Pastry chef

Do you like to make desserts that are as wonderful to look at as they are to eat Then consider a career as a pastry chef. 

Pastry chefs work in hotels, bakeries, catering, and manufacturing. Like the owner of a business, a pastry chef also must take on financial and managerial tasks. Creativity as well as a solid understanding of the chemistry of cooking is a must. 

When vinegar and baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate, NaHCOj) combine, the result is a vigorous bubbling that releases carbon dioxide (CO2). 

In this case, the reactants in the overall equation exist as ions in aqueous solutions. Therefore, a complete ionic equation can be written for the reaction. 

Note that the sodium and chloride ions are the spectator ions. When you cross them out only the substances that take part in the reaction remain. 

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Who hasn t been tantalized and impressed by the delectable, eyecatching specialities prepared with puff pastry Chocolate napoleans, Beef Wellington, baked brie, pate en croute, etc. While the secret of these culinary delights may seem more of an art than a science, professional pastry chefs know the chemistry necessary to create the flaky, tender pastry for these delicacies. 

To be sure, cooking is somewhat analogous to performing experiments. The successful scientist, just like a five-star chef, is a careful planner, a diligent worker, a keen observer, and is fully prepared for failures Experiments may not work despite your best efforts, just as a cake may fall even in the hands of a premier pastry chef. 

Yeast. Yeast makes dough rise by exhaling carbon dioxide bubbles. The gluten in the flour stretches to accommodate them, like miniballoons, makit the dough ball expand. Instant or rapid-rise yeast, sold in packets at the supermarket, is inexpensive and easy to get your hands on. It quickens the process and minimizes steps, but some complain that flavor is sacrificed. Another option for the b innit baker is active dry yeast, which is a yeast that is dormant until you add water. Active dry yeast performs best if you prooP it first—that is, combine it with slighdy warm water and a bit of sweetener (to feed the yeast) until it mrns bubbly and creamy. Artisanal bakers and pastry chefs use fresh yeast, mostly because of its flavor, but dried yeast produces excellent homemade loaves. 

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