What a pastry chef needs to know. Confectionery tools and accessories for decoration. Review Everything a beginner pastry chef needs

Sometimes we are so eager to make this or that recipe that we forget about the most important thing. And the main thing is organization. From my own experience I know: unorganized work at 12 o’clock can be done in 6 hours with organization, or even faster. Let's look together at the mistakes that a novice pastry chef can make and try to avoid them!

Mistake #1 - Starting work without thorough preparation

As soon as you decide to make this or that recipe, prepare all the necessary tools, products (namely their quantity and the desired temperature of each of them), molds and plenty of space. Especially if you work at home, this will greatly save your time and effort.

Mistake #2 - Inconsistency

This is sooo important! After carefully reading the recipe, we need to determine those recipes that need to be made first (for example, shortcrust pastry, which should “rest” in the refrigerator, or ganache). Therefore, I advise you to make a list of recipes in a certain sequence, and while some preparations are “resting”, you can do everything else that does not require complex manipulations (for example: bake a biscuit).

Mistake #3 - Too much enthusiasm

Yes. This is also a mistake. In any case, mine is exactly the same! I planned to do too much at once. As a result, due to the large quantity, there was no time left for the quality I expected, especially with the decor. Therefore, it is better to do the minimum - but very well, than the maximum, but everything is a C. And fixing error No. 2 will also help you with this problem. Think carefully about your efforts, your time, and then you can do everything perfectly.

Mistake #4 - Following the recipe word for word

You need to follow the recipe, but the pastry chef is the person who must be good friends with his feelings and logic. If something in the recipe seems illogical to you, it is better to look for additional information. And the same thing with sensations: the recipe calls for a temperature of 180 C for 20 minutes, but in your oven this or that product may remain raw or, on the contrary, burn. So, we always think and learn to feel each product.

Mistake #5 - Wastefulness

I'm not talking about choosing high-quality, often expensive ingredients. Because I don't consider it wasteful. But there are things you can and should save on. For example: parchment or paper towels. Parchment can be reused many times (if left clean), paper towels only where needed. Take the time to analyze the recipes you work with and optimize them based on material and time savings, organize each recipe from start to finish and you will see how much more enjoyable the work will be.

In principle, all these mistakes and a hundred thousand more - often they are connected precisely with the organization and with how carefully you read the recipe and thought through your actions in advance. After all, confectionery is always an active mental activity, logic, consistency, forethought and, of course, pleasure from the process.

Therefore, I really hope that the above examples of mistakes will help you avoid them and get more and more pleasure from your favorite work! And I know that everyone who reads my blog loves confectionery art just as much as I do! And they also want to improve every day!

I’ll say right away: this post is for the very new ones! For those who, perhaps, have not even started baking anything, but only look at beautiful pictures of cakes and dream of learning how to do the same. And also for those who don’t really want to become a home pastry chef, but really want to cook beautiful and tasty sweets for their family, loved ones and friends.

A year ago I didn’t even know this phrase - home pastry chef:) I came across some cakes online, liked them, wanted to make them myself, tried them, they turned out unsightly, but they worked! It looks crooked on the outside, but it’s so delicious! Mine approved. And... it sucked! But I really got excited when I saw Alesya’s blog. There was everything there - wonderful, tasty, win-win recipes, a very pleasant, warm, calm atmosphere, and simply unreal photographs! Perfect pieces, even cuts, rich colors, competent composition... And everything is so truly girly! This is a wonderful blog, and if you don’t know about it yet, be sure to take a look: I assure you that you will like it, even if you don’t cook, you can just flip through Alesin’s magazine, look and enjoy!

