French Bistro Desserts Cooking Class

Master Classic French Bistro Desserts at this baking and desserts class in St Kilda!



6.5 hours Location St Kilda Class size 1 to 7 guests   $295 (Afterpay available)
Melbourne Activities
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Food & Drink
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Baking & Desserts
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Cooking
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French Bistro Desserts, Baking and Pastry Cooking Class
Desserts are everyone’s favourite. When dining out, if the first stop for you on the menu is the dessert section, this baking and desserts class in Melbourne is definitely for you!
In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to cook a variety of classic French dishes, from Chocolate Concorde and Tarte Tatin to choux pastry, soufflés, crème brûlée and more. You will enjoy the delicious desserts you create, and receive a comprehensive recipe booklet containing all the recipes worked on, so you can recreate these treats in your own kitchen.
In these classes, you learn how to choose the right pastry for the right dish, including when to use shortcrust, sweet or puff pastry, and when sugar is unnecessary because the filling is sweet enough. You will work with pastry, chocolate, caramel, meringue, fresh fruit, nuts, cream and other beautiful ingredients as you discover the satisfaction of achieving the perfect pastry result:
  • The crisp shell of a puff pastry tart
  • The glossy caramelised top of a Tarte Tatin
  • The delicate crunch of a choux pastry gougère or profiterole
  • The creamiest crème pâtissière coated in a luscious chocolate sauce
  • A simple chouquette dusted with pearl sugar
Beginners are welcome and encouraged, and you don’t need prior experience to enjoy this relaxed, informative activity. You will start with tea, coffee, or a cold drink and a discussion about what you are cooking that day, then follow expert instructions through each stage.
During the class, a variety of classic French dishes are cooked such as:
  • Chocolate Concorde, the delectable mousse and meringue cake
  • Apple, pear or banana Tarte Tatin, with our own puff pastry
  • Choux pastry Profiteroles and Choux Paris-Brest
  • Tarte aux Mendicants, the divine nut and frangipane tart made in a Pâte Brisée pastry case
  • Île flottante, floating islands or Oeufs à la Neige, snow eggs
  • Petit lemon and meringue tartlets
  • Vanilla bean and passionfruit Bavarois
  • Crème Brûlée
  • Baked Basque Cheesecake
  • Chocolate Délice ‘Mousse’ cake
  • Soufflés
  • Classic crème caramel
  • Savarin, rum baba, passionfruit roulade and clafoutis
  • Petit fours such as Madeleines, Canelés, Speculoos and Langues du Chat tuiles
For lunch, you will make either a Quiche or a Choux pastry Paris-Brest, filled with our in-house smoked salmon with crème fraîche and accompanied by dill, tomatoes and salad.
All classes are small, hands-on, relaxed, fun and informative. As you work through the recipes, you feel focused, creative and increasingly confident, with plenty of guidance from the chef teacher to help you achieve beautiful results. Immerse yourself in the joy of creating these delightful delicacies as you follow our expert instructions.
After all the hard work, it’s time to indulge around the table and enjoy all the desserts you cooked. To complement your sweet feast, we also provide a light savoury lunch and wine. This is your chance to relax, unwind, and relish the flavours of your desserts. You receive a comprehensive recipe booklet, including hints and tips from the class, so you can continue your baking journey long after the class.

Upcoming dates for French Bistro Desserts Cooking Class

Times are Melbourne time. Dates and prices as of 12 Nov 2026, 6:21am; availability and price are confirmed live when booking on this page.

5 upcoming dates between 22 Nov 2026 and 6 Jun 2027.

  • Sun 22 Nov 2026, 8:45am-3:15pm
  • Sun 7 Feb 2027, 8:45am-3:15pm
  • Sun 14 Mar 2027, 8:45am-3:15pm
  • Sun 2 May 2027, 8:45am-3:15pm
  • Sun 6 Jun 2027, 8:45am-3:15pm
What you'll get
  • An all-day cooking experience with as many as eight or more desserts cooked by the class.
  • All ingredients and equipment are provided.
  • Guidance from an expert chef.
  • A sit-down lunch at the table with wine to enjoy all the desserts you cooked in the morning's class.
  • A comprehensive recipe collection of all the dishes cooked in the class, plus extra hints and tips.
Read more details   
Knowledge required
Beginner-friendly.
What to bring
  • Please wear closed-toe shoes for safety reasons.
  • Bring a hair tie to tie back your hair while we cook.
Suitable for

This class is great for individuals and couples as well as for a date idea, birthday or hens party.

This experience would also be a unique gift for her, gift for mum, Xmas gift or gift for couples.


