17 December 2021
Bakery students at Fife College have been helping local business Fisher & Donaldson with their Christmas bakes ahead of the festive season.
A collaboration between the College and Fisher & Donaldson has seen students carry out two-week placements at the bakery to gain vital work experience.
But ahead of the Christmas rush, the 100 year old family bakery asked a team of nine Fife College students to return to help them prepare thousands of baked goods.
The work has seen the students bake sponges and then layer them with different fillings to make luxury gateaux, pipe choux buns with delicious fillings and bake the bases for a variety of tortes.
The work has not only helped Fisher & Donaldson at a busy time, but it's also given the students involved a taste of what working in the industry will be like after they graduate.
Keven Kane, a Level 5 Bakery student at Fife College said:
"I've loved the experience of working at Fisher & Donaldson.
"We've been putting our learning from college into a real-life working bakery, helping with the Christmas production as well as the bakery products they sell daily.
"What started off as a work placement has progressed in to paid work on the days I'm not in college, and it's been a fantastic opportunity and something positive for my CV."
Jade Milne, whose family owns and runs Fisher & Donaldson said:
"Our new partnership with Fife College’s Hospitality Department has been a brilliant and exciting venture for our family business.
"With 100 years of heritage and skill within our bakery and confectionery, it is important to us that we nurture new talents and pass on some of our expertise to students looking to learn.
"Working with the college and the students has been the first in what we hope is a regular placement opportunity to allow keen students access to a professional bakery setting to upskill and learn from our team.
"Over the course of the past two weeks we have enjoyed welcoming numerous students into the confectionery and showing them how to work with fresh cream to create our well-loved gateaux on a large scale.
"We look forward to continuing this relationship with Barry and the team at Fife College and seeing what the next generation of chefs, bakers and confectioners can bring to the table."
Barry Scott, the Academic and Quality Lead in the Department of Culinary Arts & Hospitality at Fife College said:
"It's been brilliant to see our students getting first-hand experience of what it's like to work in a bakery of this size.
"At Fife College we do all we can to ensure our graduates are ready for the world of work, and collaborations such as the one we have with Fisher & Donaldson are a key part of this.
"Christmas is always an incredibly hectic time for any bakery, and I know the students really enjoyed the buzz of working in such a busy work environment.
"This experience will put them in great stead for when they eventually enter the world of work, and it's been fascinating to watch them develop their skills during their time at Fisher & Donaldson."
