My Sandwich Year

For my university course (Artisan Food Production FdSc) I completed a sandwich year between my first and second year. During my sandwich year, I completed two main placements: teaching in the bakery college at Belfast Metropolitan College and a 2-week placement working in bakeries in Iceland.

This was the biggest placement of my sandwich year as this was full-time and was from September 2022 to June 2023. During my placement, I primarily taught FDQ Level 2 Diploma for Proficiency in Baking Industry Skills, FDQ Level 3 Diploma for Proficiency in Baking Industry Skills; additionally, I delivered a mixture of practical, theory classes, and project-based learning.

My biggest task was project-based learning. This was where we took the bakery shop (Bake My Day) across different campuses in the city which we called “Bake My Day on tour”. I put a lot of planning into this project, applying theory to practical implementation. I first started by discussing with the level 3 class what products to make. Secondly, I had to plan theory classes on different elements to make sure the students understood the importance of running a bakery shop (different elements including allergens, labelling, and marketing).

Furthermore, I had to organise different practical classes in preparation for the “Bake My Day on Tour” such as the preparation for the bakery shop (including making and retarding the bread doughs, baking and decorating cakes, making and cutting traybakes, and weighing up the dry-weigh up), and then the bakery shop day (including baking of the bread, baking of hot plate goods, and packing the goods for delivery to the other campuses).

During my easter break, I was lucky enough to go to Reykjavik, Iceland and complete work experience in two different bakeries - one commercial and one artisanal bakery. The first bakery was a commercial bakery called Mosfellsb?r Bakari which is located in Mosfellsb?r; in this bakery, I learned how to make traditional Icelandic laminated pastries, various breads (I made these bread with two different methods - ADD and BFP), chocolate tempering, and lots of cinnamon buns. Mosfellsb?r Bakari was an early start, starting at 4 am and finishing at 1 pm.

The second bakery was artisanal called Baka Baka located in Reykjavik. In this bakery, I mostly made different types of laminated pastries, sourdoughs

, and cinnamon buns. At Baka Baka, I started at 7 am and finished at 3 pm. Although these two bakeries had similar products it was amazing to see how to make these products by machines and by hand.

At the end of my sandwich year, I attended the National Bakery Awards by Bakery Business Magazine in London and was awarded the “Young Baker of the Year 2023” by The Worshipful Company of Bakers. This was an incredible way to finish my sandwich year by getting recognised for the work I have done during the year.