"baked Fresh Daily?"

Business By kelsiedelizzle Updated 7 Sep 2010 , 1:58am by costumeczar

rcsen Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
rcsen Posted 30 Aug 2010 , 6:31am
post #31 of 34

I've had the chance to work a little bit at an artisan style baked fresh everyday bakery, a few hotels(where almost everything was scratch, but frozen), a casual fine dining restaurant(everything was made the week of) and a frozen beforehand cake bakery. They all sell very different products, and are serving very different desires of the customer.

I personally think it depends on what you are selling and what you are targeting. Many times, the choices in our business are a reflection of our own personal brand - it's not that one way is right or wrong, but more so what we may want to represent at that time in our life.

Cake-specifically, I find it too crumbly to carve & decorate a cake without letting it cool completely to let the starches set. I also think it's a bit of a risk to work on a cake where the fillings are slippery, resulting in layers that may slide when carved. I think the key is to have a versatile cake recipes and fillings that can taste great at many temperatures.

However, I do love small items such as breads, biscuits, croissants, muffins, donuts and cupcakes if they are baked that morning. These items really do taste great the day of. But if I eat a baked good too soon, like within the first 15 minutes out of the oven, it tastes "starchy" to me - lol I am too rushed to taste sometimes!.

To me, there are different levels of freshness/staleness: a cake that has been baked that day, a cake that has been baked that week and frozen, a cake that has been in the fridge, to a cake that has been frozen or in the fridge for a long period of time. What type of cakes/pastries that you are selling?

My understanding is that staleness, or starch retrogradation, does not occur as quickly at freezer temperatures or at room temperatures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrogradation_%28starch%29.

I think it's like comparing a loaf of bread that had been at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer. The one sitting out tastes great the day of and maybe the day after, while the one in the fridge tastes stale within a day or two. The one in the freezer, if taken out and brought to room temperature, tastes like fresh.

At the end of the day, to me it's about educating the customer about what you sell and having it be aligned and focused to their wants, whatever it may be. Some people may be looking for an extremely stable cake that they can save in the fridge and eat for a week... others might be looking for a fresh cupcake, to be only enjoyed at that moment.

Vanaya - I can't say exactly what "artisan" means either on some days. The term can be used rather broadly, IMO, and has been popping up everywhere around here. Generally speaking, around here it refers to hand-crafted European style. Some breads at the grocery stores are referred to "Artisan" style, however they are frozen beforehand but may have the flavours or retain some old school artisan techniques. When I think of an "artisan" style cake, I would imagine something like a cheesecake or Linzertorte.

Baker_Rose Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Baker_Rose Posted 3 Sep 2010 , 2:12pm
post #32 of 34

Wow. I do late night baking at a grocery store bakery and everything is straight from the freezer to the oven or even it's straight to the sale tables(comes packaged and everything). One gentleman stops around 2 am for any fresh donuts that are ready then and asked about the muffins I just removed from the oven.

Now it's a rack of 20 or so different kinds of muffins. I can't tell one from the other. One time I was supposed to put them on the self-serve wall and I couldn't tell them apart, so I never did it again. The mgr told me to sniff them (eeewwww) and I was amazed that each one, even the chocolate ones, smelled the same. The all smelled like chemicals to me.

So, this gentleman asked for a banana muffin fresh from the oven and I told him to come around with the rack and help me figure out which one was which. He was shocked I didn't know. "Don't you mix the batter?" I wanted to laugh, but I told him no, it is industry standard that all grocery store bakeries pull from the freezer. The muffins come in frozen batter in the baking papers. The person who sets up at night puts them in the tins and everything is in the fridge when I come in. All I do is set the timer and bake.

You would not believe his shock. I am always amazed when people are shocked that the stuff is frozen. I did a day cake shift weeks ago and a woman asked when the cakes were BAKED. My work table was filled with the FROZEN cake boxes and cardboard because I was setting up the orders to THAW before I could decorate.

Now I come from a scratch baking background so yes, I can tell the difference. There is one thing in the bakery I work at that I will actually buy. The par-baked baguette bread. That is it. Everything else tastes like a chemical factory to me. But, to each his own. I think that is why everyone always goes ga-ga over my cookies. They are real, using real butter and quality ingredients and if you set them side by side with factory made EVERYONE can tell the difference. I just think, more a more that price and convenience is winning the war. BUT there are people out there who care, and those people are our customers. I could never keep up at home with all the cakes that the bakery sells. My customers come for my special touch when they want something special, not mass produced. I agree with the other person who said there is room for everyone.

khoudek Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
khoudek Posted 6 Sep 2010 , 11:08pm
post #33 of 34

Below is the definition of Artisan per the dictionary.reference.com website

Artisannoun
a person skilled in an applied art; a craftsperson.

As to artisan cakes then I would assume they are cakes made by a person skilled in making cakes, where cakes are assumes to be an art medium.

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 7 Sep 2010 , 1:58am
post #34 of 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyKakes4Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetonyouzz

. I worked in bakeries for over 35 years and the majority of our stuff was baked every morning as well. Try decorating a wedding cake that was baked that morning.



Of course our wedding cakes weren't baked that morning, how silly.
And to address rude and snobby? I'm just tired of seeing people who handcraft their offerings and not take shortcuts poo-pooed by some here. If you don't make everything yourself, that's ok, but it's almost a laughable notion to some that people do it any other way. It's saddening. I'm not starting a debate, it's just an observation. No, not all restaurants have the # to Sysco and GFS on speed dial.




Yep!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%