BAKING AND PASTRY TECHNIQUES

April 29, 2013

The topic for this week's class is Pies, Tarts and Cakes.  We discussed the three types of pie and tart crusts: Pie Dough (Pate Brisee - flaky and mealy), Sweet Dough (Pate Sucree), Crumb Crust.  We also discussed the four basic classifications for pie and tart fillings: soft or custard, cream, chiffon and fruit.



After discussing pies, we moved on to cakes.  We discussed the  functions of the ingredients and mixing methods.  There are two basic categories of cake formulas which all mixing methods are based, high fat, which are standard cakes and egg foam, which are sponge and angel food cakes.  There are three methods for mixing high fat cakes known as the creaming method, the two-stage method and the one-stage method.  There are two  additional methods for mixing egg foam cakes, sponge method and angel food method.  I never knew there were so many ways to mix a cake.