What Does it take to Become a Pastry Chef

I’ve been watching a lot of Cake Boss with my son lately and that show is addicting. I don’t know about you but I sure would love to be able to make the kind of cakes that Buddy (the star of the show) can put together. The thing I really like is he runs the family bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey and it’s a real bakery. Not some hip cupcake shop or health conscious bakery, it’s the real deal. So you wonder, is this what it’s like to become a pastry chef?

Buddy is one version of a pastry chef, and what it takes to get to that point is a lot of hard work. If you want to be a pastry chef, you could take your own path and start your own business. This, of course, assumes you have spent a lot of time making cakes, pastries and baked goods for others and that you have some specialties you can start with.

The usual course that people take is getting culinary training at a culinary arts college or a community college or take baking courses at a pastry chef school. In the past it was possible to apprentice as a baker, but those days are becoming a distant memory. It is possible to apprentice, but you had better be good and know what you are doing before you approach a pastry chef.

Some of the things you will need to learn or need to know, is the characteristics of different ingredients and foods and how they work together. Also, if you have a flair for the creative that will really help you.

Pastry chefs have to be the most creative of all chefs and should have an eye for design. Becoming a chef is not an easy proposition and a pastry chef can even be harder. While you will be spending many hours of the day on your feet, you work day might actually start at 3 a.m.

If you have the creativity and toughness to tackle this job it can be a very rewarding job with excellent pay for an experienced pastry chef.

* * * *

Follow this link for more information on Culinary School New York.