Do Pastry Chefs Make Good Money?

How do you turn your skill into a career? That's what everyone wonders at one time or another. But let's start at the beginning. What is your skill? Do you enjoy cooking and spend most of your time in the kitchen concocting the most delicious desserts you can imagine? Maybe you were meant to turn your skill into a career by becoming a pastry chef.

As a pastry chef, you will be working in a professional kitchen and you will have a hand in creating aesthetically pleasing and delicious food. Most pastry chef jobs will require you to work for long days and untraditional hours. In case you specialize in preparing bread and pastries, you will be starting your day at around 3 to 4 a.m.

This is because there’s a lot of work that goes into baking pastry and bread often takes time to rise. If you're a morning person who wants to rise with the sun and get the mixers going long before customers are thinking about coming into your business for their breakfast, this could be a great fit for you.

How Much Does a Pastry Chef Make?

According to the BLS, pastry chefs make $45,950 annually. This pay is above average, compared to all occupations. But money is seldom the reason why someone would devote themselves to being a pastry chef. There's a spark of creativity, a love of all things sweet and savory, and a  yearning to experiment with food that makes a pastry chef tick. Let's take a look at some of the non-monetary benefits for this profession.

Other Reasons Why You Should Be a Pastry Chef

Although there are many challenges in the foodservice industry, becoming a chef is unique and special. Here are a few reasons why:

The joy of creating

By becoming a pastry chef, you’ll get the opportunity to create that perfect dish and take full advantage of the unique textures and ingredients as you create something that people will love. Each plate you prepare will leave the kitchen bearing your invisible signature.

Satisfaction

According to Brillat-Savarin, inventing a new recipe creates more happiness to humankind, and it exceeds the joy of discovering a new star because there are plenty of them already. Very few professions will give you the gratification you get by becoming a pastry chef.

Universality

Pastry is a fashionable career around the world, and in some countries, it’s more than in ours. This means that you might find many doors to open in San Francisco, Singapore or Qatar. As a pastry chef, you could get the opportunity to travel the world.

Qualities of a Great Pastry Chef

It's one thing to have passion, but without formal training to give you the knowledge and focus you need, your budding talent could be wasted. Here are some of the soft skills you'll need to thrive in the world of culinary arts.

Attention to detail

As a pastry chef, this is one of the most important characteristics. While you need to be talented to become a pastry chef, you need an eye for detail. The baking process relies heavily on science, and can be unforgiving. Tempering chocolate is not something you master with a few tries, for example. You have to look for the signs in the chocolate, keep the right temperate, amount of chocolate, and motion in the bowl. This might seem tedious to the average person. But to a pastry chef, it's a challenge to be undertaken!

Organized

From mixing bowls and measuring cups to condensed milk and powdered sugar, pastry chefs have many tools and ingredients to keep track of in the kitchen. Therefore, you should remain organized, always. You have to give each tool and ingredient its place in the kitchen. An organized pastry chef knows where to locate all ingredients in their kitchen and easily gather the needed tools.

Patient

Ask any successful chef and they will tell you that baking takes time. You will spend over an hour preparing most dishes, and another hour baking. This means that you have to wait for a long time, but if you’re impatient, you will find yourself rushing to take the dishes out of the oven before they finish cooking. This is why you need to take your time to become successful. Patience will keep you from moving too quickly.

Do you think you have what it takes to make it in the culinary arts world? If you want to earn a Diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts, ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this program at an accelerated rate. For more information about this exciting course, connect with a helpful admissions advisor 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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