Bread and Pastry Production

NCII Quarter 4 Module 1:

Preparing and Producing
Pastry Products
 What I Need to
Know
At the end of the of the lesson, you should be able to;
LO. 1 Prepare Pastry Products according to established enterprise standards by:
1.1 Selecting the right ingredients needed
1.2 Measuring ingredients correctly
1.3 Using the right tools and equipment required
1.4 Executing the right method and technique in preparation
1.5 Setting the correct oven temperature for each recipe/recipe
TLE_HEBP9-12PB-IIa-g-4

Lesson Preparing Pastry Products

1

Study These Terms

1. Hydrogenated shortening - fat or lard is processed with hydrogen to

become solid.
2. Manipulate - to work using the hands.
3. Leavener — an agent like air, steam, or the use of leavener (yeast,
baking powder, or baking soda) to introduce air cells in the dough or
batter (to increase their size after baking).
4. Innovative - to introduce something new.
5. Enrich — to enhance or improve the quality; fillings enrich pastries by
improving its palatability, appearance, and nutrient content.
6. Crust — refers to the dough in pies and other pastries characterized
by flakiness and tenderness.
7. Hydration — to combine with water to form a hydrate. Specifically,
this refers to water added to flare to make a dough or batter.
8. Habits — customary way of doing things.
9. Safety guides — govern actions that may cause harm or injury.
10. Health — state of physical and mental well-being.]
11. Controlled manipulation working with a pastry dough
regulated by a prescribed number of strokes.
12. Over hydration — too much liquid absorbed by flour resulting
to a less flaky product.
 13. Flaky — characteristic of a crust consisting of crispy layers
instead of being wet and soggy.
14. Texture — surface appearance of a crust. Ideally, texture
should be a bit rough with tiny blisters to suggest flakiness.

Pies and pastries come in variety of shapes and sizes, with a wide variety of
fillings. Nowadays, these fillings include practically all types of food—nuts,
legumes, vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, poultry, cheese, and dairy products.
With these variations, pie and pastry making offers creative opportunities for
experimentations, which can open business opportunities. It would be an
innovative idea for aspiring entrepreneurs to continuously experiment on
new products that will cater to new markets—-vegetarians, healthy options,
low-calorie products, one-dish meals, quick snacks, and other popular
concepts in modern eating.

Definition of Pastries
Pastries are an assortment of rich flour mixtures consisting of a high
proportion of fat to flour with relatively small amount of liquid and is
enriched with different kinds of fillings.

Ingredients in Pastry Making

1. Ideally, pastry flours, which contain less gluten than all-purpose flour,
should be used. But since this type of flour is not always available in
the market, all-purpose flour can be used provided that manipulation
is controlled.
2. Lard, hydrogenated shortening, and butter (which are fats that
contain moisture) are better used than liquid oil. If oil is used, reduce
the amount. Similarly, the amount of water should also be reduced.
3. Water or liquid milk may be used. Milk improves the flavor and color
of the crust. For commercial products, water is usually used. Any of
these liquids should be cold when used so as to keep to the minimum
the hydrogenation of the flour and also to keep the fat globules well
distributed between the flour particles. In this condition, the
formation of the gluten becomes limited and the moisture is just
enough to make dough cohesive for rolling.
4. Steam is the primary leavener for pie crust and air is the secondary
leavening agent. This is because the moisture in the dough, once
heated, causes expansion. The air bubbles trapped in the dough will
burst when heated, also causing expansion; hence, both steam and
air increase the volume of the crust.
 5. The use of salt in any baked product improves the flavor. However,
use salt in minimal amount only. If margarine or salted butter is used,
salt should be omitted.

Kinds of Pastries

1. Pies - single or double-crust and filled with variations of fillings

ranging from fruits—strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas,
pineapple, mango, peaches, buko (young coconut); meat—ground
pork; shredded beef, strips of chicken, ham, bacon, and cold cuts;
vegetables—mushrooms, bell pepper, potatoes, carrots, cabbage,
sweet peas, celery; spices—like cinnamon, nutmeg; and others like
raisins, nuts, custard, and cheese.
2. Tarts - bite-size pastry shells filled with variety of fillings like yema
(custard) topped with nutty caramel and meringue and comes in boat
or round shapes with fluted edges. Tarts are also called small pies.
3. Turnovers -- layered and flaky crust folded into empanada shape and
filled with a variety of fillings—fruits, jams, chicken, pork, beef, tuna
with cream, and vegetables. Crust of turnovers is similar to the recipe
of croissant, with a tender and flaky texture.
4. Puffs and Popovers— hollowed shells made of choux pastry that are
crisp and brown on the outside with shiny, thin crust but moist and
soggy inside. It usually has a sweet creamy custard filling inside the
shell. Basic ingredients and usual proportion for the shells are 1 cup
flour, 1 cup water, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, and % teaspoon salt.
5. Local Filipino Pastries - include regional delicacies like otap,
barquillos, rosquillos, turrones de kasoy, turrones de mani, roscas,
and all-time favorites like hopia and empanadas or empanaditas.

