Doughnut Workshop + Coffee Cupping

***NEXT DATE AND LOCATION TBA***

Enjoying the morning learning how to create doughnuts! Betsy Gonzalez of Osono Bread and Brennan Johnson of Gentle Rhythms will share the sourdough and yeasted doughnut-making process from beginning to end, highlighting everything you need to know to replicate these sweet confections at home. Plus, we’re thrilled to have Marissa Childers of Atlanta’s Tanbrown Coffee Roasters join us for a coffee cupping to conclude our morning together.

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

This class will rely largely on demonstrations to teach basic principles. Students will, however, use their senses throughout the lesson and get a bit of hands-on practice. Discover the versatility of an enriched dough, as your instructors take you step-by-step on how to mix, shape, proof, and fry brioche for doughnuts. Learn how to craft and flavor your own fillings and glazes, beginning with pastry creams, citrus curds, and seasonal toppings and decor. Lessons on fermentation and maintaining a sourdough starter will be provided.

The last part of our workshop will feature a coffee cupping by Tanbrown Coffee! A cupping is a method used by folks in the coffee industry to evaluate different qualities of various beans. Marissa will brew a few of her favorite coffees at the moment and explain processes of sourcing, fermentation, and more as we sip and discuss them and enjoy the donuts we have made together in class.

location

***NEXT DATE AND LOCATION TBA***

Participants will take home a jar of starter, a 4-pack of donuts filled and decorated in class, a comprehensive guide to making donuts at home, and 1 lbs of locally-milled flour. Coffee and tea will be included—what would donuts be without coffee?—and the price of the cupping is included in the price of our workshop plus a bag of coffee to take home.

 
 

Our class discussions

  • Fermentation: demystifying the various stages of fermentation (both sourdough and yeasted) and understanding how it can play a role in flavoring and enhancing a pastry like a doughnut

  • Enriched doughs: discovering the versatility of a one-size-fits-all dough for a myriad of uses, starting with doughnuts

  • Regional, stone ground flours and seasonal, local ingredients: learning the role of various types of flour in doughnut-making; how to source regional grains, and learning how to bake with the growing seasons

  • Fillings: delving into the world of pastry cream, exploring flavor infusions for pastry cream, and learning how to cook and utilize curd fillings

  • Glazes: developing a variety of flavors for glazes, frosting, and toppings to decorate doughnuts

  • Recipes: enhancing existing or developing your own doughnut flavors, shapes, and overall recipes

  • Equipment: understanding the necessary tools and equipment to successfully replicate the provided recipes at home

  • Coffee Cupping:

    • What the pros do: you will be exploring the world of cupping and learning about why it’s used, why we make funny slurping noises, and about the coffee assessment process.

    • History of Coffee: we'll talk about a brief history about coffee, where it originates, how it grows, and how it gets into your morning cup.

    • Learning how to taste: whether it be sipping or slurping, we will show you that coffee tasting doesn't have to be scary, and we will demonstrate the necessary tools to assess what you like or dislike in a cup.

    • Validating your Palate: you don't have to be a professional to know how to taste, and sometimes people can get overwhelmed by notes on a bag of coffee. We'll talk about what those mean and how to interpret them.

Tickets can be purchases through Gentle Rhythm’s store. Please refer to our policy page for our workshop terms and conditions. Our workshops are nonrefundable.

 

Your instructors

 
 

Brennan Johnson

Brennan’s fascination with food culture and history was catalyzed by a trip to Western Europe in 2009 to study communal brick ovens. He began baking bread soon after, baking out of his father’s own brick oven and selling at local farmers markets during his high school summers. He has a degree from Whitman College in Environmental Humanities — which, for him, meant exploring our culture’s relationship to food — an herbalism certificate from Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine, and has worked in restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco, Portland, Asheville, Minneapolis, and Europe. Gentle Rhythms is, for him, a way to piece together those disparate experiences, combining his curiosity in food studies with his love of hands-on cooking. These days, he is usually found on the road, learning about foodways wherever he is.

Betsy Gonzalez

After cultivating a baking career both regionally and abroad, Betsy Gonzalez established Osono Bread in Atlanta, Georgia in late 2018. Their old-world approach to baking emphasizes an investment in regional millers, local farmers, and the nourishment of the community through the tangible form of bread. Over the years, Osono Bread has grown to provide naturally leavened bread and pastry at weekly farmers markets throughout Atlanta.

Beyond a dedication to wholesome baking, Betsy strives to use their platform to share the beauty of creating community through food and the power of the people's labor behind it.

Marissa Childers

After working in the coffee industry and exploring roles like working as a barista, education, shop management, and roasting, Marissa founded Tanbrown Coffee, a coffee roasting company created in 2022 focused on sourcing and roasting Asian specialty coffee to show that just like people, coffee is not monolithic and there is always something new to love when you take time to get to know them. Marissa has since competed in national competitions as well as helped build Atlanta's coffee community. She hopes to share her love of coffee in welcoming and accessible ways because she believes that coffee should be enjoyed by all.