This was originally published in March 2011 as part of our Item of the Month series.
This month’s item is this great photograph of students of the Scottish School of Bakery at the Royal Technical College (the predecessor of the University of Strathclyde), taken during session 1933-1934. The School had been established in 1906 by the governors of the College at the request of the Master Bakers of Scotland and offered classes in practical confectionery, bakery and breadmaking as well as more theoretical classes in physics, chemistry and biology.
The photograph shows students in the confectionery day class practising their cake decoration skills in the appropriately named confectionery piping room. The School was well provided with accommodation. According to the School’s prospectus for 1933-1934, in addition to this large piping room, there were two bakeries, one for bread and the other for confectionery, and a laboratory for bakery technic. The students also used the College’s chemical, physical and bacteriological laboratories. As is borne out by the photograph, all students in the confectionery class had to wear white jackets, aprons and caps. They also had to provide themselves with piping tubes, a cook’s small knife, pocket scissors, a small earthenware basin and a small wooden spatula. The class gave students a thorough grounding in confectionery. Subjects studied were as follows:
Practical Confectionery Course I
Puff, short, choux, and confectionery pastes; cheese, curd, custard, cream, and general fillings; hot, cold, heavy, and light meringues; sponge, macaroon, almond, and cocoanut goods; wine, dessert, and rout biscuits; fondant, royal, and water icings; Genoa, Madeira, pound, tennis, and simnel cakes; petit-fours and glacés; jams and purées; piping; gateaux and dessert cakes.
Practical Confectionery Course II
Small meringues (various); built meringues; marzipan work (fruits and flowers); gateaux; jellies and creams; dessert ices; piping of wedding and other cakes; sugar work; French and Genoese cakes; barley-sugar trifle; nougat.
In 1956, the School was renamed the Department of Food Science.
Victoria Peters, University Archivist