The desire to bake a beautiful challah bread became tangible the moment the instructor plopped a mass of dough on the table.
From there, 31-year-old newlyweds Emily and Zeke Kirson, laced in maroon aprons, got to work. They took part in one of the first workshops that bakery Rebel Bread is hosting at its new classroom and cafe in Denver.
Teaching the lay world to bake was integral to Zach Martinucci when he founded Rebel Bread six years ago, and stayed with the bakery when it relocated to its current home at 675 S. Broadway Ste. 600. His enterprise grew so large it spilled over to the complex’s adjacent units, where he built a cafe and classroom that are brighter, bigger and better equipped.
The bakers on his team were so excited to teach in the new space that Martinucci scheduled nine original classes at varying price points. This fall, people can learn how to bake pasta ($115 per person), holiday cookies ($145 per person), sourdough (the day-long workshop is $215 per person), and more.
“We haven’t had a space, really, for the cafe and for teaching until two weeks ago,” Martinucci said. “This just feels like … the fullest version of the vision I’ve been building.”
Most classes, such as “The Art and Soul of Challah,” held in September, cost $115 a person. On Tuesday, the day after the Jewish New Year, the Kirsons and five other students traversed the rain to learn how to make the holiday bread. The evening’s instructor was Jan Kratzer, a friend of Martinucci who runs his own shop, LoDough Bakery, at 1850 Wazee St. Ste. 150 in Denver.
It was a small showing — two of the four tables were occupied. Kratzer stood at the front of the room by his own cooking surface, a bird’s-eye view of which was recorded with an overhead camera and broadcast on two televisions that flanked him.
When he wasn’t explaining the significance of challah to the Jewish New Year (“Happy year 5,786!”) or writing down on the whiteboard the eight essential steps to making any bread, he was among the students, aiding in their attempts to mold and braid the dough.
Zeke started out confidently slicing his dough with cutters into clumps weighing 150 grams, per Kratzer’s instructions. “Boom! 150,” he said when reading the number on the digital scale.
When Kratzer folded a dough clump on camera to look like a peeled potato and asked the class to do the same, Zeke struggled to get the shape right. No matter; Kratzer and his assistant, Ollie Anderson, were at the table to refine his work and that of other students who needed help.
Kratzer, who is at his bakery by 4 a.m. to start on the day’s supplies of challah and croissants, had prepared the dough for the class that afternoon. Later, as the loaves baked in the Rebel Bread oven, he snuck in a final demonstration on how to make dough using a KitchenAid mixer.
“Baking is very forgiving,” Kratzer would later tell the class. The final product may not look aesthetically pleasing, but it’s still likely to taste great, he said.
After letting the dough rest, the group copied Kratzer in rolling out individual challah braids. He put four of the tentacles side by side and gave them corresponding numbers before assembling the loaf.
“Four over one … one over three … two over four … one over the three,” the students counted as they braided the dough, with varying degrees of success. Once again, Kratzer and Anderson were at the ready to pinch their pieces together.
The class peppered Kratzer with questions throughout the evening. How much dough does the printed recipe make? (One loaf, he answered.) Do you need a KitchenAid mixer to make the dough? (Yes, or something similar, but the machines are fragile, he said.) What can you add to make challah savory? (Cheese or pancetta are good options, he answered.)
As the challah proofed, Martinucci stepped behind the instructor’s table and taught the class how to whip up a quick version of the New York Times’ recipe for shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish made in a single pan with tomatoes, bell peppers and eggs.
The Kirsons — Zeke is an accountant, Emily a second-grade teacher — and their table partner, an environment reporter, took turns chopping the ingredients and sautéing them over a hot plate.
After a light meal of shakshuka and bread, Kratzer and Martinucci met the students at the front of the cafe, handing them their loaves, which had finished baking and were cooling, in a paper bag.
Stopping by Rebel Bread for lemon poppy seed scones “is pretty much, like, a Sunday morning ritual,” said Zeke, who visits its stand at the South Pearl Street Farmers Market. Taking a class provided an opportunity to view the operation from the inside.
For Emily, who said she was converting to Judaism, it was an opportunity to learn about Zeke’s culture as they consider starting a family.
“Growing up, we weren’t religious, but we would do Christmas cookies,” she said of her upbringing. Baking challah, “could be a tradition.”
Class information and registration is online at rebelbreadco.com. Rebel Bread’s cafe serves espresso drinks and Martinucci’s Gino Panino focaccia sandwiches during the day, and sells pizza on Friday nights.