Classification of Pastry Crusts

The dough used in pastries differ in flakiness and tenderness depending on
the ratio of flour, salt, shortening, and water. For instance, the dough for
hopia is more flaky; that of cream puff and croissant are more tender than
pizza. The dough, oftentimes called crust, can be classified single or double.

Single-crust pies need only one layer that is usually laid at the bottom of
the pan called the lower crust. Custard pie, Chicken a la King pizza, or boat
tarts are some of its examples. In some pies, the crust is found on top called
upper crust. Pastel de lengua and chicken pastel only have upper crust.
However, most pies have a combination of lower and upper crusts. Buko pie,
pineapple pie, and apple pie are some of its examples.
The traditional type of pies are round in shape and baked in pie pans
approximately 9 inches in diameter. Some pies today are larger in size (e.g.
pizzas) or smaller (e.g., chicken pies, meat pies). Other types of pastries like
croissants or cream puffs require additional types of ingredients and special
technique in working out the dough.

An ideal crust should be tender and flaky. These characteristics can be

achieved basically in two ways: (1) by combining the right proportion of flour
to shortening; and (2) by executing the correct technique in mixing.

Since the crust is an integral part of any pastry recipe, it is more important
to develop your skills in crust making. The hallmark of success in pastry
making is the flakiness and tenderness of the crust.

Principles in the Preparation of Pastries

Some principles that need to be kept in mind when preparing pastries are
the following:

1. The dough in pastries do not need a highly developed gluten. Use

pastry flour for this. If pastry flour is not readily available, all-purpose
flour can serve the purpose.
2. Enough gluten development is dependent on controlled manipulation
—the ratio of flour to shortening and the amount of water added.
3. Shortening and butter is preferable than liquid oil. The former
contains moisture that has a better effect on flakiness.
4. Overhandling of the dough leads to a higher gluten development,
making the dough more elastic and sometimes rubbery. When mixing,
use the fingers instead of the heels of the hand to avoid overhandling.
5. The ratio of flour to shortening ranges from 1/2 cup to 1 cup.
6. Make the addition of the liquid (water or milk) on a gradual basis.
Since flours have different absorbing properties, approximate the right
amount of liquid by sprinkling it as you go along until the correct level
of hydration has been achieved.
7. Milk improves the color of the crust and salt improves the flavor. Milk
can be used instead of water. On the other hand, skip salt when
margarine is used.
8. Use light strokes in mixing and rolling. This slows down gluten
development.
9. Cold water or liquid contributes to flakiness. Fat particles are well
formed and preserved. Over hydration is minimized.
 10. Roll out lightly with a rolling pin. Place dough in between sheet
of waxed paper to facilitate rolling and to produce a smooth, well-
flatten crust. Avoid too many rolling motions. Minimize to about 10
motions. This prevents too much gluten development.

The Pastry Method

The pastry method starts by cutting the fat into flour using a pastry
blender or two kitchen knives. The cutting process continues until the fat is
cut into small particles, the size of a corn grain, with each particle being
covered with flour. The resulting mixture resembles that of a coarse
cornmeal. After cutting, the cold water or milk is sprinkled on the mixture,
blending it gently with a tossing motion using a fork.

When the mixture is moistened enough as to make cohesive, it is

transferred on a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or thin
plastic sheets. The dough is first flattened with hands, then with the use of
pastry roller or rolling pin; it is rolled starting from the center to the edges.
Rotate the wax paper as you roll to obtain a uniform thickness throughout,
approximately % to 1/2 cm thick. The number of rolling motions should not
be more than 10 as this will develop the gluten and would melt the fat
resulting in a less tender and less flaky crust.

Characteristics of a Good Pastry

The characteristics of a good pastry are described mainly in terms of its

palatability. The characteristics of flakiness and tenderness are always
emphasized because people tend to judge characteristics the product of a
based good pastry, on these one than should any consider other criteria.
both However, the interior in and judging exterior the parts of the pastry. In
considering these, the following structural components are used as criteria:
size, shape, color, and texture.

