Introduction to Desserts for Baking and Pastry Arts Students
As a baking and pastry arts student, you'll be exposed to a wealth of recipes and types of food that hail from around the world. Your studies will include such things like necessary food handling regulations, fun tips like best egg poaching techniques, and hard skills like how to efficiently operate any kitchen. But perhaps one of the most exciting, tastiest, and intricate areas you'll learn is the field of desserts.
Whether you choose to specialize as a pastry chef or simply want to serve up the best crème brûlée, you will find this cooking subfield to be interesting, challenging, creative, and complex. But before you get started, it's best to get to know a little more about desserts; where they come from and the lure of the sweetness. Consider the following your introduction to desserts:
Sugar and the Birth of Modern Desserts
Many ancient civilizations fulfilled their want for sweetness with special fruit, honey, and nut treats, but it wasn't until the manufacturing of sugar in the Middle Ages that the popularity of sweet things really took off. In 1381 the very first apple pie recipe was published and five centuries later, a complete section for desserts, Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats, was published in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.
Still, sugar remained expensive and desserts a special treat until the rise of the Industrial Revolution and with it the ability to mass-produce, process, preserve, can, and package desserts. This put tasty treats into the hands of everyday people and really ignited the American love of desserts.
Why Desserts Typically Get Served Last
The word "dessert" comes from the Old French word "desservir" which means to "clean the table". Tradition says the name comes from entertaining hosts and servants using sweet finishing dishes to denote the end of a meal and a time for people to leave the table. The rush of sugar offers a quick fix to the typical lethargy that comes following a heavy meal, enticing people to get up and leave clean up to the servants.
A Trusted Recipe and a Good Dessert
There are millions of chocolate chip cookie recipes, each of them having its own fans and detractors. That's because while most everyone enjoys a great dessert like a chocolate chip cookie, there are many different aspects of that cookie that can be enjoyed. Some love their cookie soft and chewy, others look for cookies with minimal chips and a bit of a crunch, and still others prefer them loaded with chocolate and swirls of peanut butter.
As a dessert student and potential pastry chef, you'll learn the importance of testing out various recipes, finding your favorites, and perfecting them where necessary. But in all this, it's important to remember that everyone has their own definition of a good dessert. And maybe you'll just create your own recipe for the best chocolate chip cookie.
Great Equipment is an Important Investment
Quality equipment is key to making quality desserts. Two of the most important tools in any baker and pastry chef's arsenal are a stand mixer and a digital scale. Stand mixers allow you to quickly create your dessert concoctions while a digital scale enables you to quickly, cleanly, and easily measure out your ingredients with 100% accuracy -- a key component of creating great desserts and replicating those results.
Are you eager to get started in pleasing food connoisseurs everywhere by serving up sweet delights? If you are considering a Diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts and want to learn more about dessert making, then consider contacting one of our representatives at ECPI University for more information. ECPI University offers an accelerated, and an education that allows you to quickly apply what you learn in the classroom with what you do in the workplace. Get started today!
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