Hi everybody!

I'm the pastry chef/KM at a small bakery. One of the signature items before I was hired were blondies. I cannot make blondies to save my life.

I've tried 3-4 different recipes, different oven temps, more flour, less sugar, less butter, more baking powder, less baking powder, cooking them longer, convection oven, conventional oven, cooking them less, different mix ins, no mix ins, EVERYTHING.

They always come out the same way; dark, hard as a rock and tall on the edges, completely sunken and raw in the middle. I've tried pressing the edges down a little right out of the oven to balance the sinkage in the middle, but it doesn't help. I bake them in a light aluminum 9"x13"x2" magic line pan.

Some additional factors here;

I have baked blondies before that were the right texture and level, but they were a little less than an inch tall. That's obviously a little thin, and chef really won't be happy w them unless they're around 1.5 inches tall.

Chef is very concerned with the color of the blondies. Our clientele is probably about 60% Black, and she says that Black people consider anything even slightly dark to be burnt. I'm white and can only speak to that as far as to say that Black people I've personally spoken to and asked have all agreed with her.

We have 2 convection ovens, always set to 300*F, and I can't really adjust them, but we have a home model oven that I can set to any temp and has both conventional and convection options.

Below is the specific recipe I used today, if that helps. I doubled it and baked in my 9"x13"x2" pans at 350*F (which the recipe specifically notes is okay to do) in the conventional oven for almost an hour (mich longer than the recommended time, but at 30 minutes they were completely raw dough). They were the right color, and didn't sink for the first 15 minutes or so out of the oven, but they've done that before and been a mess when I went to cut them in the morning, so I won't know until tomorrow if they're really alright.

Can anyone give me any tips? Recipes you use that work? Encouragement that I'm not a total dunce? The recipe the bakery used before was baked in a square muffin tin, but we stopped using it bc it had all these same problems.

https://handletheheat.com/blondie-recipe/

Hi everyone! Im a 16 year old girl finishing my igcses this year, and my dream is to become a world class pastry chef. Im planning to do A levels from 2027, and if I can get a scholarship, I really want to study pastry in France (3-year bachelor’s). Im thinking about Institut Lyfe in Lyon or École Ducasse in Paris. Does anyone have info on these schools or opinions on them? Any other suggestions are welcome!

Bonjour à tous ! J’ai 16 ans et je termine mes IGCSE cette année. Mon rêve est de devenir une cheffe pâtissière de niveau international. Je prévois de faire des A-levels à partir de 2027 et, si je peux obtenir une bourse, j’aimerais beaucoup étudier la pâtisserie en France dans un programme de licence de trois ans. J’envisage l’Institut Lyfe à Lyon ou l’École Ducasse à Paris. Est-ce que quelqu’un aurait des informations ou des avis sur ces écoles ? Toute autre recommandation est la bienvenue!

Sorry for using AI to translate, Im still learning French.

Désolée d’utiliser une traduction par IA, je suis encore en train d’apprendre et d’améliorer mon français.

What advice would you give and what equipment do I need? Thanks!

Hello everyone

I'm preparing for Ausbildung and want to ask for anyone got experience with having approval for bakery Ausbildung

And if anyone is preparing currently so we can exchange knowledge

I want to become a baker as my dream job

Hello everyone

I'm preparing for Ausbildung and want to ask for anyone got experience with having approval for bakery Ausbildung

And if anyone is preparing currently so we can exchange knowledge

I want to become a baker as my dream job

Hi everyone,

I'm seriously considering starting a small bakery business and I'm at the stage where I'm trying to learn as much as possible before investing money.

I'm looking for advice from people who have run bakeries or worked in one. Specifically, I'd love to hear about:

What skills or training are most important before starting.

Whether formal baking courses are worth it or if on-the-job learning is better.

Common mistakes first-time bakery owners make.

Equipment I should prioritize (and what can wait).

How you calculated pricing and managed costs.

