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Cakemaker

Cakemaker

Description

Cakes and other baked goods have been around for thousands of years. Most of us have a thing for cakes and other sugary things. A birthday, anniversary or celebration of other events usually feels incomplete without a cake. A cakemaker or baker works in bakeries and pastry shops of different hotels, catering companies, grocery stores and various eateries and make cakes and other type of yummy goodies such as pastries, cookies, pies and brownies to fulfill our sweet tooth and to sweeten our occasions.

Common Duties/Routines

A cakemaker or baker purchases ingredients to make their baked goodies from the market on a good price and have a keen eye to identify any expired or low-quality goods. As they deal with perishable items, they immediately store their stock in the fridge or wherever it is required for them not to get damaged. They keep monitoring the inventory and make sure that all the products are in stock and order more whenever needed.

They mix different ingredients such as flour, eggs, sugar and butter to make a variety of different cakes and cupcakes for example red velvet, chocolate fudge and chocolate malt etc. For them to turn out perfect, a cakemaker should know the exact measurements and amount of ingredient required. For this purpose, they use many kinds of measuring objects such as cups, scales and spoons. However, they have to make sure that if they have measured the amount of one ingredient in cups, it is imperative that they use the cups for the other ingredient too. The exact amount of an ingredient is extremely important while baking a cake and a good cakemaker knows this and is very accurate with his measurements. They also have to ensure that they have thoroughly and carefully mixed all the ingredients that they put in the bowl or cooking machinery. Small bakeries do not have big machinery such as mixers and large ovens for baking but large bakeries, hotels and stores do have them. Hence, after they are done with combining all the ingredients, they have to set up and operate equipment and machines to put the batter into for mixing and baking.

Bakers unload the mixture in pans and cupcake trays and put them in the oven to bake. They ensure that the temperature is correct and the cake bakes for the right amount of time as this is very important for making a good cake. They then remove the cake and other goodies from the oven and then decorate them with icing, frosting and fondant to make them look appealing and beautiful to the customers and then finally put them in their bakeries for the people to buy and enjoy.

Apart from baking cakes, a baker has to ensure that the bakery is clean at all times and think up ideas to make it look even more prettier to attract customers. They should also give fresh cakes and pies to the customers and not old or hard ones. Also, they should monitor that all the staff is working and timely completing their assigned tasks. They should never use expired or low-quality products in baking their goods and should ensure that the quality of their products is never compromised on.

Required/Trained Skills

  • Baking skills to bake good cakes.
  • Attention to detail to detect any expired products or problem in their cakes.
  • Good marketing skills to market their products.
  • Good communication skills and a friendly personality to interact with different customers and make them like you as word of mouth is very important in such a business and the more the customer likes you and your bakery, the more chances of them telling about it to others which increases sales and product value.
  • Creative, to make changes in recipes accordingly and to design the final products and make them prettier.
  • Stamina is also important as most bakers are on their feet most of the time, preparing, cooking and monitoring things at the bakery.

Education requirements

A high school diploma and then enrolling in a culinary program is good enough to pursue this career. Also, joining summer baking programs and courses are helpful and increase the chances of getting hired.

Salary/Compensation

A cakemaker or baker can be expected to earn an average of $24,000, annually.

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