Baking and Cooking Class in Tiong Bahru: Creative Culinaire

Creative Culinaire, at 17 Eng Hoon Street, #01-03/04, Eng Hoon Mansions, Singapore 169767, is a baking and cooking school on the edge of the Tiong Bahru estate, founded in 2000 by Chef Judy Koh. It teaches longer, more technical courses than a typical one-off class: its bookable dates for late 2026 are two-day, 18-hour courses at S$500, including a sourdough and artisan bread course on 14 and 15 December and a professional gelato course in November and December.

The school says it has been sharing the love and joy of baking with its students since 2000, and it is known for teaching the science behind a recipe as well as the method. Chef Judy Koh, its founder and principal chef, trained at Lenôtre and the San Francisco Baking Institute, worked in bakeries and hotels, and also founded Caffe Pralet. She is secretary general of the Singapore Bakery Confectionery Trade Association. In 2008 she received a Guinness World Records award for the tallest chocolate sculpture, and chef Timothy Chia, the school's deputy director, shares that record.

The two-day Fundamentals of Artisan Bread Making course runs from 9 am to 6 pm on 14 and 15 December 2026, and the booking page showed 12 places when checked. It costs S$500 and is taught hands-on in pairs. You build a sourdough starter and a rye starter from wild yeast, practise traditional shaping and scoring, and learn to keep a starter alive at home. The recipes include cheese or raisin and walnut sourdough, pain rustique, flaxseed rye, pugliese, poolish and sourdough baguettes, sourdough pizza and sourdough pancakes.

This is where the school differs from a fun afternoon class. The bread course opens with the history of artisan bread and then moves to bakers' mathematics, protein and ash levels in flour, falling numbers, moisture, friction factor and the Maillard reaction. It also covers the functions of yeast, flour types and enriching ingredients, plus the common myths about sourdough starters. Expect to take notes, which is why the school asks every student to bring a pen and notebook.

The two-day Professional Gelato Making course (Level 1) also costs S$500 and runs from 9 am to 6 pm, with a session starting on 20 November and another on 19 and 20 December 2026. Chef Dylan Ooi, a former research and development engineer who discovered Italian gelato on holiday at Lake Como in 2007, teaches it. The course covers the difference between gelato and ice cream, commercial machines, ingredient functions, formulating gelato, sorbet and sherbet, hygiene and the business side of running a gelato shop.

Both courses accept SkillsFuture credits, and the school says it has 32 SkillsFuture-approved courses. To use credits, you pay a refundable S$100 deposit when you register, then submit your claim within 30 days before the course. The deposit comes back by the 7th of the month after the course ends. NTUC members can also use UTAP funding, which covers half of the amount SkillsFuture does not fund, up to an annual cap. Card, debit card and PayNow payments are accepted online.

Come in a covered top, long trousers and covered shoes, and tie back long hair. Bring a pen and notebook, and bring your own takeaway containers if you can, because you take home everything you make. The school supplies takeaway boxes for the products made in class, but extra boxes cost more. All ingredients are weighed in advance, though you may weigh some yourself during class. You receive a certificate of accomplishment at the end of each course.

Practical courses are capped at 24 students, with one teacher to 24 students, and theory courses at 50. That is larger than a home-style class, so this is a classroom rather than a private lesson. Most courses are taught in English, some are in Mandarin, and the teachers are bilingual and will often translate into Mandarin on request. Beginners are welcome, and each course page states its level.

For a full refund, cancel at least 10 days before the course. If you cancel within 10 days, the school keeps the S$100 deposit or half of the course fee. If you cannot attend, you can send someone in your place for a S$30 admin fee, and for SkillsFuture courses that person has to file their own claim. Register online or at the school. If online sign-up gives trouble, the school asks you to call or message it.

The office is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm. On Saturday and Sunday the school runs classes only, from 9 am to 6 pm, and it is closed on public holidays. It publishes no landline. Enquiries go through the contact form or the WhatsApp chat link on its site.

Eng Hoon Street sits at the edge of the Tiong Bahru estate, where the curved pre-war flats of the 1930s still line Seng Poh Road and Moh Guan Terrace. Outram Park MRT station, on the East-West, North-East and Thomson-East Coast lines, and Tiong Bahru station on the East-West line are both within walking distance. Before a 9 am start, walk to Tiong Bahru Market, whose upstairs hawker centre opens early for chwee kueh, lor mee and coffee. After class, the estate's quiet streets of cafes and bakeries are a good place to unwind, and the walk through the low-rise flats is a pleasant change after a day at a steel bench. If you are carrying a box of warm loaves, plan a direct route home.

Creative Culinaire, 17 Eng Hoon Street, #01-03/04, Eng Hoon Mansions, Singapore 169767. Office Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm; classes Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 6 pm; closed on public holidays. Sourdough and artisan bread course 14 to 15 December 2026, S$500. Gelato course from 20 November and 19 to 20 December 2026, S$500. SkillsFuture credits accepted. Full refund only with 10 days' notice.