Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs

Fresh, dried and powdered breadcrumbs are an important ingredient for the pastry chef. Not only can breadcrumbs be used to cover foods for frying or as a simple topping for some of the pastry dishes, but bread crumbs can also be used to replace more expensive ingredients such as ground nuts or dessicated (shredded) coconut.

There are three main ways to produce breadcrumbs, each method giving a different type of breadcrumb :

• Fresh bread can help the crust removed and grated and the fresh breadcrumbs can be used as a topping for dessert, or saute or fried in alittle butter to give color and then mixed with some sugar, for example, to make a crunchy crumble topping.
• Stale bread may be sieved or minced finely to produce a fine white crumb which is firm and can be used for the outside crust of dumplings,for example.
• Golden-colored breadcrumbs can produced by baking bread scraps till golden brown and then crushing the crust in a mortar and pestle or in a blender. These crumbs will last from months as long as they are stored in airtight container or jar.

--Patisserie, Aaron Maree, 1993 (p. 35)