A catering qualification can lead the way to a rewarding career in the food and hospitality industry. Enrolling into one of the best culinary schools is the ideal start. There are several to choose from and they offer chef instructors, classroom theory and hands on training using modern equipment. A suitably qualified person can find work in a restaurant, hotel, leisure outlet, cruise ship, specialist food store or supermarket department.

The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City offers diplomas in culinary Arts, Pastry and Baking Arts, and Culinary Management. These programs are for 6 – 11 months and students choose from morning, afternoon, evening or weekend classes with small class sizes. After qualifying, the institute helps students to find work in New York restaurants. As with all the best culinary schools, the essential techniques are taught. The Culinary Arts curriculum includes knife technique and sauce making. Students learn the classic French tradition alongside cuisine from all over the world. Pastry and Baking Arts students learn how to produce confections, cakes, breads, and frozen desserts.  The Culinary Management curriculum involves classes that include menu preparation, sanitation, law, marketing, and making a business plan.

The Texas Culinary Academy is situated in Austin and is part of the Le Cordon Bleu program, which involves the classic French techniques. The Culinary Arts program includes food preparation, nutrition, and sanitation and students are given the opportunity to learn in the on site restaurant, Ventana. They are taught how to organise a kitchen and time management. The Patisserie and Baking program teaches the skills needed for a baker, pastry chef, confectioner or chocolatier. They will learn how to make muffins, breads, tortes, sugar decoration, flatbreads, mousses, and puff pastry. The programs are delivered through classroom demonstrations and practical training in the kitchens. This is one of the best culinary schools for an all round education and includes business skills and a General Education component, which includes Math, Psychology, Computer Science and Public Speaking.

The New England Culinary Institute teaches Culinary Arts in their own bakeries, restaurants, and hotel. The curriculum involves Classic Technique, World Cuisine and Food Science and Management. The Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary Arts offers three paid internships in some of the best restaurants in the country. The institute also delivers an Associate Degree program. Baking and Pastry Arts students learn the skills for baked goods and desserts. The hospitality and Restaurant Management curriculum includes Technology, Human Resources, Purchasing, and Service. There are also Bachelor of Arts Specialization courses. These are in Sustainability, Wine and Beverages and Baking and Pastry.

The California Culinary Academy is in San Francisco and is also one of the best culinary schools in America. The staff deliver Le Cordon Bleu program. The Culinary Arts curriculum lasts for 60 weeks and involves classic and modern techniques with kitchen management classes. There is a 12-week externship on which students will learn about hygiene, table service, and HR management. The Patisserie and Baking students are there for 40 weeks. Much of their work takes place in the campus restaurant, where they will learn to prepare pastries, basic syrups, icings, pies, cookies, chocolate molding, and sculpturing.

Check out these videos of master pastry chefs doing it up right. You can do this as well. Chances are that if you are visiting this site, you are looking at pursuing a career as a pastry chef. I can’t blame you for that, who wouldn’t want to make all of the fantastic goodies that make peoples palates tingle with pleasure and mouths smile with giddiness.  There is a lot of work involved though and if you are not yet ready to put up the funds for the schooling necessary, you can get a head start on your education by learning how the masters do it before you go. It never hurts to be prepared and if it is your true passion, then it is a no brainer. Enjoy these two videos and I will give you a link where you can get the skills that you need to start making some of the best pastries around before you even get to pastry school.

See how amazingly easy that was. I like it. I like it a lot. Makes me want to go in and start me up a batch right now. Thing is I just finished a batch of doughnuts from scratch and my stomach is a bit full lol. Take a look at this next video where you see how completely easy it is to do your cream puffs up into some really cool swan shapes.

Isn’t that some cool stuff. I know that I think it is. I can never get enough of good cooking and tasty pastries. If you want to take a look at more killer pastry recipes and really learn some cool stuff my friend Keiko, who is Chef de Patisserie in a small restaurant would love to show you more on this. Please visit his site and take advantage of the training that he is offering. You will not be disappointed nor will your friends and family when you start making them all of that incredible goodness just like a pro.

Learn from Master Pastry Chef Keiko here!!!

