Marble slab

Wayne Gisslen's Professional Baking mentions marble slabs among the equipment of a bakeshop. The slab can be installed on top of under-the-counter refrigerated storage boxes, which keeps the marble cool.

A marble surface stays cooler than wood or metal, which is helpful when handling butter-rich pastry doughs that must not soften. Pastry cooks also use it for tempering chocolate and for some sugar and decorative work.

French pastry cooks call the technique of cooling chocolate on a marble slab tablage, and Peter Greweling's confectionery text describes working chocolate on a marble or granite slab until it thickens slightly, then returning it to the bowl.

Because the surface is hard and smooth, it is also easy to wipe clean and flour lightly for rolling dough.