Baking and Pastry Classes: Is This is Right Step for Me?
Becoming a baker or pastry chef can be an incredibly rewarding career. Each day, you'll have the chance to see the fruits of your labor, watching your customers enjoy your incredible breads or desserts. If you enjoy baking, this could be the perfect career path for you. Here's what you need to know about getting an education in baking and pastry.
Understanding the Difference Between Baking and Cooking
In many culinary education programs, baking and pastry represent just a small component of a larger education geared towards becoming a chef. Though the two are related, they are actually quite different. When it comes to cooking savory dishes, you typically have a lot more flexibility in terms of the recipe. You can add ingredients to taste, letting you express your creativity in terms of the ingredients you use.
Of course, baking allows for creativity as well, but the actual process of baking is much more precise. Because baking requires you to create chemical reactions with your ingredients in order to get bread to rise or a custard to set, for example. The proportions of the various ingredients need to strike the perfect balance.
While a chef can often get away with experimentation, a baker or pastry chef must stay within the confines of the requirements for a particular dish. To put it more simply, cooking is often considered to be an art, while baking is typically considered a science. If you have more of a mathematical mind and enjoy science, you'll likely do well as a baker or pastry chef.
Why Baking and Pastry Classes Are So Important
Taking courses in baking and pastry could be invaluable to your career. While chefs can often learn through trial and error, in baking, this process will take a lot longer to master. Starting out with a solid educational foundation in the basic techniques of baking could get you to the point where you can start being more creative much quicker.
From the moment you start your baking education, you'll be learning the science behind the various techniques right from the start. This will help to prevent you from forming any negative habits in the early stages. When you learn to do things properly from the get-go, you'll be able to master the basic tasks more quickly so that you can move on to more challenging recipes.
Benefits for Your Career Path
In addition to helping you learn faster, you'll have an advantage over your peers who try to get their education by working in a bakery or pastry shop when it comes time to look for a job. While it is true that some bakers and pastry chefs take on apprentices, not all do this. You may end up working the cash register in a bakery for years, without ever getting your hands into the dough.
In baking and pastry classes, you'll get the hands-on education you need right away. Then, when you start looking for a job in a bakery, you'll already have the background and basic skills employers are looking for, making it easier to get the job you want. When you already have a strong foundation, you should be able to progress in your career more quickly than if you were to start from scratch.
Earn Your Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts
When it comes to formal education in baking and pastry arts, you have two primary options available to you: an Associate's Degree and a diploma. The diploma is the easier of the two and focuses solely on baking and pastry.
With the associate's degree path, you'll also be required to complete general education courses to round out your knowledge base. The specific courses required will depend largely on the school you choose, but they typically encompass topics like math, science, history, writing, and other topics.
Are you interested in learning more about baking and pastry arts? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Baking and Pastry Arts, ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this course at an accelerated rate. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions counselor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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Gainful Employment Information – Baking & Pastry Arts – Diploma
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