Duties of a Pastry Cook

A pastry cook is as important in a restaurant as the chef.

Upon entering a restaurant, you may wonder how the food is going to taste or what might be on the menu. It is the chef's responsibility to make these decisions, but at the end of the meal the little creations that everyone looks over and secretly craves are determined by the pastry cook.

Menu

The pastry cook will meet with the head chef to determine what delicacies will go best with what is being served that day or week. This is done more often when the menu changes on a daily basis. A set menu will generally have the pastry cook assigning what the special of the day will be.

Stock and Ordering

A pastry cook responsibility is ensuring that the stock is maintained so the ingredients are there when they are needed. This means setting up the required quantities of stock and determining how long the stock will last before a new order has to be filled. A pastry cook will have to monitor how much of each ingredient is used on a daily basis and how long the stock is going to last.

Cooking

The last and main duty of a pastry cook is to prepare the desserts, breads and other treats that are going to be served that day. A pastry cook must know how much dessert and what kind of dessert must be cooked to prevent wasting the product. This is important because wasting product will cause the restaurant or bakery to loose money. Making too little will also cost money by not having the desserts advertised readily available for the customers.

References

• Culinary Schools: The Job of Pastry Chef, Bread Baker, Dessert Maker