Bread & Patisserie

Nearly a year ago, I filled out all the 'official' forms and was given the title 'Baker's Apprentice'. It's a three year course, which pretty much means, I learn while I work, and I have homework at the end of the day. Or when ever I actually choose to do my homework.

With working in just a little bakery at the moment, I've learnt a great range of things from making and baking bread and pastries, to playing with decorating the odd cake now and then.

As a requirement of passing my first, second and third year of my apprenticeship I have to partake, and pass, a ten day block course. One for each year.For the last two weeks, I experienced my first year block course down in Palmerston North (near the bottom of the North Island). For one whole week, we focused on making and baking about 18 different varieties of bread and during the second week we made and produced about 10 different types of pastries.

There was a fair amount of paper work that we had to do while there, but we managed to deal with that well enough. But other than that, the whole ten days was constant baking. As we all came from different bakery styles, each of us had had different experiences and were skilled more in the field we worked regularly in, naturally. Some from supermarket bakeries, to big factory bakeries. So it was great to learn how to make things, we may never get the chance to make - at least for a while.

The whole two weeks was awesome,. To be able to learn how to make things you never really get to make in a day to day family kitchen, is something special.

Many people say that working with food is an art, many people also say that it's not art, it's just food. Well, to me, baking is my art. For me, there is so much more than putting together a few ingredients and making something. It takes care. Care for the product you're working with, because without the proper care, you'll ruin what ever is in front of you. Putting it all together, isn't just a slap happy job, it's time consuming - at least it is when you're first learning it all. I'm not so sure on how to convey how baking is art. But nevertheless, it's art to me. What I produce, is my art. There is nothing that brings us all together like food, well produced food brings another element to that bringing together. I love being apart of those that can give well produced food - although I'm the first to admit, with this area, I'm very much a beginner.

Vienna Loaf, White Cobb (round one), Baguette (french sticks)

Pane di Casa (left), Ciabatta (front), Naan (back), Fancy White Dough Plait

Stollen (very left), Salzburger Roggen Brot (back left), Black Brot (back right), White Dough Dinner Rolls (centre), Irish Soda Bread (front right) - Lots of German Bread

Sour Dough Bread (far left, far back, far right), Grain Bread (in between two sour doughs on left and centre), Brioche (up front)

Palmier (on the left), Vol-e-vont - sweet ones - (on the right) both made with French Style Puff Pastry (who knew that the French, English and Scottish all had their own methods of Puff Pastry)

Cornish Pasties (on the left), Nutty Tart (on right) - We had to make a sweet pastry, to make use of the pastry we could fill it with what ever product we wanted. Some made Banoffee Pie, Lemon Meringue, I found this nutty mixture, added a bit of my own to it, and got these. Also made a Mississippi Mud Cake but pictures didn't turn out to good.

Pork Pies (left) made with a Boiled Pastry, apparently quite an English traditional pie - according to one of my work mates who incidentally is English and started getting excited when I told her I had made them. Croissant and Linzer Torte (right) - the Torte (Tart) I was told, was a Dutch tart, but going google it sounds like its Austrian, Hungarian.

These pictures are a majority of the products we made, but there's still a fair bit more, just thought I'd share the bits I could.

xx