Buns, Burgers & Booze- The French Bistro Burger

The Inspiration

There was no persuading anyone with this one — you just can’t go wrong with burgers. I gave them three options: a Hawaiian-style with pineapple, a classic American, or a French bistro-style burger. And to make things interesting, each one was paired with a cupcake. In the end, it wasn’t the burger that sold it — it was the cupcake. The crème brûlée pairing tipped the scales in favour of the bistro burger. (Though I’ve got a sneaky feeling the Hawaiian might’ve won if the pairings were different.)

When I design a class, I like to make sure there’s a solid mix of techniques to keep things interesting. This one ticked a lot of boxes: caramelising onions, shaping bread rolls from scratch, and stuffing patties with cheese — if that last one counts as a technique (which I say it does).

The Lesson

It sounds simple on the surface — burgers and cupcakes — but in a tight three-hour window, there was a lot to juggle. Buns, patties, condiments, and cake all had to be prepped, proved, cooked, cooled, and assembled. This session wasn’t about complexity — it was about timing: managing dough proofs, cooling bakes, and getting everything ready in sync. And of course, everyone knows stress levels are directly correlated to hunger levels. But when it comes to bread and cake decoration, patience is always the most essential ingredient.

Starting with the Dough — Soft, Subtle, and Hands-On

We began with the buns, opting for a milk bread dough — soft, enriched, and with a gentle hit of miso, because wherever possible I like to substitute it for salt to add a more complex umami flavour. All completely hands-on — no machine — which I think is important when learning, because you have to understand what the dough feels like when it’s ready. That became apparent a week later when Becky told me she’d made the buns again, but it had gone wrong. What she perhaps doesn’t realise is that the fact she told me why they had gone wrong (not kneaded enough and perhaps slightly underbaked) showed me she had learnt something in the lesson — because she knew what was wrong.

And despite that later mistake, during the session Becky actually introduced a brilliant hack: a mug of hot water placed in a microwave creates steam and warmth, transforming it into a makeshift proving drawer. Perfect for when you’re tight on time and space. It gave our dough the boost it needed to rise, shape, and bake within the session.

The Onions — A Rich, Boozy Condiment

Next we moved on to the caramelised onion, which would be the main condiment for the

dish. This was something bespoke for Becky and Stephen, because in a previous lesson I’d used red wine as an ingredient and they gave me the leftover bottle (now these two are always giving me little gifts, so I was adamant this time I’d be accepting no royalties).

So I created a recipe using whiskey — I’ve got a good stash of high-quality stuff at home. It was nice and simple: just red onions, whisky, cider vinegar or balsamic (or really whichever you have to hand). I did add a little miso again, and butter, and… I

actually can’t always quite remember every ingredient. I always send an ingredient list and recipe, but the whole purpose of these sessions is cooking by feel — so often in the session we’ll add or leave out little bits here or there.

We also made an “aioli,” but we cheated to save time by mixing mayo with some garlic and mustard.

The Patty — Rich, Crusted, and a Little Bit Extra

Finally, the most important and most simple element: the burger itself. It had a subtle French-bistro flavour — although I did actually sneak in a little ranch powder from a tiny jar of Becky’s (she’d given me my own little  jar a few weeks earlier) I just felt the patty needed a little boost and the memory of that flavour creeped into my mind.

We also added Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and — let’s be honest — knowing me, I probably added some miso and soy. And just to go a bit extra, I made a last-minute suggestion to put cheese inside the patty when shaping.

We pan-fried the burgers to get that initial dark crust, and I left them with the instruction to finish in the oven to make sure they were cooked through and oozing cheese!

The Verdict

They dressed the burgers up with a little touch of rocket, and the whole dish was branded “1000% success.” Can’t really get much better than that. Of course, I’m more critical — and if I could improve one thing, it would be to remember that in my plan I had suggested doing chips to go with it! 

Final Thought

This was a lovely little reminder that complex processes like bread-making don’t need to feel stressful — as long as you take care and you’re patient, it can be the simplest process of all. It’s so easy to go and buy things pre-made, and on one hand you might think, why make the patty or the bun? But then — why not? If you can, you can tailor it to your tastes.

In fact, we really did have time to make chips too — perhaps we’ll revisit burgers and go for the Hawaiian next time. That can be our chip redemption opportunity.