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

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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

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