FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a mould for use, in particular with but not limited to, baking of cone-shaped bread and pastry rolls and a method of using the invention.

BACKGROUND ART Bread or pastry rolls for the fast food market come in all shapes and sizes. In particular, the hamburger or hot-dog configuration has proved extremely popular where such food is sold at sporting and other venues. The general problem with such items of fast food is that they are often difficult to handle without the fillings between the separate pieces of bread or pastry sliding out and falling to the ground. By far, the most difficult problem is the preparation and handling of these items of food, especially by young children and those with small hands. One solution to this problem has been the development of bread roll shapes which have a blind and an open end resembling something of a cup or cone-shaped structure. This enables a food filling to be inserted into the open end and the roll held in a vertical position eliminating most of the problems mentioned above. It is a general objective of manufacturers of prior art hollow bread rolls to be able to bake rolls which have a crusty exterior surface which extends into the interior of the roll while maintaining a soft bread-like consistency beneath the crust. The crusty interior surface is necessary where fillings having some liquid component such as sauce or gravy are used. The baking of such shapes has been difficult as they are often difficult to remove from the moulds without breaking or some handling of the baked rolls. This introduces problems associated with hygiene and compliance with health regulations and complicates making the process fully automated.

Other problems include the fact that most moulds are two piece moulds, wherein rising dough or pastry is able to force apart the moulds to some extent so that the roll is flawed by being baked with a circumferential bead or collar when this occurs. To avoid this problem a firm fitting between top and bottom halves of the mould is needed, such that clips, screw clamps and other devices

have to be employed which are time consuming to use and have the danger of breaking off into the dough.

OBIECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to alleviate to, at least some degree, the abovementioned problems associated with prior art bread and pastry moulds and methods of baking cone or cup-shaped bread or pastry rolls.

OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION In one broad aspect, the present invention resides in a bread or pastry mould comprising top and bottom mould sections; said top mould section having one or more convex male portions insertable into one or more concave female portions of said bottom mould; said female portions having a larger internal diameter than an outer diameter of said male portions, which, in use, a hollow bread or pastry roll may be baked having a closed and an open end.

In a preferred aspect, the present invention resides in a bread or pastry mould comprising top and bottom mould sections; said top mould section having one or more tapered convex male portions insertable into one or more tapered concave female portions of said bottom mould; said top mould section suitably weighted to prevent separation from the bottom mould section by rising dough; said tapered concave female portions having a larger internal diameter than an outer diameter of said tapered convex male portions at any transverse cross- sectional plane, said female portions being medially bulged thereby biasing baked bread or pastry rolls to remain in said female portions upon separation of said top and bottom mould sections wherein, in use, one or more bread or pastry rolls may be baked having a hollow tapered shape with a closed end and an open end; the roll having a wall thickness profile which facilitates separation of the roll from the mould on completion of baking.

In another preferred aspect, the present invention resides in a bread or pastry mould comprising top and bottom mould sections; said top mould section having one or more tapered convex male portions insertable into one or more concave female portions of said bottom mould; said top mould section suitably weighted to prevent separation from the bottom mould section by rising dough; said tapered concave female portions having a larger internal diameter than an

outer diameter of said tapered convex male portions at any transverse cross- sectional plane; said male portions being medially bulged thereby biasing baked bread or pastry rolls to remain on said male portions upon separation of said top and bottom mould sections, wherein, in use, one or more bread or pastry rolls may be baked having a hollow tapered shape with a closed end and an open end; the roll having a wall thickness profile which facilitates separation of the roll from the mould on completion of baking.

In another preferred aspect, the present invention resides in a bread or pastry mould comprising top and bottom mould sections; said top mould section having one or more tapered convex male portions insertable into one or more tapered concave female portions; said top mould section suitably weighted to prevent separation from the bottom mould section by rising dough; said top and bottom mould sections having complementary circumferential inter-engaging means associated with each of said tapered convex male and concave female portions to prevent sidewards spread of rising dough; said tapered concave female portions having a larger internal diameter than an outer diameter of said tapered convex male portions at any transverse cross-sectional plane; said male or female portions being medially bulged thereby biasing baked bread or pastry rolls to remain on said male or in said female portions respectively upon separation of the mould sections; one or more small breather holes located circumferentially around bases of said tapered convex male portions, and one or more small breather holes located at apices of concavities of said tapered concave female portions for air displacement during baking wherein, in use, one or more bread or pastry rolls may be baked having a hollow tapered shape with a closed end and an open end; the roll having a wall thickness profile which facilitates separation of the roll from the mould on completion of baking and said circumferential inter-engaging means prevents rolls being baked with a circumferential bead or collar.

In a further preferred aspect, the invention resides in a method of baking cone-shaped bread or pastry rolls by means of any of the moulds hereinbefore described including the steps of:-

1 . filling the female portions of the bottom mould section with a

suitable amount of bread or pastry dough;

2. fitting the top mould section of the mould to the bottom mould section;

3. placing the assembled mould in an oven of suitable temperature for an appropriate length of time;

4. removing the mould from the oven;

5. separating the top mould section from the bottom mould section; and

6. depending in which mould section the baked rolls are biased to remain, inverting that mould section to release the baked rolls.

