Small-batch sourdough · Castro Valley, CA
Sourdough is simpler
than you think.
Haylee’s a food scientist who teaches hands-on classes for people who are sure they’re ‘not a baker.’ Give her one afternoon — she’ll prove you wrong.
What is sourdough, really?
Four ingredients.
A little time. That’s the whole secret.
“Naturally leavened” means no commercial yeast — just a living culture of wild yeast and bacteria that you grow yourself. It’s the oldest way to make bread, and it’s far simpler than the internet makes it look.
Once you understand what each ingredient is doing, the mystery falls away. Here’s everything that goes into a loaf:
A starter at its peak — doubled and bubbling overFrom flour to loaf
Bread is a process — not a recipe.
Every loaf travels the same seven moments — from a jar of wild yeast to a crackling, shareable crust. None of them is hard once someone shows you how.
01StarterA living culture, bubbly and ready
02MixFlour, water, salt, starter
03StretchGentle folds build strength
04RisePatience deepens flavor
05ScoreOne confident slash
06BakeSteam, heat, a singing crust
07ShareBroken together, warmIn the class
Three hours, start to finish.
Read your starter
Get to know the living culture — how to feed it, and how to tell the exact moment it's ripe to bake.
Hands in the dough
You'll do every step yourself, with Haylee beside you to catch what your hands haven't learned yet.
The why, not just the how
The food science behind the rise, in plain English. Understand it once and the recipe becomes optional.
Taste & troubleshoot
Break into a fresh loaf together, and walk through the fixes for what trips up every beginner.
You’ll walk away with
More than a loaf.
- 01Your own starter, alive and bubbling
- 02The loaf you shaped, ready for your oven
- 03A proofing basket to cradle your next rise
- 04A scoring knife to make your mark
- 05A feeding & recipe card to take home
- 06The confidence to bake without a net
- 07A few new friends who love bread too
The oven’s warm
Bake your
first loaf.
No experience needed — just you and a love of good bread. Pick a date, or text Haylee with a question first.