Ever thought of a career as a pastry chef? This is a profession that has the “feel good” factor about it – enticing, sweet (in more senses than one!) and rewarding. Moreover, baking is a profession of creativity. It is a field that blends both art and science to create something that is visually aesthetic, remarkably pleasing & intriguing in terms of aroma and flavour. The first professional patissiers or pastry chefs were Assyrians who began their career way back in the 8th Century. Today, specialization in baking, preparing confections, or the role of a pastry chef has emerged as one of the blooming modern career alternatives and is widely acknowledged across the world.
Job of a Pastry Chef
Pastry chefs are experts at creating delicious pastries and desserts, specializing mostly in baking techniques. Compared to the more general culinary arts, baking and pastry arts require a different skill set, but the path is no less demanding. The job of a pastry chef demands hard work, dedication, commitment, creativity and passion. It is a promising and thriving career alternative for those that have a natural desire for preparing pastries, natural cooking expertise, and artistic skills. A professional pastry chef is expected to be innovatively creative, a skilled expert who should be able to specialize in preparing a large variety of cakes, cookies, confections, pastries, pies, muffins, brownies, and decorating desserts. By executing creative and innovative methods with new products that fit one’s basic knowledge and understanding of baking, one can build a niche in this field. Keeping those realizations in mind, let’s look at how to train as a pastry chef.
Career Opportunities of a Pastry Chef
For a skilled and proficient pastry chef, there are a plethora of job opportunities, especially abroad. One can even start a personal business or practice as a pastry-making course instructor. Working as a patissier and the baking profession as a whole demands a comprehensive knowledge of the ingredients and blending them in the correct proportion. One can become a pastry baker without any formal education. However, to work as a professional, it is mandatory to have basic training and education in baking, decorating, icing, and sound knowledge about the correct ingredients.
To excel as a professional pastry chef, a 3-year degree course in hotel management or a certificate program in confectionary programs and pastry chef courses will help on a large scale. The majority of bakers grow as a full-fledged pastry chef by starting as trainees and beginners at patisseries or commercial bakeries administered by an experienced baker. There are numerous hotel management institutions that offer degree courses, a diploma, and certificate courses for specializing as a pastry chef.
Skills and Qualities Required for a Pastry Chef
In order to practice as a professional pastry chef, one should take up a pastry chef course so one can have adequate knowledge about handling baking techniques, decoration procedures, managing food & baking recipe ingredients. Also, the job of a pastry chef requires certain skills and personality attributes. These are discussed below:
A Calm and Composed Nature
Being a professional pastry chef may need a lot of patience, whether you spend many days making a complex three-tier wedding cake or most of your time creating the ideal flaky croissant recipe! Baking is one activity where rushing through a recipe’s crucial steps or unintentionally skipping one could damage the outcome and waste valuable time.In addition to having patience for the pure art of the work, you might also need to handle incoming demands from employees and clients. All things considered, having patience is a virtue in the pastry arts.
Imagination and Creativity
Ultimately, a pastry chef is a creative person. Pastry chefs typically start with a “blank canvas,” depending on the pastry or baked dish, and fill in the details by using their own creativity. Outstanding pastry chefs could also desire to bring unique products to a menu or put their own spin on a time-tested recipe. For instance, they might experiment with diverse flavours, such as putting a dash of cardamom into a classic cake or adding unusual components to a chocolate dessert, such chilli pepper. Pastry chefs that are creative can provide tasty delicacies for their patrons!
Knack for Flavour Balancing
Pastry chefs need to be well-versed in flavours and textures in order to brainstorm and create innovative, new recipes. Which main ingredients go into creating a flawlessly cooked Pain au Chocolat or caramelized Cannelés de Bordeau? By being aware of these subtleties, pastry chefs may be able to “play” in the kitchen and produce sweets that are harmoniously balanced!
An Ideal College Degree Course for a Pastry Chef’s Career
Inspiria Knowledge Campus located at Himachal Vihar, Matigara, Siliguri offers the best pastry chef courses in India that are equivalent to a graduate degree. The labs, kitchens, and classrooms equipped with modern amenities and the learning-oriented environment help and prepare the budding pastry chefs and professionals to land a promising career and instil a mindset of entrepreneurship. The college that has tie-ups with renowned organizations and star properties promises employability in India and abroad to the youths in their chosen professional domain.
If you have passed 10+2 from any stream and have a passion for making compelling pastries, then opting for a pastry chef course is the ideal choice for you. With the ever-growing catering technology, food processing, and the increasing demand for qualified chefs, there are unending career opportunities for those that seek to build one in the specified domain.
Albeit, the career as a pastry chef can be extremely demanding, coming up with some unique and incredibly compelling creations that brighten a guest’s moment, and getting the best compliments for your dedication is truly a rewarding profession.
