Information on Becoming a Pastry Chef
Pastry chefs work in restaurants, hotels and bakeries baking sweet treats for customers. These professionals work long and hard hours, with schedules that may have weekend shifts, late night hours or overnight baking. Pastry chefs manage a department of pastry cooks, though some may work alone in smaller restaurants.
Other People Are Reading
-
Training
-
To get started in their career, pastry chefs either obtain work in a restaurant kitchen or bakery or go to culinary school. Some programs allow students to learn only baking and pastry. Culinary schools vary in length from a couple of years to less than a year, and will provide basic instruction in food safety, classical baking techniques, breads and all components of desserts. Students learn to use a kitchen scale and may work in metric measurements.
Cooks who don't go to culinary school receive on-the-job training. Culinary school provides a foot in the door for those unable to get restaurant training, but it isn't necessary to enter the profession.
Career Path
-
Pastry chefs typically work their way up from a pastry cook or baker position. Low-ranking pastry cooks plate desserts during lunch or dinner service, gathering components of the dessert and putting them on the plate. This work requires speed, precision and attention to detail. Higher-ranking pastry cooks and bakers prepare the elements of dessert, making cakes, mousses and other confections. In some work environments, a pastry cook will become a pastry sous chef and then a pastry chef, while other places do not have a sous chef position.
-
Work Enivironments
-
Pastry chefs work in restaurants and bakeries. Some work in hotels or industrial kitchens in schools or hospitals; others work in culinary programs instructing new professionals. Pastry chefs working in fine dining restaurants often command a higher salary than those working in institutions or bakeries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, pastry chefs earned $37,176 to $60,262 per year.
Duties
-
On the job, a pastry chef must manage the department. Pastry chefs sometimes make components of dishes for the head chef, such as a savory tart crust, cracker or a biscuit. Pastry chefs hire and train new cooks, schedule cooks and perform an inventory of goods, ordering new goods as necessary. Pastry chefs must research new recipes, test and develop menu items and work with the head chef to present a cohesive menu.
Skills
-
Pastry chefs need to be detail oriented, neat and precise. They need to be comfortable with math, since they will use multiplication and metric conversion frequently. Pastry chefs need to be good leaders, capable of communicating with their team and handling a high-stress work environment. Occasionally, pastry chefs will research skills and classical techniques, so they need to be comfortable locating and understanding information.
-
References
- Photo Credit Dynamic Graphics/Creatas/Getty Images
