Originally published in The Downtown Journal.
Regardless of your feelings for Netflix’s takeover of ‘The Great British Baking Show,’ the popular competition baking series formerly produced by PBS, you will love the Mill City Farmers Market’s upcoming Bread Festival this Saturday, September 22. The event, which is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mill City Farmers Market (704 S. 2nd Street), kicks off with a Bread Baking Showcase emceed by Minneapolis’ Sue Perkins: Chef Heather Meyer of Farm to Fork.
The showcase is open to yeasted, sourdough or quick breads and beginner to experienced bread bakers—everyone is a star baker at Bread Festival! Plus, all showcase bakers will receive a gift bag that includes two free mimosas or cappuccinos at Spoonriver restaurant, one free admission ticket to the Mill City Museum, $5 off at Lakewinds Co-op and a free dough scraper from Sunrise Flour Mill! To enter, simply fill out a Showcase Entry Form (online or on-site Saturday) and drop your bake off between 8 and 9:30 a.m. in the Market’s train shed kitchen demo patio. From 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. showcase bakers will sample their breads for each other and the public.
The Bread Baking Showcase is followed by mini lectures starting at 10:30 a.m. from local baking experts: Darrold Glanville of Sunrise Flour Mill discussing heritage and heirloom grains, Jonathan Kaye of Heritage Breads sharing his experiments with sourdough pita bread and Arie Preisert of Northern Fires Pizza teaching the basics of sourdough pizza dough. Throughout the day you can also take a stab at seed art using a variety of local grains, shop the market’s 50+ local food vendors (including three bakeries, handcrafted wooden baking tools, farm-to-table sourdough pizza and fresh artisan pasta) and stop inside the Mill City Museum to learn about Minneapolis’ flourful history.
Get inspired by 2017 Bread Festival Showcase Baker Mickey Dogotch’s English-inspired recipe for Norwich Seeded Bread or by the bakers dozen of bread recipes in our archives.
On your market, get set, BAAAAKE!