SCALES

If pastry chefs didn’t measure ingredients on scales, cakes and desserts would be different every time. One tart would rise well, and another would remain dense. The cream would sometimes be liquid and sometimes dense and unsweetened. You could forget about portioned and small desserts (cupcakes, macaroons, marshmallows). For cupcakes, an extra gram of leavening agent would blow up the cupcake, and for macarons, an extra drop of water would turn the brownie into a scone.
Therefore, a pastry chef’s rule of thumb is to measure all ingredients on a scale. Any electronic scales will do.
MANUAL OR PLANETARY MIXER

For beginner pastry chefs, I suggest using a hand mixer. It will perfectly cope with making biscuits, and whipping cream. It will be more difficult to whip meringue and marshmallows (compared to a planetary mixer), but it is also possible. In recipes, I try to use a hand mixer. I do this to show that you can make almost anything with a hand mixer.
In my practice, I use both a hand mixer and a planetary mixer. If I need to mix a biscuit and some cream, I use the hand mixer. If I make a large amount (cream, dough) or marshmallows, or meringue, I whip with a planetary mixer. I know that choosing a good planetary mixer is not easy. So I interviewed students, added my experience, and prepared a detailed review for you on how to choose a planetary mixer.
The most important things in choosing a mixer are a higher power, metal whiskers, and the ability to change speeds.
OVEN

It’s ideal if you have an electric oven. For biscuits and muffins, the convection mode is suitable for baking cheesecakes, eclairs, and pasta – top-bottom mode. Usually, for biscuits, you should set a temperature of 170-180 °C. If macarons, then lower. For cheesecakes around 100 °C, and for… Read more

The post Essentials Every Pastry Chef Needs appeared first on Discover prominent national cuisines | Enjoy the best Chinese fortune cookie recipes in our food blog.

Positions

Conventionally, it is possible to identify two main types of organizations, where there is a position of a pastry chef:
Public catering enterprises – restaurants, cafes, buffets, pastry shops, coffee shops, etc.;
Production of ready-made meals and semi-finished products – stores, canteens, factories, kitchens, and culinary workshops of major supermarkets.
And those, and others precisely not becoming less, therefore confectioners will always be in demand.
History of the profession

It is difficult to say when professional confectioners appeared because people have always loved sweets: The Mayans used chocolate, the ancient Indians used sugar cane, and the Egyptians learned to make candies from dates.
In Europe, the profession of pastry chef as a specialized chef appeared in the courts of kings and courtiers, and when private bakeries opened as commercial enterprises, the profession of pastry chef also emerged.
Duties of a pastry chef

As a rule, the main job duties of a pastry chef are as follows:
– Preparation and decoration of confectionery and bakery products;
– Quality control of finished products;
– Participation in the drafting of menus.
Depending on the level of the specialist and the specifics of the enterprise, the functions of the pastry chef may include:
– drawing up technological charts;
– development of new types of products;
– selection of professional equipment for production and maintenance;
– control of the work process of the confectionery shop.
Requirements for a pastry chef

The requirements for a pastry chef are usually very simple:
– Education (professional or short-term courses);
– Work experience in the specialty;
– a medical book.
Sometimes a pastry chef is required to have more skills and knowledge:
– experience with certain ingredients;
– experience in managing a team;
– experience in managing the technological process.
How to become a pastry chef 

Becoming a… Read more

The post How to Become a Pastry Chef appeared first on Discover prominent national cuisines | Enjoy the best Chinese fortune cookie recipes in our food blog.

Let Them Eat Buns

A sweet brioche bun is more than just a pastry and a ruddy crust. In 18th-century France, this mouthwatering dessert became one of the symbols of the confrontation between the monarchy and the people. Queen Marie-Antoinette, being a big fan of noisy balls, pompous treats, and daily festivities, was not very fond of common people. At the same time, the ideas of the Enlightenment were becoming louder and louder in the cities. In time, Marie Antoinette “settled down” and began to devote more time to her family, but bad publicity is not easily forgotten.
The famous phrase “Let them eat buns” (Qu’ils mangent de la brioche) became the epitome of everything people disliked about the queen. Legend has it that Marie Antoinette said these words in response to complaints that the commoners lacked bread. Sourdough brioche buns, the name of which appears in the original quote, are made with butter and eggs, products that were a rarity for commoners. Although it is now widely believed that Marie Antoinette probably did not say these words, it was for her arrogance and disregard for people’s problems that the queen was condemned by the Convention (the highest legislative and executive body of the First French Republic during the Great French Revolution).
A Sweet Dowry 

The Spaniards were the first Europeans to discover the taste of chocolate – they brought the recipe from South America in the 16th century, though the Aztecs, from whom the conquistadors borrowed the method of making cocoa beans, made it without sugar. The Spaniards decided to make the dish sweet, after which the whole nobility of the country became fans of the new dessert. However, the Spaniards were in no hurry to share the exclusive recipe with other states. For more than 100 years, they were the only Europeans who drank hot chocolate: its recipe was considered the property of the country and was kept in the strictest confidence.
Decades… Read more

The post Sweet History: Desserts With a Rich Past appeared first on Discover prominent national cuisines | Enjoy the best Chinese fortune cookie recipes in our food blog.