roku® players and devices.
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Follow Poilâne Bakery:
Twitter Poilâne (officiel)
Instagram @poilane
Facebook POILÂNE (page officielle)