In yet a further aspect, the invention resides in a cone-shaped bread or pastry roll baked according to the method of baking with any of the moulds; as hereinbefore described.

In preference, the top and bottom mould sections are made from high quality aluminium, however, other materials such as stainless steel may be used.

Suitably, the surfaces of the mould sections in contact with the dough may be coated with a non-stick material such as Teflon™ to facilitate release of the baked rolls from the mould surfaces. Alternatively, one surface may be coated with the non-stick material and the other surface not coated so that the baked rolls will tend to be released more freely from one surface. If non-stick materials are not used, the same effect of the rolls releasing more freely from one surface may be achieved by differentially polishing one or both surfaces of the and/or bottom mould sections. Alternatively, the bottom mould surfaces may be engraved with a pattern or manufacturer's marking to provide greater resistance to the release of the rolls.

To further aid the baking process, the outside surface of the mould sections may be painted or coated with a dark coloured substance for increased heat absorption purposes. The top mould section is suitably weighted by the incorporation of webbed sections for structural integrity or the incorporation of additional weights of suitable mass to prevent the top mould section from separating from the bottom mould section as the dough rises during the baking process.

Suitably, the tapered concave female portions have a concavity profile such as incorporating a medial bulge which, when in combination with the tapered convex male sections, results in the baking of a bread roll which tends to remain in the female portions when the top mould section is removed. The rolls having a wall thickness profile which facilitates separation from both the male and female portions of the mould on cooling at the completion of the baking process.

In preference, the circumferential inter-engaging means is a circular tongue and groove located around each male and female portion of the top and bottom mould sections respectively. Suitably, the small breather holes located around the bases of the convex male portions are equally spaced and number up to six in total. The breather holes located in the female portions are located in a cluster at the apices of the concavities of the female portions. Suitably, the breather holes are of a small diameter to enable the displacement of air during the baking process and any gases emitted by the baking of the dough whilst at the same time containing the rising dough. Preferably, the top and bottom mould sections have handles for the easy lifting and inverting of the top or bottom mould sections to release the baked rolls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the top mould section; Figure 2 is a plan view of the bottom mould section; Figure 3 is a cross-section of the bottom mould section of Figure 2; and Figure 4 illustrates a method of baking using the mould according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings and initially to Figure 1 , there is shown a plan view of the top mould section 1 wherein there are one or more tapered convex male portions 2, 3. The top mould section 1 is reinforced by means of webbed sections 4, 5 which add to the weight and structural integrity of the mould and prevent bending or warping when placed in a heated oven. There are

six small breather holes 6, 7 circumferentially located around the tapered convex male portions 2, 3 to allow air and gases emitted by the baking of the dough to escape during the baking process.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the bottom mould section 8 showing the tapered concave female portions 9, 10 wherein there is a cluster of four breather holes 1 1 , 12 to enable air to escape during the baking process. Around each concave female portion 9, 10 is a circumferential groove 13 in which a circular tongue surrounding the male convex portion (not shown) may be inserted to prevent rising dough from escaping sidewards during the baking process resulting in bread rolls having a circumferential bead or collar.

Figure 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the bottom mould section 14 through the transection marked XX of Figure 2 with the inclusion of a partial top mould section 1 5 to demonstrate how the top and bottom mould sections fit together. The curvature of the walls 16 of the female portions are designed such that, in combination with the walls 1 7 of the male portions, enable a roll to be baked having a wall thickness profile 18 which facilitates quick release from the top and bottom mould sections on cooling at the completion of the baking process. In particular, the female portions have a bulge 16a about the medial region, such that there is a tendency for baked rolls to remain in the female portions on removal of the top mould section 1 5.

Sideways escape of rising dough is prevented by the inter-engaging tongue 19 and groove 13 of the bottom and top mould sections respectively. The webbed portions 20 of the top mould section 1 5 adds to the weight of the top mould section and further reinforces the mould to prevent it from bending or displacing the fitting between the tongue 1 9 and groove 13 due to heat expansion during the baking process. The small breather holes in the top 6, 7 and bottom 1 1 , 12 mould sections are shown to enable air 21 to escape from the mould cavity 22 during the baking process.

Figure 4 shows the use of the mould 23 according to the invention to bake cone-shaped bread rolls 24, 25. In this embodiment, the concave female portions

9, 10 of the bottom mould section 8 are medially bulged to bias the baked rolls 24, 25 to remain in the bottom mould section 8 when baked. On completion of

the baking process, the top mould section 1 is lifted from the bottom mould section 8 leaving the baked rolls 24, 25 in the tapered concave female portions

9, 10 of the bottom mould section. The bottom mould section 8 is then inverted over a working surface 26 such as a table enabling the baked rolls 24, 25 to fall out of the concave female portions 9, 10 onto the working surface 26. This process of inventing the bottom mould section 8 enables the baked rolls 24, 25 to be released from the bottom mould section 8 without having to handle them.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth in the appended claims.