So here it is. I mean, I’ve never baked anything before - not counting the biscuits, which were more like burnt omelettes, which my sister and I cooked as children, and then quietly hid from our parents in the garbage chute. I didn’t bake, so I never had any equipment for this, and I made my first “adult” biscuits in... lined frying pans - attention! - a baking sleeve! (oh, how there are not enough emoticons! :)) By the way, the biscuits turned out and were very tasty, but the fact itself! There was no mixer either, but there was a simple blender with a whisk, so I beat it with it until it was sticky. I collected the jelly cakes in the same frying pans, making a rim of thick film. In general, as they say, “I see the goal - I see no obstacles”! :)

However, I very quickly realized that this was not possible :) And slowly but surely, I began to buy tools. Slowly - because all this confectionery stuff is actually not cheap, like homemade cakes, like the whole industry in general. Those who want to become a popular home pastry chef today must be aware of this. It would be good if customers also realized that “you can buy a cake in a store for 300 rubles!”, but this is a topic for a separate conversation :) Of course, everyone’s financial capabilities are different, I mean families with average incomes.

And these same families, as a rule, do not really want to waste money, as can happen if you make thoughtless purchases, acquiring something that you can do without at first. But for a fanatical person, everything in confectionery stores is so beautiful, interesting, and alluring! And that’s it! So for you future home confectioners and lovers of sweets, don’t spend money on unnecessary things, that’s why I’m writing this post.

Mixer

One of your first purchases should be a mixer. Of course, the pros work with expensive planetary mixers, but you can start with a simple one, as long as the power is at least 350 W and the company is not completely no-name. For reliability. I have a regular Bosch with a bowl (convenient for making Italian meringue) and two types of attachments.

Blender

A blender will also come in handy. Berry and fruit purees are often found in fillings, biscuits, etc. A blender will make them for you in a matter of seconds. Grind the cottage cheese until smooth - use a blender! Prepare praline - blender! Grind the nuts - use a blender! Mix cold butter with flour - blender! Break through the mirror glaze and other components of Eurocakes - it’s him again! Buy a powerful one, from 800 W, it is also important that it includes a bowl with knives (chopper). The measuring cup that usually comes with the kit will also serve you well.

Bakeware

They come in different shapes: solid metal, split metal, silicone and metal molds with adjustable size, without a bottom. All of these molds are suitable for baking crusts and assembling cakes. Which one to choose is a very personal matter. I'll write my opinion. From whole ones, if you have little experience, it will be difficult to remove the cakes. And biscuits baked in such forms do not have a perfectly flat bottom, but with slightly rounded edges: this is a feature of the bottom of the molds. However, this is not critical. Silicone ones are inconvenient because they need to be placed on a baking sheet (a flat, heat-resistant surface), and only then pour in the dough, and also, on the baking sheet, put in the oven and bake. And they say they don’t always keep their shape, but I can’t say for sure: I have several of these forms and so far everything has been ok. The detachable ones are not bad, I first baked in them, and then tried them in a ring without a bottom, and... I really liked it! I just can’t figure out the reason, but the biscuits in it always turn out higher and smoother than in conventional forms! I specifically tested it on the same recipe at the same temperature and position in the oven. A mystery, but it works! Take note.

Here are my springforms.

They are non-stick, I put parchment only on the bottom, because when I greased the walls, the biscuits turned out with wavy sides and only rose in the middle. In general, I don’t have many of these shapes, and to be honest, I don’t want to buy any more: I’d rather buy a few more rings with adjustable sizes and similar square shapes. But this is my case, which cannot be universal. Try different options, in any case the forms will be useful to you.

And this is the same ring. “My beauty!” :)

Sieve

I’m ashamed to admit, but I didn’t even have a sieve before! Be a master! :) For a home pastry chef, a sieve is the most important thing! Flour is always sifted so that the cakes are airy. Well, small specks remain on the sieve. The mirror glaze is passed through a sieve to remove possible lumps of undissolved gelatin, cocoa and air bubbles. You can strain custard or citrus curd through a sieve for a smoother, more delicate texture. A sieve is used when making fruit and berry purees... In general, you really need a sieve and preferably - more than one. They come in different sizes and with smaller or larger holes. It is important! Personally, I want another 100,500 pieces! :)

Rotary table

Oh, this is a super thing, and I am very sorry that I still don’t have it! If you plan to make cakes often, buy without hesitation! It will make the process of leveling the cake very easy for you. For mousse, by the way, such a table is not needed, there are other features there.

