Meringue ghosts, spooky shortbread biscuits, clay skulls and pottery tea lights are on the menu of Halloween inspired creative sessions taking place at Welbeck this half term.
The School of Artisan Food is running several different courses where children can get hands on to learn all about how to make chocolate, bread and dairy delights. Even better, all the food they make can be taken home – if there’s any left!
On the chocolate making course, Shelly Preston, who runs Ottar Chocolate, her own bean to bar chocolate lab close to the School, will show kids how to make a range of Halloween inspired treats including meringue ghosts, cinder toffee and spooky shortbread biscuits.
Along with Artisan Baking and Artisan Dairy sessions, these courses offer children aged 8-15 the chance to learn new skills and develop their interest in food, explore their sense of taste, smell and touch, express their creativity and learn about the true provenance of food.
The School of Artisan Food is also running an all day Bonfire Night Confectionary course for adults where they will learn how to make toffee apples, firecracking bonfire toffee, marshmallows, malty cinder toffee and fresh chilli hot chocolate using only the finest ingredients.
The Harley Gallery has Paint a Pot sessions for families with a range of Halloween themed pottery designs to decorate. Children can also get hands on and messy with Clay Day – a chance to try out different clay techniques. These workshops are suitable for children aged four and upwards, and are running in the specialist Pottery Studio.
Sculptor Michelle Reader (who is based in The Harley’s Studios) will be leading a session to show how to design and make a bird from recycled materials, inspired by the illustrated books in The Portland Collection. Housed in the RIBA award purpose built gallery, The Portland Collection is home to one of the country’s most important aristocratic collections and is open daily from 11am to 4pm and free to enter. Pick up the new family trail and try to find all 11 treasures in The Portland Collection.
Also on the estate is The Harley Cafe – a Times Top 20 tearoom – offering a changing selection of freshly baked cakes and daily specials, open daily, Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 10am – 4pm.
For food to take home, the award winning Welbeck Farm Shop offers produce from the Welbeck estate, home to Stichelton cheese, Welbeck Bakehouse artisan breads, Welbeck Abbey Brewery real ales, Welbeck Dairy raw milk, and Ottar Chocolate, as well as sourcing the best produce from further afield.
Just a short walk from each other, The School of Artisan Food and The Courtyard, home to the two award winning galleries as well as the cafe and farm shop, are based on the Welbeck estate in the heart of Sherwood Forest, within easy reach from Sheffield, Worksop and Nottingham.
For dates and times and prices of the activities running over half term, visit www.harleygallery.co.uk and www.schoolofartisanfood.org
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