La Cuisine Paris

Paris, French baking. If the thing you most want to master is the croissant, book this one. The three-hour class takes you through laminated dough, pastry cream and shaping, and covers croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin. Proper croissants take more than six hours, so some dough is prepared ahead and you still finish with warm pastries; whatever you cannot eat over coffee goes home with you. Classes are taught in English near the Hôtel de Ville, in kitchens laid out like a home kitchen rather than a restaurant line, which makes the techniques easier to repeat. The macaron class is the other big draw: two shell styles and four fillings in three hours. Popular sessions sell out, so book early.