Spatulas, spatulas, scrapers, spatulas...

That's how many names there are for cake levelers! They come in plastic and metal. I have a large plastic scraper (a spatula? These things are called differently everywhere!), I showed it in a post about it, it’s very convenient! A large metal spatula is good for transferring the cake to the base. Using smaller spatulas, apply cream to the cake before leveling, make drips, remove excess glaze... There are also palette knives and their purpose is exactly the same as palette knives for artists (in fact, these are the same tool!) - applying strokes of cream, randomly or in order to create a drawing.

Pastry bags

To decorate cakes and pastries with cream, as well as to create a neat cream layer between the layers, you will need pastry bags. They come in polyethylene, silicone, fabric... I tried different ones and at the moment I decided that polyethylene is more convenient for me. They are disposable and inexpensive, but if really necessary, they can be washed and dried well to be reused. This is what they did with bags in Soviet times, who remembers. Just the thing for the health of the environment! Silicone ones are excellent, dense, easy to wash and dry, practically eternal, but expensive, but you can’t get by with just one bag if you need to work with cream of different colors and recipes, with different attachments, etc. And by cutting off the tip to fit one attachment, for This bag won't fit any other way. I'm afraid of fabric bags: I read somewhere that bacteria can develop in them due to microscopic residues of the cream! So this option is taboo for me. Choose yours! Size is very important: for icing or chocolate inscriptions, a small bag of 20-25 cm is suitable, for cream you need 35 or more.

Pastry attachments

Here we also need to talk about the attachments. It is generally very difficult for a beginner to choose them, especially on the Internet. They all look mysterious, you can’t guess what will happen with their use, the size also doesn’t say much, pictures on the Internet clarify the picture a little, but not in all cases. I think we should make a separate post about attachments! But I will say that to begin with, you can’t go wrong if you buy an “Open Star” 1M Wilton (or a similar one from another company), a round tube with an outlet diameter of about 1 cm and a small tube with which you can write or draw on gingerbread cookies (2-3 mm ). It is convenient to have several pieces of one type of attachment: you may need cream or icing of different colors at the same time. In the photo there are “Closed Star” nozzles of different sizes (also good, you can use them to make borders, pipe meringues, decorate cupcakes) and just tubes.

Border tape

Cool thing - border tape! This is a thick transparent film, sold in rolls. I bought it when I started learning how to make mousse cakes, but it is also suitable for traditional ones. It is used to line the walls of the mold in which the cake is assembled. Then, when the cake is in the refrigerator, it is very convenient to remove it from the mold. Take off the tape and the sides are perfectly straight!

It’s not that this is a must-have for a beginner, you can adapt and use thick polyethylene or stationery folders, but tape is quick, convenient, smooth and doesn’t give you a headache, what can you replace it with? True, its height is small; for tall cakes you can use improvised means or...

... acetate film

Professionals call it guitar, which to me is very mysterious. And they usually use it to work with chocolate. I also try from time to time (so, I need emoticons again :)), but since the chocolate goes so-so for me, and the film gets boring, I found another use for it: I increase the height of the sides of the ring when I assemble tall sponge cakes, and, Having cut out circles of a suitable diameter from it, I put them under the ring when assembling the mousse cakes. It gives a perfectly smooth surface! Also, probably, not exactly information for a beginner, but so be it! This is what sheets of acetate film look like (in stores it can also be found under the name “PVC film”).

Other forms

Surely you will bake not only cakes. You may find some basket molds useful...

...for muffins, cupcakes, ice (you can make jelly in them), with numbers and letters and much more!

For example, cutting out for cookies and gingerbread! By the way, they also decorate cakes today. You can also use them to cut out shapes from chocolate and then use them as decoration for your desserts.

Scales and thermometers

This is a super must have and, probably, they should have been named among the first! It is very important! Do not buy mechanical scales, they will in any case give an error and you will not succeed in some types of confectionery products, such capricious ones, for example, as macaron cake. You can’t weigh 3 g of gelatin mechanically, as is sometimes necessary for mousse cakes. Well, etc. Take electronic ones!

