Pastry Chef Career

If you intend to be a pastry chef some day you are required to be creative and love to cook. Chefs always encounter recipe changes therefore you should have an eye for detail and know what is happening in the industry. Customer service skills are also essential because you will always handle clients whether you market to other stores or simply cook for guests. Working with your hands for hours can be very tiring. This career also requires long hours of standing and lifting items. As a result stamina is required before you can embark on this career. When working as a pastry chef your job description will involve ordering supplies, cooking baked items, decorating pastries and desserts, overseeing employees, keeping the kitchen in order and selling the products.

How to Become a Pastry Chef

To become a pastry chef are required to have training. This training is offered at various schools as vocational training. It may take up to 4 years depending on whether you are taking up a degree or diploma. The short programs offered like a diploma only allows students to take a low position course like a chef assistant. However after graduation you can climb up the ladder through experience and by furthering your studies.

Types, Description, Information

The demand for educated pastry chefs is high at various hotels, resorts and cafes. The industry offers high salary for those who intend to work as cake designers, pastry teachers, bakery owners and even catering managers

Qualifications: Courses, Training, Programs

A pastry chef school program gives the student a chance to learn skills needed for a rewarding career. In most schools this course is offered as an individual subject. This training offers intensive hands on study either in groups of individually. Students learn at a contemporary kitchen setting and this revolves around dessert preparation, menu planning and plating.

Schools, Colleges, Universities

The programs offered at a pastry school to choose from include Decorating with chocolate, pastry techniques, sugar paste flowers, chocolate truffles and Bonbons, Fondant and Royal Icing. Bread courses include Artisanal Bread Baking and Whole Grain Breads. The five leading colleges in offering pastry chef career courses include:

• The French Culinary Institute of New York,
• California Culinary Academy, CA
• George Brown Chef Academy, TX
• Tante Marie Cooking School
• Kendall College – Online college

Jobs, Opportunities, Salaries, Recruitment

Pastry chef careers are showing good signs of growth especially now that more people result to having breakfast at restaurants. For those students who have studied at top schools finding employment opportunities is easy. The industry absorbs them fast due to their good training. Those who have studied for 4 years and earned a degree are paid higher than assistants. Today the annual salary for a pastry chef depends on your skill and educational background. The average pay per year for these chefs is $ 37,176 to $ 60,000. This amount however can be higher or lower depending on the institution or place of work. For example a well known restaurant like in Hilton Hotels will pay you more if you have worked for over 5 years in the industry.