 So we held our Conference last weekend and it was an extremely busy and fun packed weekend had all! For those of you that couldn't make it, or those that would like to look back at what happened we present to you the ABST Conference Roundup, which is packed full of info and pictures from over the weekend. Weekend HighlightsHighlights for the weekend included the Wildfarmed talk from Edd Lees on Friday afternoon and Molly Robbins live cake decoration using airbrushing on the Saturday after judging. We also of course held our National Competitions and our awards evening on Saturday night. Many pictures from the weekend are available on our social media and of course right here on our website that you can download here. How do I get it?To download the Conference 2023 Roundup, simply click the button below, where you can either read it online or download it as a PDF to read. We hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, and look forward to seeing you all again next year. We are in the process of planning some additional activities throughout the year so keep an eye on our social media and website for updates! 
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 The UCB Bakers have been whipping up a storm this week preparing for a bake sale to be held on sight! Using amazing products from Bakels and Dawn Food. The students have made stunning Easter chocolate cakes, school style vanilla cakes, deliciously fudgy chocolate brownies and sweet sugar ring donuts! It is coming to that time of year, where Colleges and Universities start to raise money to go to the ABST Conference. Companies such as AB Mauri, Zeelandia, Bakels and Dawn Foods will send in free ingredients for students to create products to sell and practice with. Without the help of these companies, students would struggle more to raise the funds; so here is a big thank you to all of our industry sponsors! Some are lucky enough to sell items in their on site bakery shop, but simply having a table full of products is just as good! The funds can go towards travel costs, hoodies, spending money etc... Across social media UCB, NBS and Limerick College have been showcasing their products and talents. Have your college / university made anything special as a team? Get in touch and show us what you have made! Well done for all those getting involved and working together...Team work makes the dream work! ABST  This blog is all about highlighting what helps reduce stress! Especially now you are all nearly coming to the end of your academic year, the work load can start to increase…but that doesn’t mean the stress levels should too.
Baking for fun can really help relax the mind, as you are focusing on something other can work. Yes, getting your work done is a priority but trying to do something you enjoy is equally important. To some, baking is a sensory experience; the simple smell of a Victoria sponge baking can bring a smile to anyone’s face! The satisfaction of a finished product or even just decorating it to the design of your choice can help lift your mood…and once you have finished, you can have a slice to eat when you get back to the assignments, it all helps. The point is, baking can be a relaxing experience and it will inevitably help build on your existing skills, especially with the competitions just around the corner! Get in touch with your creative side this month, and allow yourself some ‘me’ time. Even if baking is not your go to… find something that suits you. This include colouring, reading, exercising, decorating …and so much more! Let us know what you do to relax, you never know, it may help others (email to [email protected]) For now, why not have a go at making a simple Lemon Drizzle…send in your picture once you have made it, to have it featured on the website: INGREDIENTS Shelled eggs - 2 Caster sugar - 113g Plain flour - 113g Baking Powder - 5g Softened Butter - 113g Finely grated lemon zest - 1 Lemon juice - 1 Caster sugar - 43g Method
EXTRA – drizzle fondant on top. ABST  Mother’s Day Blog
Baking something special for your Mother will always be up there as one of the best gifts! This year Mother’s Day falls on Sunday 27th March 2022, and this day is a day to show our love and appreciation for our Mother’s. This year I have decided to bake my mother a ‘Black Forest Gateau’ as this is her absolute favourite dessert. Traditionally, a Simnel cake would be made as a gift, it is a very rich fruit cake that often has a layer of marzipan in the centre and on top for decoration. However, today Simnel cakes are more associated with Easter, but I will attach a recipe below for anyone who would like to bake one! I know many of you who are studying at College / University will have made lots of Mother’s Day products this week, we would love to see your creations. Email your photos to [email protected] along with your college, name and a small description of the product. You never know…you may get a feature on our new and updated website! Simnel Cake Recipe: Ingredients
Method: · STEP 1 Put the mixed dried fruit in a bowl with the orange juice and zest and 30g water. Heat gently in a pan, stirring now and then until the liquid has been absorbed and leave to cool. · STEP 2 Heat oven to 150°c. Roll out a third of the marzipan and use the base of a deep 20cm cake tin as a template to cut out a circle. Wrap any offcuts and the remaining two-thirds of marzipan and set aside for later. Grease the cake tin with a double layer of parchment. Cream together the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs (21°c), flour, almonds, baking powder, lemon zest, mixed spice and vanilla. Mix until combined, then fold in the dried fruit and cherries. · STEP 3 Scrape half the cake mixture into the tin. Top with the disc of marzipan, then the remaining cake mixture, and level the top with a spatula. The cake should take 2 hours to bake, add time if necessary. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. · STEP 4 Brush the top of the cake with apricot jam. Roll out half of the remaining marzipan and use the base of the cake as a template to cut out another disc. Place it on top of the cake and crimp the edges, if you like. Roll the remaining marzipan into 11 equal-sized balls. ABST  BAKO Group CEO Mike Tully and ABST Conference Secretary Sophie Braker presented bakery student Tiggy Ewles with an iPad Pro with keyboard after she was selected at random from participants of the ABST virtual conference which took place on 12th June 2021.
