The White Cottage Bakery's Tuscan Baking Retreat (October 2025)

from €2200 per person
Friday, 24th October 2025 - Thursday, 30th October 2025

 

 

Tuscany in Autumn. The grain will be harvested, the grapes gathered, the porcini foraged and the olives heavy on the bough. Join us for 5 days (6 nights) of baking in the ancient castle kitchen at Potentino. Using seasonal ingredients from the surrounding hillsides and local antichi (heritage) grains, together we will bake the traditional regional breads of Italy. 
 

Working with a variety of different grains, from the ultra-fine ‘00’ flour of grano tenero, to the hard durum wheat from the south of Italy, we will bake breads, savoury biscotti and a variety of sweet pasticceria favourites. And of course, we have to make fresh pasta! 
 
Your week will include: 
 
Making regional breads, such as Pane Toscano, schiacciata, Pane Pugliese, tarallini and  rondelle using a traditional biga, and locally grown antichi grains.  

Growing our own ‘Potentino’ wild sourdough culture with which to bake bread, using a 2000 year old method and the grapes from the castle vines. 
 
A visit to a nearby mill, producing stoneground flour and pasta from locally grown Italian heritage grains. 
 
Making cantuccini and other traditional Italian biscotti. 

Making a variety of both machine and hand-rolled pasta in the castle kitchen. 
 
Wine and olive oil tasting from the estate and local region. 
 
Making pecorino and ricotta with the castle cheesemaker, with milk from the farmers whose sheep graze on the local hillside. 
 
Foraging for wild herbs and picking olives. 
 
Mid-week visit (and swimming possible) to the hot springs and a day of sightseeing and relaxation. 
 
Autumn is a wonderful time at Potentino, when the harvests are gathered and the kitchens are brimming with seasonal produce, just waiting to be eaten or preserved.

Come and join us at this special time, learn traditional Italian baking techniques and share with us nature’s glorious bounty.

Helen Underwood is an award-winning artisan baker, recipe developer and food writer who has specialised in sourdough for many years. She has been teaching at the White Cottage Baking School in Cambridgeshire, UK, for the past ten years where students from around the world come to attend her workshops. She has taught chefs, bakers and keen amateurs throughout the UK and Europe the sheer joy of breadmaking; bringing together the simplest and most fundamental of ingredients and turning them, with nothing but a pair of skilful hands, into something wondrous. 

She believes in using locally grown grain and ingredients, where possible, and the importance of improvisation, making for a fluid and flexible approach to her baking. Her background as a scientist is always evident, giving her students greater confidence in their own understanding and abilities. Her mission, she says, is to remove the mystery from what can appear an arcane craft and make it a simple, everyday skill that can be enjoyed by all. 

Day 1 (Sunday)

Guests arrive pm

Early evening    Welcome drinks

Wine tasting with Charlotte

Day 2 (Monday)

Morning:          Talk on Italian grains, flour and the importance and
tradition of bread within Italy.

Make schiacciata, Tuscan-style focaccia, to be baked for lunch later in week.

Make ricciarelli dough and refrigerate.

Afternoon:        Visit grounds to pick grapes for grape must.

Make pane Toscano loaves to refrigerate and bake on
day 3.

Bake ricciarelli.

Make grape must, ready to make starter on day 3.

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Morning           Feed grape must, to begin Potentino starter.

Bake pane Toscano from fridge to eat for lunch.

Make pane Pugliese and ‘pucce’, incorporating the semolina from grano duro.

Talk on ancient grains, their place in history, their resurgence today
and their advantages over their modern-day counterparts.

Lunch: featuring pane Toscano, salumi, roasted vegetables & Potentino olive oil.

Afternoon         Visit to Hot Springs/waterfalls/explore grounds

Early evening    Make tarallini for aperitivi

Day 4 (Wednesday) RECREATION DAY

Morning           Bake pane Pugliese

Make pecorino and fresh ricotta with Francesca and Lorenzo from Caseificio Murceti.

Lunch: featuring pane Pugliese with Caseificio Murceti local cheeses

Afternoon         Visit to Castel del Piano

Early pm           Make Charlotte’s gnudi with fresh ricotta

 

Day 5 (Thursday)

Morning           Talk on sourdough, ‘lievito madre’: its tradition
dating back to Roman times and beyond, its maintenance and its health benefits within the modern diet.

Make sourdough loaves, using our own starter, and flour from local grains.

Bake schiacciata (from fridge) for lunch.

Afternoon         Bake mini rondelle all’uva, using our grapes and
Potentino grappa – a perfect accompaniment to our evening aperitivi!

Bake cantuccini con mandorle e finochio.

Day 6 (Friday)

Morning           Bake our sourdough loaves that have proved for 24 hours.

Honey tasting/olive oil tasting or olive picking

Afternoon         Pasta session.

Make and shape fresh pasta to enjoy for our final
supper together

Make castagnaccio with locally milled chestnut flour

 

Day 7 (Saturday)

Morning           Breakfast

Departure

 

Please note: Whilst the retreat will
broadly follow the order outlined here, the programme may change in either detail or order during the week.

Please Note

If you would like to pay a deposit

The payment system asks for payment in full. If you would rather pay a non-refundable 25% deposit at the time of booking, please enter the code DEPOSIT25 at checkout. The final payment will be due one month before the start of the course.

If you have any issues booking

Sometimes, it takes a few attempts to clear the cart if you need to make any changes to your room selection etc. 

If you have any issues at all, please contact Alexander Greene alexander.greene@potentino.com +393482881637

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The White Cottage Bakery's Tuscan Baking Retreat (October 2025)

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