Many people who love to cook and bake wonder how to become a pastry chef. The process is not all that complicated, but first you must make certain that you know what the job really involves. It is not just about baking, but about managing a kitchen and managing a business.

A pastry chef is known for creating unique and delectable desserts. Most of the time, they work in upscale restaurants, but some work in quaint little bakeries or hotels as well. There are lots of opportunities for chefs to find jobs in all kinds of locations from resorts to a bed and breakfast. You are only limited by your imagination!

Here are some of the job requirements for a pastry chef:

· Organizational skills: As a pastry chef, you will need to be able to organize your kitchen and keep it well stocked. Nothing would be worse than arriving at your job only to find that you are out of flour or sugar! Keeping an organized working space is vitally important to a pastry chef.
· Stamina: Pastry chefs are very early risers in most cases. Their job requires them to get to work at 3 or 4am to get started on the baked goods for the day. They are also on their feet for hours on end and use their hands on a consistent basis. Preparing yourself physically will be a great benefit to you when you become a pastry chef.
· Ability to lead others: You will often be supervising a staff of cooks and other kitchen personnel. You must be able to keep a cool head in the fast moving environment of a professional kitchen.

There are several options you can choose if you are wondering how to become a pastry chef. The first, and most obvious, option is going to a culinary school. There are some great schools that are well known in the field such as The Art Institute Culinary schools and Le Cordon Bleu. Both are well regarded in the field. You may also want to look into any online courses that will give you more skills you can use.

One your way to becoming a pastry chef, you will likely consider the option of being an apprentice for a head pastry chef. This is a great idea! You will be able to learn valuable job skills, gain experience in your new field and hopefully impress the chef enough to great a glowing reference for your job search. In essence, you both win as the chef gets cheap help in the kitchen while you get all of the benefits of learning on the job.

If you are researching how to become a pastry chef, spend some time checking out all of your options for training. In the end, you will be glad you took the extra time to assess schools and make a game plan for your future. Plus, you will reap the rewards of attending culinary school by being able to sample tasty treats as part of your school work. What could be better?

If you love to bake and the smell of gourmet apple turnovers delights your nose, you may very well want to find out how to become a pastry chef. This specialty area of the cooking industry can be a money maker because it is so unique. So how do you learn about becoming a pastry chef?

The first step is pretty obvious. Just as with any profession, you definitely want to research and study what it is all about. You never want to enter into a career field without knowing all of the ins and outs. With any career there are positives and negatives.

You first need to understand what a pastry chef does on a day to day basis. Although it may sound like a calm and fun job, you also must realize that pastry chefs usually manage a kitchen full of bakers, decorators and cooks. They also are responsible for the organization of the kitchen and the whole operation. In addition, they are typically responsible for the ordering of supplies to keep the kitchen running as smoothly as possible.
Pastry chefs are usually creative, artistic people who think outside of the box. They like to come up with their own creations, and are typically perfectionists in some way. To be a pastry chef, a person also needs to be very organized as running a kitchen, workers and inventory can be quite a challenge to the unorganized person.

One idea you might want to consider is taking some cake decorating classes either online or at a local hobby store to see how well you like the idea of the culinary arts field. This is a cheap and quick way to test the waters and see if you like this field.

The next thing you need to consider is which culinary school you would want to attend. There are several to choose from, so research this. One of the most well known is the International Culinary School of the Art Institute, which has classes in most larger cities throughout the United States.

Next, contact some high quality restaurants and inquire about becoming an apprentice to their pastry chef. Although you will not get rich doing that, you will get a couple of great things in return for your time. First, you will get experience which you definitely need. Second, you will have a source of references when you go out to look for your own position as a pastry chef.

There is also the option to become a pastry chef at home using online classes. Many people make a great living by decorating cakes or making custom candies at home. There are online classes that you can find specific to the niche you are interested in servicing.

Becoming a pastry chef can be a very exciting experience with a rewarding career waiting for you at the end. Taking the appropriate steps at the beginning will help you make the right decision for your future. And, if all else fails, at least you will get some great sugary desserts along the way!