Viennoiserie doesn't have to be sweet, or only for breakfast. In a hands-on Bread Bakers Guild of America class in Seattle on March 29-30, award-winning pastry chef, William Leaman, will use classic viennoiserie as a starting point to explore new flavor profiles and trends.

He will focus on savory ingredients like mushroom duxelles and heirloom tomato to create versatile pastries for a wide range of uses, and he will demonstrate sous vide techniques and variations on dough shapes for maximum visual impact. Products made in class will include Smoked Salmon Croissants, Pork Sausage Rolls with Maple Butter, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Croissants, and Duck Sausage Rolls.

William Leaman began baking at the age of 14. He worked as a pastry chef in Las Vegas and Seattle and was captain of the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA that won the gold medal at the 2005 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking) in Paris, France. He and his wife, Heather, opened Bakery Nouveau in Seattle, WA, in 2006. Since then, the bakery has won numerous awards, including Best Bakery, Best Desserts, and a Zagat rating of 28 out of 30.

The Culinary Arts Program at South Seattle Community College in Seattle, WA, has been ranked consistently among the top training programs in the country by the National Restaurant Association.

The school’s students have won awards at state and national competitions.

“Modernizing Viennoiserie Classics” is part of the 2014 class series, The DNA of Baking, which will focus on the science underlying baking: the fundamentals of fermentation, ingredients, temperature, and formula development. These classes are part of The Guild’s mission to “shape the skills and knowledge of the artisan baking community.”

Please visit www.bbga.org to see the complete 2014 calendar.