Delicious Patisserie Requires Professional Care
Dainty miniatures and fancy chocolate buns are what dreams are made of, but in the time-restricted environment of a competition, such as the BBC’s new Crème de la Crème series, pastry chefs from some of the most prestigious hotels and restaurants in the UK find it extremely difficult to produce beautiful, identical desserts without relying on specialist equipment and baking moulds. The new series challenges the finest and most talented patisserie chefs to produce some incredible miniature desserts within a short time limit and construct a gravity defying show-stopper to win and move forward to the semi-finals and one step closer to being crowned the ‘Crème de la crème’ of the patisserie world.
Sculpting and shaping some of the most difficult and challenging desserts requires the patience of a saint and an eye for detail like no other. Miniatures such as the traditional Saint Marc, means careful preparation to assemble the wafer thin layers of each section, whilst ensuring the layers bake well and create a beautiful layering effect when cut into. This level of technical ability can take years to master, shadowing some of the world’s leading pastry chefs, but it also means investing in some pretty clever equipment, that can aid the construction and speed up baking time. Time is money and in the food manufacturing industry, it is no different.
In episode two of Crème de la Creme, the professionals from The Savoy hotel in London opted to use a new silicon full rounded mould in order to give them an edge over the competition and to make their batch of sphere shaped Petit Gateaus. Unfortunately, they had not previously tested out this new mould and to their shock, they were unable to set their desserts within the restricted time limit and so suffered the consequences and were given very low marks from the patisserie judges. (1)
Chefs have been known to create their own techniques to mastering tiny but incredibly detailed desserts, especially when they are required to bake impossible shapes such as Petit Gateau cylinders which must not show any joinery what-so-ever. These particular desserts often require moulds that are thin, easy to use but most importantly can be baked, frozen and cleaned without damaging the pastry or chocolate that it has been filled or spread over with. (2)
A basic cake mix can be made into a Victoria Sponge, a batch of cupcakes or even chocolate chip muffins with a couple of extra ingredients and the right cake tin. Muffins are renown for being quite an easy recipe to follow and more or less a fail proof baking process, but ensuring that you have a suitable muffin tray can be the difference between a fluffy and well-baked muffin or a sunken chocolate chip mess.
Product Release recently came to the aid of a food manufacturing customer, to help them design and create a new muffin tray that is more durable and resistant to damage than the one they were previously using. The client had a specific cup design where each cup was locked into the main body of the tray, instead of being spot welded. This unique design means that it is less prone to damage and will be more cost effective as it will last a long time before it needs to be repaired or replaced.
The experts at Product Release also coated the trays in a highly non-stick application in order to prevent any food substances from sticking to the tray and either damaging the batch of muffins or eroding the baking tray itself.
A fairly new take on the traditional muffin is the breakfast muffin, which is often enjoyed with a poached egg and a good helping of Hollandaise sauce. Often baked with savoury flavours, this naughty treat has been adapted by the health industry to be a superfood alternative to toast in the morning. From carrot and rosemary to pecan nut and blueberry this new muffin is said to keep you fuelled and energises until lunchtime. (3)
Product Release has also recently helped a client clean and recoat their English breakfast muffin tray, that is used in the mass production of this delicious breakfast favourite. Due to the nature of baking trays, they are prone to becoming damaged, having been to contact with sticky dough and high temperatures during baking. This can mean that the trays become eroded after time and need to be professionally cleaned and recoated with a durable non-stick coating. In this particular case, Product Release recoated the English Breakfast Muffin Trays with PR27OW in olive.
From rich and delicate chocolate miniatures to fibre rich breakfast muffins, chefs and food manufactures rely heavily on the use of high-quality baking equipment to help them produce delicious baked goods that are identical in shape and size, baked to perfection and on a massive scale. Without such specialist and durable equipment, it would be difficult to meet the demand. It would take time, money and extreme skill to be able to match up to the perfect desserts that bakery equipment helps us to produce.
If you are in need of the expert services from Product Release, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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