Pastry consists of the preparation of various kinds of sweet foods.
The term pastry shop refers to the establishment where different types of sweet foods are produced or sold, such as cakes , cakes , pies , invoices and others.
For example: «Please go to the bakery and buy a strawberry cake before Grandma Mirta arrives» , «Entering this bakery is a temptation! Everything it offers seems delicious to me," "The first thing I learned when I started working in my father's bakery was how to decorate cakes."
Famous pastry products
There are many types of cakes that are made in bakeries and by professionals. However, there are some that have become essential in all these establishments. This would be the case, for example, of the following:
-Apple pie, which has Anglo-Saxon origin and has the appearance of a baked pie.
-Cupcakes, which are now experiencing a real boom around the world. They are small in size and are made using ingredients such as flour, sugar, egg or butter.
-Croissant. It is also known by the name of crab or cuernito and has Austrian origin. It is made in puff pastry and uses both butter and yeast.
Preparations for special dates
It must be taken into account that in the pastry shops in different cities it is common that on certain dates they offer their customers the possibility of tasting products that are very typical. Thus, for example, in Spain, proposals as tasty as these are put on sale:
- Torrija , which is typical of Holy Week. It consists of a slice of bread, soaked in milk and fried in oil, after being coated in egg.
- Roscón de reyes . At Christmas, specifically on the eve of Three Kings' Day, people choose to buy this sweet in pastry shops, which is a round-shaped bun decorated with pieces of candied fruit. It is usually filled with cream, cream or chocolate. It has the peculiarity that inside it keeps figurines of different kinds.
- Bacon from heaven . This sweet, typical of Cádiz, is more than 500 years old and is made with egg yolk and sugar.
Cakes or cakes are among the most popular pastry products.
Other uses of the term pastry
The notion of pastry, however, is not only used to name the place where desserts and sweets are made and/or sold, but it is also used to name the group formed by this type of food and the knowledge and techniques linked to it. to its preparation.
"My granddaughter wants to study pastry," "I'm going to learn pastry to start a business," "The best thing about this restaurant is its pastry" and "Greek pastry stands out for its abundant use of honey" are examples of these uses of the notion.
Most used ingredients
Among the most used ingredients in pastry, there are chocolate , vanilla , cream , sugar , yeast , flour , lard or butter and eggs . The use of fruits , nuts and meringue is also frequent.
Unlike other culinary specialties, pastry pays great attention to the decoration and presentation of its preparations. The same cake can turn out very different depending on the decorative skills of the baker.
It should be noted that there are establishments known by other names that also sell cakes and sweets, such as bakeries and sweet shops .
Expert word
Argentine Silvina Riveros trained as a pastry chef at the Gato Dumas Institute . Graduated in Business Administration, she worked for many years in the administrative area of different companies. With the pandemic, and based on the popularity she achieved by sharing her recipes on social networks (where she can be found as @silnari ), she transformed her hobby into her main activity and her livelihood.
Today its products can be found in different cafes in the City of Buenos Aires and it has a store in Asunción ( Paraguay ). She also offers her creations through an online store and teaches pastry courses and workshops.
We talked with Silvina about her work and artisanal pastries:
– What should be taken into account when starting out in the art of artisanal pastry?
I started, not improvised in terms of knowledge because I studied pastry at the Gato Dumas Institute, but I did start to be a pastry chef as if by chance, I didn't plan it too much. Yes, I like it, and I think it is important, to study and perfect myself a lot in the recipes, in the decorations, in the presentation of the dishes... In my case, the growth occurred by uploading one and another recipe to social networks. I think the key, if one wants to dedicate oneself fully to artisanal pastry, is to perfect oneself all the time because trends change a lot. Before, for example, they were taught to make other types of desserts. Today pastry has changed and is more globalized, so many French pastry recipes that were previously only available in books are now available to everyone. That's why I think the main thing is to perfect yourself, study techniques and recipes. Furthermore, it seems to me that, when you are an entrepreneur, your publications should be one hundred percent directed to your project. In my case, pastry: share recipes, comment on pastry techniques, what knowledge I can transmit about gastronomy and leave aside any type of controversy that generates fights or distortion of your main work. In short, I believe that it is essential to have solid and strong knowledge, to continuously improve, invest in molds, ovens and supplies and give very, very importance to everything that is e-commerce and social networks.
Silvina Riveros (Silnari)
– What are, according to your experience, the main limitations that those who dedicate themselves to pastries face today? Suggestions to try to overcome those barriers?
I know that it is not an easy path for everyone to undertake, to dedicate yourself or to transform your life so profoundly. I worked 30 years before in another profession and changed my life at 40 years old. I have a degree in Business Administration and I studied pastry making as a hobby. In times of pandemic, that hobby, thanks to the reach of social networks, ended up becoming my main activity and my general source of income. If you know how to surf the wave of hate, social networks are wonderful. It is not easy, but it seems to me that using all the tools that technology gives us today is essential: social networks, e-commerce, contact with other entrepreneurs also to nourish oneself with the knowledge of others... It seems to me that currently it is not Just making a good cake is enough. There are thousands of bakers who make, perhaps, much better cakes than the ones I make, but they cannot grow precisely because they leave aside all this about electronic commerce, the way of communicating and the appropriate use of social networks.
Silvina Riveros (Silnari)
– What resources, strategies or tools do you use to evolve as a pastry chef?
Beyond always studying and perfecting new pastry recipes and techniques, it seems to me that the use of networks and e-commerce is essential. Going more specifically to the kitchen, it is advisable to take advantage of the seasonality of products and the availability of native foods. Spreading recipes that have to do with each gastronomic culture also contributes to growth. I have two branches in the family: an Italian and a Paraguayan. And, of course, mine, which is Argentine. So I try to unite various gastronomic cultures that also open other markets for you. I think it helps not to stay in the comfort of what you know how to do, but to experiment and get on track to reach other places. In my case, for example, this has allowed me to open a store in Paraguay (something totally unusual for me, crazy...) and continue in Argentina with my cafes, my online store and my classes. In order to grow in what one sets out to do, I think the secret is to use ingenuity and make the most of the resources available to you.
Silvina Riveros (Silnari)