The prize was handed to Tiggy after the event at the National Bakery School, London Southbank University, where she is studying Baking Science and Technology (New Product Development). Mike Tully said: “We were very pleased to sponsor the ABST Conference this year and to present the prize to Tiggy. It is always great to meet students with a passion for bakery, who represent the future of the industry.” BAKO Group’s full list of divisions includes BAKO North Western, BAKO Northern and Scotland, and BAKO South Eastern. Its industry accreditations include the BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distributions, ISO9001 Quality Management and ISO14001 Environmental Management.  Some great job opportunities have just come about at David Wood Baking, which we wanted to make you aware of. The details are below and are New Product Development focused. To apply for any of these jobs, you should email your CV and a Covering Letter to [email protected]
Job Role - Bakery Process Technologist Company – David Wood Baking Location – West Midlands Starting Salary - £25000-£30000 Closing Date – 03/08/2021 David Wood Baking is a fast growing food manufacturing business operating out of 8 sites across the UK. Supplying most of the major retailers and discounters, food service firms and some of the UK’s leading brands with a selection of speciality bread, pies, sweet and savoury pastries and ready meal products through both frozen and ambient channels. Our Development, Technical and Sales teams work closely together to innovate and deliver high quality goods that meet our customer’s briefs and technical standards. DWB is an exciting and challenging place to work and as the company continues to grow we are Looking for an experienced NPD Process Technologist to take on a varied position within the NPD team. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to expand your knowledge and work closely with technical and production teams. Your role will involve managing the transfer of products from the test bakery into the factory to ensure successful launches of products. This role will involve liaising between the development, technical and production teams to ensure there is no compromise on quality of products whilst ensuring smooth transition into the manufacturing environment to meet the agreed customer timelines. You must have a creative but methodical approach and can manage your time effectively to meet tight deadlines. You will manage all aspects of factory trials from ordering new raw materials for trials, completing trials and reports, making sure that processes are followed correctly, and findings are shared with the wider team. It would be a great advantage if you had a good technical understanding of NPD processes to ensure products comply with technical legislation and are delivered to the agreed quality and customer requirements.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent Salary: £25,000.00-£30,000.00 per year Additional pay: Performance bonus Benefits:
 Some great job opportunities have just come about at David Wood Baking, which we wanted to make you aware of. The details are below and are New Product Development focused. To apply for any of these jobs, you should email your CV and a Covering Letter to [email protected]
Job Role - NPD Baker Company – David Wood Baking Location – West Midlands Starting Salary - £24000 - £27,000 Closing Date – 3rd August 2021 David Wood Baking is a fast growing food manufacturing business operating out of 8 sites across the UK. Supplying most of the major retailers and discounters, food service firms and some of the UK’s leading brands with a selection of speciality bread, pies, sweet and savoury pastries and ready meal products through both frozen and ambient channels. Our Development, Technical and Sales teams work closely together to innovate and deliver high quality goods that meet our customer’s briefs and technical standards. DWB is an exciting and challenging place to work and as the company continues to grow we are looking for an NPD Baker. As a NPD Baker, you will be exposed to all aspects of new product development and will be responsible for effectively delivering innovation through new products and improving existing recipes in line with the customer expectations and David Wood Baking site agendas. Ensuring that products and projects are delivered to the agreed profitability and timescales. You will work closely with Process and Development Manager, Process and Development Technologists and Commercial Managers to ensure alignment and delivery of projects, making sure that any technical and operational requirements are taken into consideration. You must be creative and have a natural flair for idea/ recipe generation whilst considering the manufacturing process. Using your knowledge of ingredients and trends you will have a natural ability to create recipes inline with customer expectations and be able to manage writing recipes and costings, preparing samples, ordering ingredients and completing factory trials. This is a demanding role in a fast-paced business that will require a strong individual who has a proactive approach to manage multiple timelines and projects across different sites. It would be a great advantage if you have previous experience working in a development role within the bakery industry.
