What Do Pastry Bakers Do?

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When Job Title Makes a Difference

If you’re kneading dough, frosting cakes or rolling out a piecrust, obviously you must be a baker. These are the standard functions associated with a pastry baker and it makes a comfortable definition. However, there is a difference in a pastry chef and a pastry baker. The chef has an administrative role. The pastry chef is the boss of the kitchen and the pastry baker works under his or her supervision. Pastry chefs do produce baked goods, but their production is smaller than that of the baker and more specialized. Their goods are produced on a per-order basis. The baker works with large volume orders that are prepared for restaurant, bakery or grocer distribution.

Your Morning Donut

Some bakers work specifically in the production of bread and pastries. Your early morning donut, bear-claw or éclair is the result of a pastry baker who began preparations long before your alarm clock went off; often, as early as two or three o’clock in the morning. The baker’s job begins with hauling heavy bags of flour and sugar, measuring ingredients, operating mixers, blenders and other machinery, folding and shaping dough and tending to ovens. Some bakers work in a commercialized setting, doing only one task, while machinery mixes, shapes and cuts dough into bakery items.

Other Specialized Skills

Some pastry bakers devote their skills to baking and decorating cakes. They produce giant cakes for weddings and banquets, offer pre-decorated cakes in bakeries or the bakery section of grocery stores, or serve cakes at birthday parties, conventions and events.

Pastry bakers may also specialize in making candies and chocolates. Their culinary secrets involve learning the exact temperature to cook their candied items, blending the sugar to the right consistency and making fruit jell fillings. They may consult with the chef on selecting the ideal cocoa beans, the ingredients needed to make a new product, or order new ingredients as needed.

Pastry Bakers in Restaurants

Many restaurants, from commercial to high-end, have a station in the kitchen devoted entirely to the production of classic and gourmet desserts. The crew is similar to the cooking crew, with pastry bakers involved with specific tasks that will produce the pies, cakes, soufflés and other dessert items featured on the menu.

The pastry baker is expected to learn all of the functions of a baking station, just as a line cook begins with preparatory skills then learns how to grill, sauté and stir fry delicious dishes. The pastry baker must know how to follow recipes and is encouraged to research and experiment with recipes of his or her own. The pastry baker helps ensure the station is kept clean and all the rules for sanitation and hygiene are being followed.

It takes a great deal of practice to become a good pastry baker. You cannot recuperate from a mistake made while beating the eggs to the right stiffness, over-stirring your candy confection, or with bread dough that will not rise. The product is ruined and you’ll have to start over, but it shouldn’t discourage you. Pastry baking is one of the most difficult of the culinary arts, but in many ways, one of the most rewarding. Take away the bread products and fabulous desserts and the world of cooking suddenly becomes blander.