FAQ

Can you cater for dietary requirements?
Yes, we can cater for gluten free. Let us know your requirements before or after booking. If you have a food allergy or need a strictly gluten-free meal for coeliac disease, please message us before booking.
Location

45-46 Marine Parade, St Kilda VIC

French Bistro Desserts Cooking Class location
Verified reviews

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Recent reviews of French Bistro Desserts Cooking Class

  • 5/5 from Josie Garofalo, attended Aug 2026: Husband and I had a fantastic time with French bistro desserts. Amazing cooking experience with beautiful views of the bay. Learnt so much and ate delicious food. Definitely will go again and try different cuisine. Highly recommend
  • 5/5 from Tom Monotti, attended Jun 2026: Wonderful and sumptuous recipes! Thank you Tonya for being such an excellent host and for teaching us how to make such excellent desserts!
  • 5/5 from Annette Bretag, attended Mar 2026: Loved out French deserts cooking class with Tonya! It was great fun and we learned tips and tricks. A wonderful way to celebrate of friends birthdays toget.
  • 5/5 from Liam Frost, attended Dec 2025: Very good class learnt a lot couldn't recommend it more
  • 5/5 from Emmett Brew, attended Dec 2025: Great session, learnt a lot and had a good time!
  • 5/5 from Julie Falcone, attended Sep 2025: What a fantastic way to spend a Sunday. We made a number of scrumptious desserts and got to take some home. Tonya is a kind and patient teacher with a wealth of knowledge and experience. The location was divine and the class size was perfect for one to one learning in a fun and friendly environment. Thank you, I will be back again.
  • 5/5 from Katie Rees, attended Aug 2025: Amazing class in an amazing location! Our teacher Tonya was super organised and so knowledgeable. We learnt some fantastic French dessert techniques and used these to make delicious desserts. We had a small but super friendly, engaged and encouraging group. I will definitely be signing up for more classes!
  • 2/5 from Joanne Atkinson, attended Aug 2025: I was disappointed with this class. It was somewhat disorganised in getting things done and having areas on the bench and cooktops available when necessary. I found Tonya to be quite critical at times and unnecessarily harsh about very simple things and there were occasions when her instructions weren’t clear and it was confusing. I would not recommend this.
  • 5/5 from Sarah Britz, attended Jul 2025: Tonya structured the course very well to enable everyone to have a go at different parts of the dessert prep. It was relaxed and informative. Great day finished by a lovely lunch.
  • 5/5 from Amy Das, attended Dec 2024: I thoroughly enjoyed my cooking class with Tonya! She is very knowledgeable and gave us all very clear instructions. We broke into 4 groups of 2 to make 2 desserts each but also got to see our peers working on their respective desserts so we were able to gain a lot of insight into all the dishes. The finished results were awesome and I gained some confidence to make my own at home and even get creative and put my on twist on things.
  • 4/5 from Zyg Kaminski, attended Dec 2024: An enjoyable learning experience-initially a little chaotic, in Tonya working to have coordination in the 4 separate groups. In time, the class became more contained as did Tonya. Perhaps having everyone do the same dessert, may have been an alternate teaching and learning experience A recommendable time and worthy of repeating. Zyg
  • 5/5 from Kerry Gemmell, attended Jul 2024: A great class, really enjoyable and excellent tuition. I highly recommend you try a class.
  • 5/5 from Carol Ayre, attended Feb 2024: I have always enjoyed the many classes that I have attended in the past. Today's 'French Bistro Class" was no exception. Tonya's a well informed teacher, with a lot of experience and knowledge. It is obvious, that she is passionate about cooking and loves to share her recipes with her guests. The day is always fun, especially enjoying the delicious dishes on completion with a glass of wine and beautiful views of the marina. The 'recipe booklet' with many extra special hints is so well written, it makes it so easy to recreate these great desserts at home for your family and friends. I have actually used many of Tonya's recipes in the past, my friends are so impressed. Thanks again for a great day, Tonya. I always learn something new.
  • 5/5 from Anna Xia, attended Oct 2023: Such nice weather for a super nice French desserts extravaganza. We were served a coronation quiche with some greens just so we ate something as a basis for the waves of dessert offerings to come. Apple tart tatin with Crème Anglaise ice cream, profiteroles filled with crème pâtissière and chocolate sauce, passionfruit soufflé, basque cheesecake and speculoos which are French cinnamon short bread biscuits. Many thanks to Tonya and her assistant Sandra for a wonderful day. You’d be surprised at your own baking and cooking ability. A nice drop of rosé or sparkling certainly livened the atmosphere.
Your teacher

Cooking on the Bay
Cooking on the Bay

4.9 (95)
female Women-owned

Participants in classes have commented on how Tonya generously and enthusiastically enjoys sharing her knowledge, experience and ideas. There are interesting foodie hints, tips and musings both during the sessions and whilst sharing the delicious lunch that is taken ‘at the table’, overlooking the views of the bay and beyond.
Tonya’s vibrant and engaging personality will encourage you to want to share ‘the pleasure of the table’ experienced in the morning classes with your friends and family. You will be inspired to race home and repeat the dishes you have learned in the day’s class. Tonya is Melbourne trained at Holmesglen, in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu and the Ritz Escoffier and in Burgundy at La Varenne l’Ecole de Cuisine. She has taken culinary tours to France in the Dordogne and Provence, plus she has visited regional cooking schools in the Dordogne, Normandy and in Tuscany, Italy. She regularly takes culinary tours to Marrakech, Morocco, where she perfects many of the Moroccan dishes she discovers there, cooked to perfection by her friend and chef colleague, Edwina Golombek, who owns a culinary, residential cooking school riad in the heart of Marrakesh. A visit and her pilgrim's walk along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela found Tonya in love with the history and culinary traditions of Spain, so she has added these experiences to her Spanish cuisine cooking classes as well.
Before training as a chef, Tonya was a librarian, information manager, library trainer and library consultant. Cooking on the Bay proudly owns an extensive library collection of over 3000 cookbooks and books related to food, cooking, France, Italy Morocco and the Mediterranean.
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Food & Drink
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Baking & Desserts
•
Cooking
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