It is advisable to have two thermometers - a needle thermometer and one for ovens. The first one will help you quickly and without unnecessary disappointments prepare Italian meringue and cover a cake with mirror glaze, make cream on the yolks without overheating them, and much more. Well, the second one will be very useful to you when baking: built-in thermometers often lie. In my oven, when the built-in thermometer marks 125, in fact it’s still 180. And so it is for many! Due to the wrong temperature, biscuits burn and rise poorly or unevenly; you can completely forget about eclairs and macarons. You can, of course, calculate it empirically, but this is time-consuming, wasteful and harmful to the nerves.

Consumables and various important little things

You will always need baking paper (there is the kind that everything sticks to - don’t skimp!), cling film, foil, scissors, oven mitts, rolling pins, cutting boards, a bunch of bowls, bowls, containers, saucepans, saucepans and ladles! You may need a meat grinder and a coffee grinder (mill). Mortar and pestle. Pizza knife. Kebab skewers, toothpicks and cocktail straws. In short, now go into hardware stores (and not only) with caution, with a minimum of time on hand and money in your wallet :) Otherwise, you risk leaving it all there :)

It is very convenient to use paper towels. On ordinary ones, despite the fact that they are only after washing and ironing, dust particles, microscopic specks, lint and other nonsense remain, which will remain on the dishes and inevitably end up in your baked goods. With paper towels, the risk of this is minimized.

Silicone spatulas

Another super assistant whose role is difficult to overestimate. It is convenient to collect cream, dough, etc. from the walls of the dish, it turns out very economical. It is convenient to connect the components of the biscuit dough with each other. It is convenient to stir the custard so that it does not burn to the bottom and walls of the pan. Overall, great stuff!

Of course, there are also a huge number of special tools for confectioners: for working with mastic, with cream, with chocolate... For mastic, these are rolling pins, texture mats, stacks, molds, weiners, devices for making flowers, plungers and recesses, etc., for cream - nozzles, nails, scissors, etc., for mousse cakes - a variety of beautiful and unusual silicone molds and spray guns. Well, etc. Experienced confectioners also use airbrushes, burners and a whole bunch of different tools. This is such an extraordinarily exciting business, there is always room to grow!

Happy shopping!

9 tips for beginner pastry chefs

Communication with young pastry chefs is part of my job. I was in the kitchen with many guys who were just starting their journey, I taught the same guys at master classes, and what’s more, I was once like that myself. So, during all this time, I noticed that each of them naturally wants to learn, but sometimes misses some points. We study all our lives, so this is not a huge problem if you have just started working in this field.

Purchase all the necessary basic equipment of good quality.
Handicraft options (for example, a bag with a hole instead of a pastry bag, as can sometimes be found among advice to confectioners) will not contribute to your productivity and high quality of work. And you must agree, it’s nice to work with beautiful tools.

Watch the proportions.
Among many novice confectioners or amateurs, I noticed one very common mistake - they do not follow the proportions. In the initial stages, this is extremely important, because you need to get the hang of it and begin to “feel” your work, dough and cream.

Do not use ingredients in decoration that are not included in the dessert itself.
This is the golden rule of a pastry chef. Hack yourself on your nose. Under no circumstances do you impregnate the cakes with cherry and then decorate the cake with strawberries. Never.

Hone your skills, don’t be afraid to experiment and make mistakes.
You know, there is a legend that the Kiev cake was the result of a mistake by the confectioners at the factory named after. Karl Marx, and now there is no Ukrainian who would not try this, one might already say, sweet Kiev souvenir. You are just starting your journey and it’s great that you make mistakes. You learn from them, which means you gain experience.

Constantly study, read, attend master classes.
This point is derived from the previous one. Of course, it’s cool when you use proven resources on the Internet, but I know from myself that there is nothing better than seeing everything from a mentor and learning under his supervision. It’s the same with books, look for your author, your pastry chef, who is not only pleasant to read, but also incredibly useful.

