A magical day of learning how to make pastry at Helen’s farm in Kangaloon.
You know those wonderful days you have where everything seems to align – perfect weather, beautiful surroundings, delicious food (and wine), wonderful company, lots of laughs and big hearts?
We had one of those days with the super-lovely Helen at her beautiful family farm in Kangaloon at a pastry making course, run as part of her fab business, Mumma’s Country Kitchen.
Now, here’s the thing – and this is what made it feel so different – it wasn’t just about learning how to make pastry, but more about getting a true understanding of the love that Helen has for her family.
The joy feeding her family brings her and her ancestry, as she passes on much-loved recipes from her great grandparents and grandparents and parents to us, so we can cook them in our own homes and feed our own families with the same level of passion and love.
“These classes are designed around what I do when I’m hanging out with family and friends,” Helen says.
“Friends come over mid-morning and have some coffee and a freshly baked treat before a walk, and then it’s all hands on deck cooking up a delicious lunch while we chat and catch-up.”
And that’s right – we didn’t spend all our time in Helen’s fab kitchen with the open fire crackling (talk about a Highlands moment – actually, we were having Highlands moments left, right and centre throughout the day!).
We wandered around the farm, we foraged for our own ingredients, we chatted and cooked, and sat down to a delicious lunch.
Here’s our rundown of our magical day at Mumma’s Country Kitchen…….
She had us at baked treats
You know it’s going to be a good day when you roll up and the first thing you’re given is home made perfectly cooked and droolworthy friands and Greek biscotti, right?
Meeting new friends
It was so lovely to meet other people in the class. A small, intimate class with a mix of locals and visitors to the region, it’s always so nice meeting new people who have a common interest.
And people who love pastry and pies are always going to be good fun! They’re our sort of people!
Oh, and we loved meeting this new four-legged friend, rescue staffy Yianni! Hello handsome……
Time to head outdoors
Yes, it was fresh (rug up in the cooler months) but that’s half the fun of heading outdoors in the Highlands – the crisp, fresh air! We headed outside for a farm tour.
And met new farm friends…
…like Daisy the cow, who Helen says behaves more like the family dog than a cow. Cute!
We said hello to these lovely cows
Just LOOK at that blue sky – there are absolutely no filters,or no editing done of these pics. It was such a perfect winter’s day!
And headed into the orchard
This is where Helen has all sorts of things growing. Lemons, oranges, limes, mandies, kiwi fruit….
But it doesn’t just stop there
There’s also a grove of olive trees…. plums and almonds.
And our favourite……
…grapevines! We can’t wait to see what this looks like in the spring.
Time to forage
Helen directs us on which produce to pick for the pies and pastries we’re about to make.
It’s easy being green
We grab some kale, silver beet and English spinach and taste some gooseberries that have just ripened up, picked fresh from the veggie patch. Can’t get much fresher than that!
Who needs a supermarket…
…when this is in your backyard? Even in winter, this garden is thriving and feeding Helen’s family (and us!).
Another Highlands moment
Seriously, everywhere we turned, it was sooooo country. Sooooo Highlands. Wooden gates, perfect skies, an abundance of fresh delicious produce. At this point, we’re feeling VERY River Cottage-ey.
We say hi to the girls
These lovely ladies provide the eggs we need for the pastry – thanks girls! We pick some up on the way back to the house.
Before getting a birds eye view of Helen’s family home…
…which is a gorgeous mix of heritage and contemporary blending together for modern living.
How can you walk past this fella…
…without giving him another pat? You just can’t. Look at that face!
The lunch table has been set up…
…ready for us to get cooking and fill it on up with homemade deliciousness. And look at those beautiful period details – the dining room is part of the original homestead.
Sustenance is very important while working…
…which is why Helen whips up a yummy platter of more of our favourite things – cheese, charcuterie, cheese, biccies, cheese, grapes, cheese – we might have hooked into the cheese a bit!
Aprons on!
It’s time to get to work learning all about pastry.
Hands on
All of us get involved in making the fillings for the five pies and pastries we made.
Here’s the leeks all cut and ready for the Curry Chicken and Vegetable Pie made with sour cream pastry (our favourite savoury pastry).
Traditional recipes
One of Helen’s easiest and favourite pies to whip up from her family is this Kale Rough Puff Pie – we made our own rough puff pastry.
The sweet stuff
Helen talked us through how to make sweet pastry too. This was the walnut pastry we made for the Autumn Winter Tarts – our favourite pastry to make and eat – look at these cheeky tarts fresh out of the oven (keep scrolling for the finish product). Yum!
The trick is resting
Here’s the olive oil pastry (using Helen’s grandmother’s recipe) we made resting away in preparation for the Pumpkin Pita.
Time to sit down
We’ve made fillings, we’ve made pastry, we’ve cooked, and we’ve baked. Now it’s time to sit down for lunch with the all-important refreshments (local, of course!).
And eat the fruits of our labour (literally in the case of the autumn tarts!)
Soooooo, this was lunch! Pumpkin Pita, Goat & Oregano Pasties and Kale Rough Puff Pie (we took the Chicken Curry Pie home as a takeaway which two teenage boys were VERY happy about!).
Sweeeeeeet
This was our favourite (such a sweet tooth!). This is the Autumn Tart topped with fresh pears and crème fraiche. Oh it was soooo good. We’ve actually rocked these out at home quite a few times since, when friends come over – so easy and so delicious!
Hanging the apron up
We have a lovely lunch with more laughs before taking the aprons off, getting our goodie bag of pastries we’ve made – we get to take home what we’ve made to freeze and then use at home – and heading off with a nice, full belly and some awesome new pastry making skills.
Guys, we absolutely loved our experience here with Helen. It really is so special.
Something that we took away from it was how easy making pastry is. We never really did it before because we had this misconception it was hard, but with Helen’s simple recipes and tips, it really is super doable.
And she does more than just pastry making classes – Paddock To Plate, Meat Dishes For Families, Few of My Favourite Things – plus, Helen does private cooking classes for small groups – great for a corporate catch-up, or hen’s parties or a group of friends just wanting to do something different. Get in touch with Helen here!
You’ll have a lovely time….