How the Bakery Co. twins pulled off baking 24 000 macarons and 6 000 cupcakes
It's not everyday that two 19-year-old boys get the opportunity to bake for South Africa's largest mass choir, Capital Singers, and Bakery Co.'s, Juan and Armand Potgieter were up for the challenge.
POLOKWANE – The two boys, who own Bakery Co. were given an order of 30 000 strong and had to bake 24 000 macarons and 6 000 cupcakes in just nine days!
On 3 December, the boys were off to Pretoria to bake and said they were more excited than nervous.
“My brother and I were responsible for all the baking/decorating with my dad to keep and eye and grab a piping bag now and then. We had four bakers assisting to help clean and sift as 60kg of almond flour is no joke,” Juan told Review.
The boys were busy from 07:00 each morning up until around 17:00 every afternoon.
After running into some trouble with their supplies on the first day, the boys had to catch up lost time and got stuck into the macarons.
“We were making such large quantities that we had to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue using our hands as there is no spoon or spatula big enough to fit a 60 litre mixer,” Juan said.
Following issues with an oven and a failed batch of macarons, the boys set a target of 6 000 macarons for the following day.
Speaking on their third day, Juan told Review that they experienced a few flops here and there, but they panned though all the possibilities and found a solution.
“Patience was the solution. After sorting out that small problem we got into our groove – piping, packing, washing, putting in and out of ovens and pushing through, not stopping!”
Their goals were reached on day five having started at 07:00 am and finishing at 18:30 pm and they planned to start baking the cupcakes on Monday (10 December) and Tuesday (11 December) having finished all the macarons on Monday.
“I am out of words. I don’t know how to say thank you or even begin to say how grateful I am for all the help. I am truly speechless! For someone to offer up their time to stand for 18 hours packing, piping, sticking and sleeving. You guys are totally amazing beyond words,” Juan told Review.
The event will take place at the