Be creative.
By doing original work and developing your own style, you have a greater chance of getting noticed. Having entered “custom cakes” into the search bar and studied a couple of pages, you understand that most often cakes do not have their own “trick”. Yes, they are beautiful, yes, they are spectacular, but there are hundreds of such cakes on the Internet. It doesn’t matter whether you have just started getting into the confectionery business or have already reached the point where you are developing desserts, find your style, create your own “quality standard” and then people will be drawn to you. I repeat, love your clients, understand them.

If anyone has any other suggestions to add to the list, it would be interesting to hear.

Best regards, Dmitry Dudarenko

Many novice confectioners and experienced self-taught people ask themselves, looking at the incredible confectionery masterpieces of masters, how to learn the same way, even if they admit that it is in principle possible to repeat this?

As soon as you decide to take the first steps, you begin to be overcome by many doubts and questions... How not to get lost in hundreds of common recipes on the Internet and even in terminology? What equipment is needed and which is better? Is it possible to study on your own or do you have to attend courses? And how then to choose a school or master? Study offline, perhaps even while leaving for another city, or choose online learning?

Actually, what do we have as a result? Lots of fears, misunderstandings and complete disorientation! So let's figure out where it all begins!

And it all starts with your desire! And in many ways it is only on this that it then holds on! After all, it is this desire to become better, to repeat or even surpass what you see - it drives your development! The desire to create beautiful things and receive rewards for it - yes, yes, there is always a place for vanity - be it praise or its monetary equivalent.

We will gradually deal with the fears of the beginning and, of course, inspire and support you! After all, it is possible to learn the art of confectionery, even if you haven’t had a whisk in your hand since birth!

So today we’ll look at a few fears of beginners and tell you how things really are:

Equipment and inventory - what to buy?
The confectionery world is multifaceted, but, of course, you can’t grab onto everything at once, you need to little by little try your hand in different directions to decide - what will work with in the future bring you maximum pleasure? Therefore, you shouldn’t immediately sweep all the options for pastry bag attachments off the shelves or spend money on incredible silicone molds; it’s likely that they will remain collecting dust on the kitchen shelves, and you’ll be immersed in working with chocolate and so much of it!
But, of course, you need to immediately purchase the most necessary inventory and equipment - this will save you nerves and food. These are, for example, several rings, a good mixer, sorting out your oven, a silicone mat and spatula, a thermometer and scales - after all, temperature conditions and accuracy are very important in the art of confectionery!
And in any case, this basic equipment will always be useful on the farm!

Are you afraid of spoiling your food?
There's nothing you can do about it - you still have to practice and there will be mistakes! This is fine! Yes, the cake can float - so make cake pops out of it! But what an experience and there will be a lot to learn from mistakes!
Training will certainly help reduce this expense item, especially since high-quality education will significantly expand your capabilities by the fact that you can easily distinguish good recipes from illiterate ones!

Cremus, pan de jenne, namelaka - how not to lose face?
Don't be afraid of terminology! There are really a lot of terms in the confectionery world, but their understanding will come to you gradually in any case! There are also a lot of rules here, because this art loves precision, and following them will bring more results than flaunting terms!
Remember that no one will eat you if your compote in the cake layer is perfect, even if you confuse it with cremeux!

And finally, don’t forget that becoming a professional with us is easy!

The winner of confectionery competitions, Victoria Varivonchik, shared secrets that will help turn a delicious hobby into a lifelong endeavor.

Rule No. 1. Don't be afraid of mistakes.

If you don’t yet know how to cook even a simple charlotte (if anything, it’s a sponge cake made from apples), this is not a reason to give up. And the masters threw their first “masterpieces” into the trash.

For example, the winner of the Grand Prix (the most important prize) of the CandyBattle-2017 competition, Victoria Varivonchik from Minsk, admitted that food spoilage is a common thing for a beginner.

“The first batch of mastic for the cake, which I prepared, not yet knowing all the secrets, went into the trash, and the second into the wall,” she says.

By the way, Victoria is an economist by training, but she learned everything she knows in the confectionery business on her own.

