Becoming a Pastry Chef
To become a successful pastry chef a good education is needed, and also a lot of training, and amazing cooking skills to help right along with the journey of becoming a pastry chef. Being a chef is not always an easy job. This job takes a lot of dedication. When working on a pastry arrangement chefs could possibly get no sleep, and if they do get a chance to sleep, it would not be much sleeping time before they are back up starting another arrangement. Taking on this job is a big deal because this is not what you would call a regular eight hour job. Leaving is not an option when the job for that certain arrangement is over.
In other words, in order to take on this amazing job you have to start with a good education. One of the many very well recommended school which is Le Cordon Bleu, which is a great way to start a career of becoming a pastry chef. Le Cordon Bleu is worldwide recognized program, and is seen as the most finest culinary arts program available for students interested in becoming a chef. Students that attend this program can learn up to anything as simple as basic cooking skills. “Our industry-current kitchens and culinary classrooms are designed for students to immerse themselves in the culinary world, working alongside professional instructors learning focused, theoretical foundation and essential, technical skills that can be applied to the preparation of any cuisine”(What 1). The program is located in sixteen different places all over the United States. Two of them are in Texas, and are located in Dallas, Texas and the other in Austin, Texas.
Another excellent culinary arts program happens to be at the University of Houston where the student’s main focus is baked goods and desserts are in a sixty-eight credit program. At the end of the course students get put in a real live situation such as a bakery and are supervised on what they had been taught during the program. The basic importance of bread and cake making are taught in this program also.
Furthermore pastry chefs have a certain attitude, characteristics, and a special set of knowledge and skills. When taking on a pastry arrangement everything needs to be very organized and detail-oriented. Making pastries such as wedding cakes or birthday cakes require other expert pastry chefs that can help with an arrangement. This keeps the head baker from doing everything on his or her own, so it is as simple as assigning individual jobs to create the final product.
The pastry chef is on his/her feet for hours at a time. This job requires tons of coffee and stamina to keep going and working on your assigned pastry arrangement. Dedication is one word that sums that all up. When interviewing Ms. Deborah a question was asked about how much time is put into her catering business for pastries and she replied, “My weekends are usually filled with pastry making” (Thompson). In other words, this job can be a challenge.
In other words, working in the White House could be an amazing experience to start off a pastry career. “Creativity is an important quality, more so than for any other type of cooking. For example, Executive Pastry Chef, Ronald Mesnier was the White House pastry chef for 25 years, creating all the wonderful and beautiful desserts for every White House gala and state dinner. In all that time, he never served the same dessert twice. Now, that’s creativity” (Becoming 1).
One thing that is found in all pastry chef is patience because they are usually dealing with customer who are the reason they have a job so having patience keeps the money coming and most importantly keeps the cliental up. It is also good to have a great personality and sense of humor it makes the stress level stay down. Some of your everyday basic cooking skills you will use are measuring, mixing and blending, and food preparation techniques.
Being successful can come from starting a business or working in another successful business. “Some bakers decide to open their own bakeries. To be successful they need business skills and money for the substantial initial investment. Bakers may also purchase franchises such as doughnut shop that specialize in baked goods. Pastry chefs in restaurants often transfer to other restaurants to further their experience and earnings. Occasionally, pastry chefs become head cooks or chefs or start their own catering services” (Craigmyle/Corbis 1).
In addition to all of this information becoming a pastry chef can be difficult at times but at the end of the day it could all be worth it. The preparation and skills take time to develop, but with a good education and the right training things will get easier. Becoming a pastry chef has its disadvantages and advantages, but it is nothing a great chef cannot overcome.
Works Cited
“Becoming a Pastry Chef.” The Relucant Gourmet. 2 Dec. 2013. http://reluctantgourmet.com/education/culinary-career-path/item/1222-becoming-pastry-chef
Craigmyle/Corbis, Jim. “Pastry Chef and Baker Job Description, Career as a Pastry Chef and Baker, Salary, Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job.” Net Industries. 2 Dec. 2013. http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/536/Pastry-Chef-Baker.html
Thompson, Deborah. Dats Good Eatn. Personal Interview. 26 Oct. 2012
“What We Do: Our Dallas College.” Le Cordon Bleu. 2 Dec. 2013. http://www.chefs.edu/Dallas
To become a successful pastry chef a good education is needed, and also a lot of training, and amazing cooking skills to help right along with the journey of becoming a pastry chef. Being a chef is not always an easy job. This job takes a lot of dedication. When working on a pastry arrangement chefs could possibly get no sleep, and if they do get a chance to sleep, it would not be much sleeping time before they are back up starting another arrangement. Taking on this job is a big deal because this is not what you would call a regular eight hour job. Leaving is not an option when the job for that certain arrangement is over.
