The Cream of the Crop: Pastry Chefs
A pastry chef's job is to finish off a meal with a bang. Their raw materials, eggs, flour, butter, cream, and sugar, are transformed into extravagant desserts that leave diners walking away from the table smiling. In order to produce light, fluffy meringues and dense, delicious flourless chocolate cakes, pastry chefs much understand the chemistry of baking. This foundation gives pastry chefs the skills they need to improvise their own recipes and to troubleshoot when recipes go awry.
A Pastry Chef's Training
Before you jump into a career as a pastry chef, you need the proper training. Baking differs from other culinary arts because the proportions must be much more exact. Bread will not rise if there is not enough yeast, for example. Other culinary arts offer much more room for improvisation.
Training for pastry chefs consists of a degree program in which you learn how to make desserts, breads, doughs, showpieces, pastries, and chocolate. You can earn your associate's degree in about two years, or your bachelor's degree in four.
Where Pastry Chefs Work
Most pastry chefs work at bakeries or in restaurant kitchens. Others have found more non-traditional careers. Some trained pastry chefs might use their knowledge and skills to become food writers. Wedding cake decoration is another pastry chef specialty. Many bakeries only sell wedding cakes. You can even work for an ice cream company as an ice cream maker and designer of new flavors.
No matter your specific career path as a pastry chef, you should feel comfortable in your career prospects. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of pastry chef jobs available should grow steadily through 2014.