Application deadline: 03/08/2021 Job Types: Full-time, Permanent Salary: £24,000.00-£27,000.00 per year Benefits:
COVID-19 considerations: Face masks to be worn whilst on site, Regularly hand washing, lateral flow testing twice weekly, social distancing as and where applicable Education: A-Level or equivalent (preferred) Experience: Food production: 1 year (preferred) Language: English (required) Work remotely: No  We recently shared on social media that Zeelandia, who manufacture a wide range of bakery ingredients within the baking industry are working with the Essex Wildlife Trust to put something back into the local area. This includes a wide range of areas including fields right through to local gardens, as well as creating natural habitats on their urban site in Colchester. Zeelandia are also sponsoring the TipTree World Bread Awards 2021 in the category of "Award for Sustainability." In order to win this award the nominee must be someone who is not operating commercially/does not sell their bread who the judges feel has gone the extra mile to support their community, promote a sense of togetherness and make a difference. With sustainability becoming ever more important, Zeelandia have also committed to using 100% Sustainable Palm Oil, and in the past two years, the leading baking ingredients company has worked closely with over 34 suppliers to convert 81 ingredients to use sustainable palm oil, reaching 99% usage. David Amos, Managing Director of Zeelandia UK and past ABST President says that they are committed to going further. Sustainability and local conservation is becoming more and more important to both consumers and bakery companies, whether ingredients manufacturers or bakeries with innovations on reducing waste, reduction in plastic and energy and water usage becoming more normal and looking to increase as time goes on. The full video of the work they have done with the wildlife trust is here if you would like to watch again!
Let's start at the beginning. How did you get into baking?
While I attended school at the age of 13, I worked at a local Craft Baker in Scotland assisting the baker with labouring tasks. The main objective was to earn money at that stage I had no interest I getting involved in a career in Baking. I did this until I left school at 17. So how long have you been involved in the baking industry? I spent 8 years in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market selling into the grocery trade. I gained lots of knowledge due to the excellent training I received. In 1981 I was offered a position with Bakels in Scotland. I have worked in numerous positions with them for 40 years What is your favourite baked product and why? I do enjoy a Scotch Pie, probably because it was a product I was brought up with as a youngster living in Scotland. I really appreciate enjoying a good one when I visit Scotland as they are not readily available in England. I have been invited to judge in the annual World Scotch Pie Championships on a couple of occasions which is an enjoyable experience. What advice would you give to someone starting a career in the baking industry?
What has been your proudest achievement so far?
A huge thanks to Keith for answering all of the questions and I think we can agree that we are lucky to have him as our President. We will be asking other members of the committee questions soon, so if you have any that you would like to add, then get in touch with us on [email protected]  Lesaffre are holding a webinar demonstration which will allow you to learn how to make a range of bread products such as traditional French Baguettes, Fougasse, Ciabatta and Panettone using Inventis Mixes and Premixes.
The event takes place online, on Wednesday 14th July 2021 from 10:30am - 11:30am live from the Baking Centre in Lille. This promises to be a really interesting demonstration and they will also be discussing what mixes and premixes are and the production steps for the different bread products. In order to register for the event, click the button below, and we hope you enjoy! We are looking forward to it! |