In other words, in order to take on this amazing job you have to start with a good education. One of the many very well recommended school which is Le Cordon Bleu, which is a great way to start a career of becoming a pastry chef. Le Cordon Bleu is worldwide recognized program, and is seen as the most finest culinary arts program available for students interested in becoming a chef. Students that attend this program can learn up to anything as simple as basic cooking skills. “Our industry-current kitchens and culinary classrooms are designed for students to immerse themselves in the culinary world, working alongside professional instructors learning focused, theoretical foundation and essential, technical skills that can be applied to the preparation of any cuisine”(What 1). The program is located in sixteen different places all over the United States. Two of them are in Texas, and are located in Dallas, Texas and the other in Austin, Texas.
Another excellent culinary arts program happens to be at the University of Houston where the student’s main focus is baked goods and desserts are in a sixty-eight credit program. At the end of the course students get put in a real live situation such as a bakery and are supervised on what they had been taught during the program. The basic importance of bread and cake making are taught in this program also.
Furthermore pastry chefs have a certain attitude, characteristics, and a special set of knowledge and skills. When taking on a pastry arrangement everything needs to be very organized and detail-oriented. Making pastries such as wedding cakes or birthday cakes require other expert pastry chefs that can help with an arrangement. This keeps the head baker from doing everything on his or her own, so it is as simple as assigning individual jobs to create the final product.
The pastry chef is on his/her feet for hours at a time. This job requires tons of coffee and stamina to keep going and working on your assigned pastry arrangement. Dedication is one word that sums that all up. When interviewing Ms. Deborah a question was asked about how much time is put into her catering business for pastries and she replied, “My weekends are usually filled with pastry making” (Thompson). In other words, this job can be a challenge.
In other words, working in the White House could be an amazing experience to start off a pastry career. “Creativity is an important quality, more so than for any other type of cooking. For example, Executive Pastry Chef, Ronald Mesnier was the White House pastry chef for 25 years, creating all the wonderful and beautiful desserts for every White House gala and state dinner. In all that time, he never served the same dessert twice. Now, that’s creativity” (Becoming 1).
One thing that is found in all pastry chef is patience because they are usually dealing with customer who are the reason they have a job so having patience keeps the money coming and most importantly keeps the cliental up. It is also good to have a great personality and sense of humor it makes the stress level stay down. Some of your everyday basic cooking skills you will use are measuring, mixing and blending, and food preparation techniques.
Being successful can come from starting a business or working in another successful business. “Some bakers decide to open their own bakeries. To be successful they need business skills and money for the substantial initial investment. Bakers may also purchase franchises such as doughnut shop that specialize in baked goods. Pastry chefs in restaurants often transfer to other restaurants to further their experience and earnings. Occasionally, pastry chefs become head cooks or chefs or start their own catering services” (Craigmyle/Corbis 1).
In addition to all of this information becoming a pastry chef can be difficult at times but at the end of the day it could all be worth it. The preparation and skills take time to develop, but with a good education and the right training things will get easier. Becoming a pastry chef has its disadvantages and advantages, but it is nothing a great chef cannot overcome.
Works Cited
“Becoming a Pastry Chef.” The Relucant Gourmet. 2 Dec. 2013. http://reluctantgourmet.com/education/culinary-career-path/item/1222-becoming-pastry-chef
Craigmyle/Corbis, Jim. “Pastry Chef and Baker Job Description, Career as a Pastry Chef and Baker, Salary, Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job.” Net Industries. 2 Dec. 2013. http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/536/Pastry-Chef-Baker.html
Thompson, Deborah. Dats Good Eatn. Personal Interview. 26 Oct. 2012
“What We Do: Our Dallas College.” Le Cordon Bleu. 2 Dec. 2013. http://www.chefs.edu/Dallas