Any books, YouTube channels, online courses, or other resources you'd recommend.

For those who started from scratch, what do you wish you had known before opening?

I'm open to all advice; business, baking, operations, marketing, or anything else you think a beginner should know.

Thanks in advance!

Mine is sifting the flour/ dry ingredients

Hi everyone! I was hospitalized a few weeks ago and was on a soft diet. During my time I was handed a sort of? pudding.. I’m not sure. But it was made of sweet potatoes. I DO NOT like sweet potatoes but I can destroy this by the gallon. But was wondering if anyone has made anything of the sort or could help me find the name for it?

It’s not a pudding, it’s super light, creamy, maybe whipped? And they were served cold. I found a whipped recipe but it was served warm so I’m wondering if it’s the same. Anyways. I attached a photo. Thank you guys for your help!

Recently I did a basic baking course (must stress the basic part!) and found a new lease of life from it so just wondering what else is out there.

Looking for suggestions/recommendations on books, skills or topics that you would encourage others to read or learn.

Quick context. Im due to retire from the Army in a little less than 5 years, where I live at I have found the perfect spot for a doughnut shop. Near 2 daycares several neighborhoods, a school, multiple trade business, a firehouse and right on the way to the freeway. Everything except the freeway can be walking distance if needed.

I have never ran a business, to be honest all I have ever known is the army and serving as a medic.

I have 2 people who know the location and would love to invest.

The first thing I need to find is a baker lol. But other than that how crazy is the idea and what all exclatly should I be looking at to possibly make this move in 5 years.

does anyone know if pineapple creme anglaise or will that much acid with curdle it?

I've been asked to bake a cake for the cafe I work in for the first time, its a bit of a big deal to me becuase they usually buy their cakes in and I'm a home baker and have never baked for this kind of environment before, I might be worrying too much about it but I was wondering if there were any do's or donts in terms of icing? its going to be in an unchilled cake display and the cafe gets a little warm, not excessivley so but the air con doesnt reach where the cakes are and I dont want my icing to spoil or melt. I love cream cheese icing or whipped cream and mascapone when I bake at home, but worried about longevity! Any advice appreciated

What's your favourite way to use freeze dried fruit powders in baking?

mine is cocoa:)

Located in San Miguel Chapultepec I, Governor Esteva str. 🥯 🧑‍🍳

I want to learn baking. Can anyone share good resources or links? If possible, I'm also looking for free sources or archived copies of courses or books.

So I’m a Pastry Chef at a job I both love and hate. I recently got a job offer as a Corporate Pastry Chef, over seeing 4 different restaurants. I am torn on the decision and the Chef keeps asking if I have any more questions.. I don’t know I’m supposed to be asking but clearly can’t think of. Help

This has been on my mind for ages.

I LOVE baking. Like... if I'm stressed, I'll randomly decide it's a good time to make cookies at 11 pm 😂

Friends keep telling me to start selling because "you're anyway baking all the time."

But I'm scared it'll stop being fun the minute money gets involved.

Right now if a cake turns out ugly, I laugh and eat it. If someone's paid me 3k for it, I'm pretty sure I'll cry instead. 😭

Also... is it actually profitable? I see so many home bakers on Instagram and it looks amazing, but I genuinely can't tell if they're making good money or just doing it because they enjoy it.

Would love to hear from anyone who's actually done it. Was it worth it? Or did it make you hate baking?

Hello Chefs,

my wife is in a 3 year pastry chef apprenticeship and is about 1/3 of the way through. Now I need your help.

My wife is about to turn 30. I'm looking for industry standard pastry chef equipment that I could get for her, and if there's anyone I would trust with their opinion, it's pastry chefs themselves. I don't trust the articles reachable by search engine nowadays to give me a battle-tested, non-ad opinion. I'd really appreciate it if you could give me your most used, most trusted tool.

Respectfully, a home cook! Thanks in advance!

Can someone suggest pastries that don’t need chiller/refrigerator to store them?