Search Culinary Schools by Location & Subject

Choose a State: No Preference Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas British Columbia (Canada) California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming OR Region / Country: No Preference - Help w/ Regions - Central Mid Atlantic Mid South Mid West North East Pacific West South East West Canada Choose a Subject: No Preference Baking Culinary Arts Culinary Management Food & Beverage Management Hospitality Management Pastry Restaurant Management Wine, Spirits & Beverages

Top Cooking and Culinary Schools

Pastry Chef

The pastry chef prepares pastries and desserts, as well as bread and other baked goods. In larger restaurants, pastry chefs may supervise a pastry team in a separate kitchen. Pastry chefs are often in charge of the dessert menu, and will research, create, and test new recipes. They may also oversee other dessert-related items, such as dessert wines, dessert beverages, and gourmet cheese platters.

In many ways, the pastry chef's work is similar to that of the head chef or sous chef: ordering supplies, preparing a pastry kitchen budget, devising menus, testing new recipes, and managing other pastry cooks. And similar to other chefs, pastry chefs spend roughly 9-14 hours at work.

Most culinary schools include courses in pastry and baking, and some offer degrees targeted to that specialty. Le Cordon Bleu offers courses in patisserie and baking, cake formulas and assembly techniques, and food and beverage cost control -- all of which are necessary for the pastry chef. The Art Institutes' Culinary Arts schools offer Professional Baking & Pastry and Baking & Pastry Arts programs, and Keiser University's Center for Culinary Arts offers a degree in baking and pastry arts.

Pastry chefs make between roughly $36,000 - $56,000, depending on area and experience. Executive pastry chefs in New York can make as much as $72,000*.

Job growth for pastry chefs is comparable to that of other highly skilled chefs and cooks High turnover is common for these positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts job growth of 6% through 2018 for first-line supervisors and managers.

*Survey by StarChefs.com