Digital day session: Production skills

​They are all important. Bread doughs, Sweet doughs, Pastries, Sugar work, Cake & Sponge.

They are all important, an 'all round' knowledge and understanding of these areas are imperative to success if you are to progress through the levels

Being an accomplished Baker/Pastry Chef takes many years

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​Repetition & Patience

That's why it's important to produce the same products several times throughout the course so you can improve and try to master your technique..

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​Repetition

​As you proceed with this course and then through the levels, the products will increase in a technical sense, and you will learn new methods along the way.

A good example of this is Meringue..

Level 2 requires you to produce a French meringue, the simpliest of Meringues but still technical in itself.

However levels 3 and above will require you to produce Italian and Swiss Meringues.

They are all important.

​In level 2 the majority of the bread doughs that you will produce will take 9 minutes to mix with the exception of Wholemeal dough which takes 10. This can be more if you feel you need to add more flour or water to the mix if you are not happy with the dough consistencey

There are however other methods and mixing times for some doughs which you will encounter in the higher levels

These different methods sometimes include different grains/flours

​The most popular alternative grains used in producing bread are Rye and Spelt grains although Barley, Oat, Rice and Millet can be used too among others.

​A normal bread dough is usually made up of Flour, Water, Yeast, a little Salt, maybe a little Sugar and possibly small amounts of fat/dried egg powder in some cases..

An Enriched dough contains increased amounts of Sugar, Eggs and Fat, (usually in the form of butter). It's these types of dough that we make Doughnuts/Belgian buns/Hot cross buns/Fruited doughs and others from.

​Yes,

For an 'all in one' cake mix which are usually the industry style pre-mixes used to make Muffins, Cupcakes and Tray bakes there are specific mixing times to follow.

However for the other Cake and sponge products on level 2, (Swiss rolls, Sponge bases for Victoria sponges and other cakes), other mixing times and methods are required so think about these when constructing your Practical assessment sheets.

​4 minutes.

Let's break that down.. 1 Minute on slow speed to combine the ingredients and then 3 minutes on fast speed to fully mix the batter.

Of course items such as chocolate chips, fruit or even nuts can then be added and they will need to be incorporated into the mix too increasing the total mixing time

​Always use slow speed when adding inclusions to Cake batter or dough of any kind.

This is because if you mix the inclusion too quickly it can start to break down and effect the consistencey and appearance of your mix.

Because a Cake batter is loose you can even use a large spatula and fold in the inclusion rather than rely on the machine to do it for you, just make sure the inclusion runs throughout the mix equally and not in clumps!

​Muffins and Traybakes can be baked at around 190-200 degrees but it's unwise to bake them any higher than that.

Other sponges and cakes such as Swiss roll and cupcakes will bake at lesser temperatures. Cupcakes bake at a lesser time than muffins because of a couple of reasons: 1. There is less batter in a cupcake than a Muffin, and 2. A cupcake usually wont have inclusions such as Chocolate chips or Fruit, it is usually a plain batter that is decorated later once cool.

​Cream, Milk, Yeast, Cheese and Tart shells are just some examples of ingredients or products that should be returned to the fridge or freezer straight after use.

This is based around contamination issues that can arise and was covered in detail during the Food safety unit at the start of the course that you all passed.

​On the subject of the Food safety unit I have asked that the certificates be transferred over from Paget road, hopefully after the half term break I will be able to hand them out.

​The text that you use in your description on the assessment sheet should be Arial, size 12 and non bold text

This may seem picky but it is another requirement of FDQ when they come out to Externally Verify the course

​Try to keep your assessment sheets looking as tidy and professionally looking as possible.

We want to see nice sized clear images but not pages and pages of them. Your description should be a small paragraph, (around 6-8 lines at the most), and not a book!

I would like you to work on Assessments and outstanding Theory work now.

I will speak to you all before you go at 12.50.

I will be online in TEAMS if you are stuck with anything or need to ask something.

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​Assessment & Assignment work