Bakery and Confectionery
Bakery and Confectionery tests ingredient functions, dough and batter methods, fermentation, lamination, cake faults and bakery hygiene. Expect formula calculations and fault diagnosis.
Ingredient functions
- Flour provides gluten proteins; water hydrates them; kneading develops gluten. Salt strengthens gluten and controls yeast; sugar tenderises and feeds yeast; fat shortens gluten and adds richness.
- Yeast fermentation produces carbon dioxide and alcohol; dough temperature is ideally about 25–28°C. Overproofing exhausts sugar and collapses structure.
- Creaming aerates fat and sugar; foam method uses whipped egg; rubbing coats flour with fat for short pastry; lamination folds fat layers into dough for flakiness.
Worked example
Baker's percentage: flour = 100%, water = 65%, yeast = 2%, salt = 2%. For 10 kg flour: water 6.5 kg, yeast 0.2 kg, salt 0.2 kg. Total dough = 16.9 kg. At 400 g per loaf, loaves = 16,900÷400 = 42.25, so 42 full loaves with trim. Reasoning: percentages are based on total flour weight, not total dough weight; divide total dough by unit weight.
Traps
- Measuring flour by volume and assuming a fixed cup weight.
- Putting salt directly onto yeast in a concentrated spot.
- Opening the oven early and causing bread to collapse.
- Confusing baking soda, which needs acid, with baking powder, which includes acid and starch.
- Overmixing muffin batter, producing tunnels and toughness.