Pastry chef's dictionary

Mastic is a plastic material for decorating cakes and making jewelry. The mastic is based on powdered sugar; marzipan (almonds crushed into flour with sugar syrup), gelatin, starch, egg white and even marshmallows are also added to it.

CandyBattle- a republican tournament of confectionery skills, which was held in Minsk for the first time in March of this year. Confectioners from restaurants, bakeries, bakeries, vocational colleges, as well as amateurs took part in it.

Rule No. 2. Repeat like a pro

Now there are a lot of video and photo recipes for various dishes on the Internet. There are also forums where confectioners communicate. As well as all kinds of courses.

Victoria points out that you need to be careful when searching for correct information. You should be especially careful when choosing pastry courses, which are still worth attending if you are seriously interested in sweet crafts.

“Many people are attracted by the very low cost, which is rarely combined with a good level of training. It’s also alarming when courses promise to teach everything in a very short period of time - one or two days,” explains Victoria.

You can start with videos on YouTube. And if you want to master a complex technique, for example, sugar floristry (creating flowers from mastic), then it is better to sign up for a master class.

This bouquet is not real! Petals and leaves are made of sugar mastic and then painted with special dyes

Rule No. 3. Don’t buy an expensive instrument right from the start.

A professional pastry chef cannot do without special tools, good kitchen appliances, and high-quality baking dishes. However, for a newbie, diving into the dolce vita doesn't have to be expensive. It’s best to make your first attempts with a regular mixer and several molds from the nearest kitchen utensils store.

Those who are fascinated by the confectionery topic seriously and for a long time, of course, will need professional equipment, for example, a powerful food processor with a large mixing bowl and a blender. As well as high-quality baking dishes and various small tools, such as pastry bags with different attachments and molds for cutting out complex shapes.

“I shop for work at a hardware store very often. There I bought a spray gun for applying velor coating to cakes and several spatulas for leveling the cream. Of course, such things can be found in confectionery stores, but there they will be many times more expensive, and not always of the required size and required strength,” Victoria reveals the secrets of saving.

Rule No. 4. Try new things without forgetting the old ones

There are fashionable trends in the confectionery business, and there are classic desserts that will forever remain on the menu. For example, French coffee shops have been offering visitors croissants and brioche - local pastries - for several decades. And Italian cafes will never refuse the world famous tiramisu - a dessert made from sponge cake with cream cheese.

“Handmade marshmallows are very popular now. They have supplanted macaroons, which sweet tooths enjoyed just a year ago. Another trend is mousse cakes,” says Victoria about the currently fashionable delicacies.

A good pastry chef has an excellent command of basic recipes - he knows how to make a delicious sponge cake and knead the choux pastry. And at the same time keeps an eye on new products. Why not make a dessert from products without animal fats - tofu cheese, soy milk or marshmallows, airy meringue without egg whites? Victoria thinks it’s exciting because they “behave completely differently” in recipes, adding new notes to the taste.

Marshmallows handmade by Victoria

Rule #5: Dream big

The “Ghost Rider” competition cake, which brought Victoria the main prize of CandyBattle-2017, took almost four days to create. To construct the figure on the motorcycle, more than 30 kg of four types of mastic were required.

I started making “The Racer” a few days before the competition, although I had the idea a year before. Since the idea was grandiose, and I had little time, I had to sacrifice sleep - I slept for 2-3 hours,” says Victoria.

And the result was worth it - in 2018, the Minsk resident will represent Belarus at the Culinary Arts World Cup in Luxembourg.

Victoria Varivonchik CandyBattle

Now Victoria is a successful pastry chef, a winner of numerous competitions, and in her first competition in 2014, she was afraid to participate. Of course, I would have to show my works to strict judges and other, more experienced competitors! However, the pastry chef is convinced that participation in championships is very useful: it helps you see your mistakes, encourages you to become even better, and, if you really tried, it promises well-deserved rewards.

Try yourself in confectionery right now! according to Victoria's recipe. It can be used as a base for a cake with any cream.

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