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Overview
An abundance of tasty and varied cakes, pastries and yeast goods are produced in both
domestic and commercial kitchens throughout the world to cater for numerous lifestyles,
tastes, climates and cultures.
Cakes of all descriptions are a much loved food, often representing celebrations such as a
birthday, engagement, wedding, anniversary or Christening. They are also a sweet luxury
to be enjoyed at other times throughout the year as part of a meal or as a morning or
afternoon tea snack.
Many of the pastries and yeast goods produced form the base of many sweet and savoury
dishes on the menu. For example, short pastry is used when making quiche, choux paste
is used to produce profiteroles and yeasty croissants may be served warm with jam for
breakfast or filled with meat and cheese for lunch.
The diversity of these goods is amazing considering that the bulk of them are made using
the same few ingredients – flour, sugar, eggs, fat, water, milk, yeast and baking powder.
While the range of ingredients used is not extensive, it does require an understanding of
the characteristics of each type of ingredient (strong flour, weak flour, caster sugar, icing
sugar, etc.). It is also necessary to know how the ingredients function within the dough,
paste or batter and how each ingredient reacts with the other ingredients in the mix.
In no other area of food production is it so important to select the correct type of
ingredient, accurately weigh and measure them, mix and blend them correctly with other
ingredients and bake them at precisely the right temperature for a set period of time.
Having the skills and ability to prepare a range of pastry, cake and yeast products is only
part of the story. You also need to be able to portion and store them in the most efficient
way to minimise wastage and spoilage.
This unit has been designed to develop and expand your knowledge and hands-on skills
in working with a range of common pastries, cakes and yeast based products. Learning
the principles and tasks in this resource will form the basis from which you will be able to
develop your baking skills.
In this unit you will learn how to:
• Prepare, decorate and present pastries
• Prepare and produce cakes and yeast goods
• Decorate cakes and yeast goods
• Portion and store pastries, cakes and yeast goods. |