A good crust has a shape that is well-formed and even on all sides. The
edges are neat looking and well fluted. The size of the crust is dependent
on the size of the pan. The size of the crust (upper crust) should be about an
inch bigger than the pan. This gives allowance for crimping and edging. In
addition, the filling and the crust should give an impression of fullness.

An attractive and appetizing crust should be golden brown in color with

edges usually a shade darker than the surface. To achieve this color, the
surface is usually brushed with egg wash consisting of egg yolk and a little
water. Sometimes, milk is also used.

The texture of the crust should not be smooth and satiny. A texture that is
a bit rough with some blisters here and there suggest flakiness. The pie will
look more attractive and appetizing.

The inside of a pastry is ideally characterized in terms of flavor, tenderness,

and texture. One can usually cut through pies easily. It does not crumble
nor is it tough that one finds difficulty in cutting it.

Basic Pie Crust Recipe

While there may be variations in the ratio of flour, shortening, and water,
partly because of variations in the quality of flour and their absorbing
property, the basic recipe for a pie crust is the following: Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 tbsp. cold water

½ tsp. salt 1/3 cup shortening

Procedure:

1. Blend flour and shortening in a bowl using a pastry blender. In the

absence of a pastry blender, use two knives and cut in the flour
mixture until it resembles a coarse meal.
2. Sprinkle the cold water on the mixture. Press the mixture together
until it holds and forms a coarse dough.
3. Spread the dough on the floured board. Roll it out flat with a
rolling pin. Start rolling from the center out forming a circle. The
thickness of crust ranges from about 1/2 to 1 cm.
4. Measure and cut the dough by fitting the mouth of the pie pan on
the dough. Cut an inch larger than the pie pan.
5. Roll dough over the rolling pin. Unroll over the pie pan to fit well
into the pan. Another technique would be to roll out the dough on
a thin plastic sheet or wax paper, then lift and transfer into the pie
pan. Remove the plastic or wax paper, then cut the dough with
scissors following the contour of the pan.
6. Prick liberally with a fork before baking. This will make the baking
even and prevent the formation of air bubbles. Bake for 12-15
minutes at 4500F.
 Some pies contain a single crust. This means that no crust is placed
on top or below. An egg pie is an example of this. Should there be a
need for an upper crust, one has to prepare for a double crust. In
which case, the portion of ingredients for a single pie crust should be
doubled.

Activity: Fill in the Blanks.

_____________1. And ____________ 2. come in variety of shapes and sizes, with
a wide variety of fillings. Nowadays, these fillings include practically all types
of food—nuts, legumes, vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, poultry, cheese, and
dairy products. With these variations, pie and pastry making offers
____________3. opportunities for experimentations, which can open business
opportunities. It would be an ___________4. idea for aspiring entrepreneurs to
continuously experiment on new products that will cater to new markets
vegetarians, healthy options, low-calorie products, one-dish meals, quick
snacks, and other popular concepts in _________5. eating.

The ____________6. used in pastries differ in ____________7. And

____________8. depending on the ratio of flour, salt, shortening, and water.
For instance, the dough for hopia is more flaky; that of cream puff and
croissant are more tender than pizza. The dough, oftentimes
called___________9, can be classified single or double.
_________________10. pies need only one layer that is usually laid at the
bottom of the pan called the lower crust

The ________________11. starts by cutting the fat into flour using a pastry
blender or two kitchen knives. The cutting process continues until the fat is
cut into _____________12. particles, the size of a corn grain, with each
particle being covered with flour. The resulting mixture resembles that of a
____________13. cornmeal. After cutting, the cold water or milk is sprinkled
on the mixture, blending it gently with a tossing motion using a fork.

When the ______________14. is moistened enough as to make cohesive, it is

transferred on a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or thin
plastic sheets. The dough is first flattened with hands, then with the use of
pastry roller or rolling pin; it is rolled starting from the center to the edges.
_________________15. the wax paper as you roll to obtain a uniform thickness
throughout, approximately % to 1/2 cm thick.

References used:
Basbas, L., 2017. Food And Beverage Services | Senior High
School | Rex Book Store. [online] Rexestore.com. Available at:
https://www.rexestore.com/books/1718-food-and-beverage-services.html
https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/suggestive-selling-techniques-for-
restaurants/