CUL 221 - Chocolate and Cake Design

This is an archived copy of the 2020-2021 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit https://catalog.nmc.edu.

Course Description

This course is designed for students who wish to pursue a career in pastry arts. It is designed for students that would like to expand their creative talents in areas of chocolate artistry and cake decorating. In this course students will learn through lecture, demonstrations and lab work the characteristics of chocolate, chocolate tempering and modeling, candies, fillings, centerpieces, molds & decorations. The cake decoration portion of the course will cover buttercream recipes, history of cake decorating and tools, preparation of boards, papers, columns, boxes, etc., the art of icing a cake, basic cake covering using combs and spatulas, basic piping skills and the use of decorating tips, border skills, floral piping skills, art of swag and drapery applications, art of writing and coloring on a cake. Course includes how to create and display wedding cakes, icings, fondant, pastillage, and gum paste. Group 2 course.

Credit Hours

4

Contact Hours

8

Lab Hours

8

Required Prerequisites

CUL 110, CUL 118, CUL 218 may be taken concurrently

General Education Outcomes supported by this course

Quantitative Reasoning

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge:
  • Explain key concepts, terms, and relationships appropriate to professional baking.
  • Identify equipment and products used in professional bakeries.
  • Connect the use of baking methods to planned end results.
Application:
  • Demonstrate professional bakery production skills and baking methods.
  • Modify recipes to reflect the quantity needed for production.
Integration:
  • Integrate quality baking methods to produce customer satisfaction.
  • Relate interactions between baking and design, sanitation and management.
Human Dimension:
  • Evaluate different life experiences, temperaments, and talents and how these traits positively affect group work.
Caring - Civic Learning:
  • Describe the impact of quality food service on successful bakeries.
Learning How to Learn:
  • Interpret standardized recipes to create various bakery items.
  • Determine appropriate baking skills and techniques in various commercial restaurant situations.