| December 9th —
National Pastry Day |
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With a lineage that dates back to ancient Egypt, and flourished through Greek, Roman, and 17th-century European baking traditions, pastry has stood the test of time. Evolving into forms like puff, choux, and phyllo, global variations and creative reinventions are still emerging today. |
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A Flaky Finish to the Year with Pastry |
As we close out the year with cooler days and cozier cravings, it feels only right to turn our attention to one of baking’s most celebrated and versatile creations: pastry. Whether it’s the base of a holiday pie or the star of a savory main course, pastry is where science and indulgence meet. Pastry dough is deceptively simple in formulation, typically a combination of flour, solid fat, water, sugar, and salt, but its execution in commercial settings is anything but. For industrial bakers, producing consistently tender, flaky pastry demands close attention to ingredient functionality, temperature control, and equipment precision.
In production, dough mixing must be carefully controlled to avoid gluten development. Fats, which can account for 50–80% (bakers) of the formula, need to remain solid during mixing to coat flour particles effectively, a critical step in creating flake layers. Water should be ice cold (25–30% bakers) to keep fat temperatures low and maintain dough integrity during processing.
Commercial operations may use two main approaches: - Pressed crusts for smaller-scale batches, where dough balls are formed and shaped into pie plates before filling and baking.
- Rolled crusts for large-scale output, where dough is sheeted, cross-rolled, and filled using automated depositing lines.
In both cases, baking temperatures should range from 230–260°C (450–500°F) and cooling is required before packaging. Key processing considerations include managing mealy vs. flaky mixing methods, allowing for dough relaxation, and ensuring proper chilling, which supports flakiness due to solidified fats. Moisture migration and free water activity are key challenges commercial bakers must manage with proper packaging and storage controls.
Learn more in the full BAKERpedia article on Pastry. |
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Why Damaged Starch is a Must Parameter in Flour Specifications |
Learn how starch damage occurs during milling, why moderate levels are essential for proper water absorption and fermentation, and how excessive damage can lead to issues like dough stickiness, lower yields, and reduced product quality. The session covers what damaged starch is, why it’s measured, and its impact on a wide range of baked goods from a baker’s perspective. Speaker: Dr. M. Hikmet Boyacioglu Webinar length: 60 minutes Cost: $0 Members/$99 Non-Members |
| Strengthen your technical foundation with this self-paced course on flour quality and testing—an essential skillset for managing the ingredient that makes up more than half of every bread formulation.
Explore key testing methods, and how small changes in flour performance can impact dough processing and final product outcomes. It’s an ideal overview for anyone looking to better understand and control flour quality in the bakery. Certificate: Upon passing final test
Course length: 30 minutes Cost: $150 for Members / $250 Non-Members |
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| Ask Our Dough Technologist |
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Q: What Does ‘Healthy’ Reduction
Look Like on a Pastry Sheeting Line? |
As a Dough Technologist, one of the first things we look at when planning to run a pastry product on a sheeting line are the reduction steps. It’s helpful to begin at your final, or target, dough sheet thickness and work backwards through each reduction step. Many of the laminated pastries we work with, from Croissants to Fruit Danishes, are around 3-5mm final dough thickness before cutting and shaping. To keep the layers as intact as possible and retain the flakiness of the laminated dough, I like to stay in the 4-5mm range to avoid crushing those recently created layers.
Once you’ve decide on your target final dough thickness, you can begin planning each reduction step. Depending on your machinery, you can usually reduce the dough sheet by half at each set of rollers (or Gauging Stations), and even more at Multi-rollers (or Quick Reducers). You can start to see that the thinner your end thickness is, the more reduction steps (and equipment) are needed to reach that stage without causing damage to the dough sheet.
By measuring the dough thickness before and after each reduction step, you can identify where the points of aggressive reduction are happening and adjust your gap settings accordingly. A healthy dough sheet should be free of excessive tension at its edges and have no visual weak spots or rippling.
Have a Dough Question? Email [email protected]! |
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NEW Pre-Conference Workshops at BakingTECH |
We hope you’re as excited as we are for all the educational content coming your way at BakingTECH 2026! But don't miss one of the biggest additions this year. Alongside our robust conference program, we’ve added 2 brand-new, hands-on workshops to help you jump-start your learning before the event even begins.
Workshops on Feb. 16th: - Sensory Training 101: Build confidence in evaluating product attributes, strengthen your QA process, and learn practical sensory technique.
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Ongoing Evolution of Food Safety: Get up to speed on PCQI 2.0, understand what’s changing, and walk away with clear, actionable steps for compliance.
Start off 2026 strong with new skills!
Learn More & Register Here |
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Webinar: Devitalized Sourdoughs
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Explore how devitalized (dried) sourdoughs can bring flavor, consistency, and functional benefits to commercial baking—without the complexity of traditional fermentation. Certified Master Baker Christophe Gaumet will explain how these sourdoughs are produced, how they differ from active starters, and the advantages they offer in dough handling, texture, shelf life, and overall product quality. January 14th | 11:00 AM ET Register Today |
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American Society of Baking | 4231 W 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268
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