Day 8 – A Class in Danish Baking and The Reffen Open-Air Street Food Market

On the docket for 2nd day in Copenhagen was a baking class in the Danish Style. This would be our only baking class for this trip, and we were eager to get our hands on some dough. The morning of, we hopped on the underground metro, which was very clean, sleek, and modern. The metro train was also blazing fast, and before we could say “I wonder how long this will take”, we were in the neighborhood of where the class would take place.

We found the building of the CPH Cooking Class. Inside was a lovely dining room, a spacious and equipped kitchen, and our Instructor for the morning: an Australian fellow by the name of Grey (or maybe Gray. If you happen to be reading this, sorry). Grey ushered us in to the kitchen to await the arrival of a few more students.

After mostly everyone had arrived, Grey gave an overview as to what we’d be preparing. On the agenda was Sourdough Buns, Kanelsnurrer (Or Cinnamon Buns, every Nordic country has a take on these and so do we!), Te Bollar (or Tea or Birthday Buns), and a particular recipe we have a bit of a history with, Danish Rye Bread. Now, I must say, Grey was a fabulous instructor. Calm, genuinely funny (not one of those you-have-to-laugh-at-my-jokes-because-you-are-a-captive-audience-type guys), and knowledgeable.

With the introduction out of the way, it was time to suit up for the task at hand. We grabbed our aprons, and head to our designated station. By now, habits started kicking in. We each reviewed a recipe and discussed the ingredients. We all felt very comfortable in a situation like this, obviously. It must have been noticeable, because after some time, Grey came up to us and asked, “Are you guys bakers or something?” We gave him our background and explained why we were taking the class (I swear it wasn’t to show off). We were able to talk with him about his background in baking and ask some questions about the finer points of Danish baking.

Look at these try-hards.

We were just about to get rolling and then we were introduced as bakers to the class. I wouldn’t say this was embarrassing, but given the feeling we all had after touring some of the best bakeries in Sweden, it was hard to shake that impostor feeling again, at least for myself. However, our group was lovely, and came from all over the world! There was even a young lady from Chicago, but she was originally from good ol’ Bloomington, Minnesota. We had folks from England, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, and the United States. Everyone was delightful and in high spirits. How could you not be? We were in a lovely kitchen about to prepare some delicious breads and pastries.

The class was then underway. We prepped things that were very familiar to us, and we even picked up some new tricks to try out. We learned much from the recipes that were unfamiliar to us. The biggest takeaway for us was regarding Danish Rye Bread. This is something we had attempted back home with little success. It is rather difficult to bake something new to us without having tried the real deal. Recipes can only be so clear. As it turned out, we weren’t far off! There were just a couple little tweaks needed, but we got it all ironed out with Grey (thank you for that, by the way).

Working through these recipes in a group setting was a lovely experience. Now that we were revealed as professional bakers, many folks felt comfortable wandering up and asking questions. It did feel good to be in a position to answer questions confidently. We love talking about baking! We discussed troubles we’ve had finding ingredients in the U.S., whether the recipes we were making were ones we had tried before, and just answered a number of questions about baking in general.

Eventually, the time came to wrap up our baking shift for the day. We sat in the dining room and patiently waited for things to begin coming out of the oven. The class did great. Everything was delicious. We enjoyed the company of our new friends over the warm baked goods and ate perhaps too many carbohydrates (but that’s also the story of this trip so far). The time came to say our goodbyes, and I must admit, it was kind of sad! We had only been together for about 3 hours, but when you’re in a kitchen, you become fast friends. To any of our fellow bakers in that class, thank you for a lovely time. Also, big shout out to CPH Cooking Classes in Copenhagen. It was a great class and I would strongly urge anyone visiting to check them out. They have a variety of classes you can look into. It’s not only baking!

We then found a nice spot to sit by the canal and let some time drift by us. The weather was wonderful. Not too hot. A nice breeze rolling off the water. There is little else you can ask for.

Following our nice sit, we decided to check out the Reffen Open-Air Street Food Market. We jumped on public transportation and not long after arrived there.

It was quite busy, no doubt a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Dozens of stalls with a vast array of culinary styles from Indian to Mexican to Iranian to Danish to American and beyond. You’ll likely be able to find some sort of food to try there. Reffen also features a skate-park, a brewery, and lots of seating. Shay and I found a nice spot by the harbor to sit for a time. Madi and Derek head over to the Beer Garden.

Near our seats was a table of young Danish men, listening to some party music and drinking. They were all wearing Danish footballers’ shirts. In fact, lots of people around Reffen were. There must have been a game on. These gents were having quite a good time rocking to the club music and taking turns throwing each other into the harbor. It was great viewing as a bystander.

After a time, we all met up again. Madi and Derek had found a stall featuring a familiar item: a Danish Hot Dog. This has been a popular item for us at Krown, so it was exciting to see what this vendor’s take on it was. Not identical, not completely foreign, just a touch different. The crispy onions were a bit finer and raw onion was mixed in. The remoulade was perhaps a touch less flavorful. The pickles on top were diced, not sliced. The hot dog itself was much more slender than the all-beef franks we use at Krown. The bun was similar, but more in a brioche style. They enjoyed it, though! It ticked all the right boxes. Shay and I found some coffee (because the coffee is still amazing).

We spent some more time perusing the market. Shay and I had a lovely chicken wrap. Madi got an absolutely delicious Black Currant Sorbet milkshake. Derek had a lovely affogato (espresso over a scoop of ice-cream). We then made our way back to the bus stop, back to our hotel, and laid low for the remainder of the evening. Another great day in Denmark came to a close. With heavy eyelids, we drifted to a peaceful slumber…