Diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts
Top Reasons to Choose a Le Cordon Bleu Pastry Arts Schools
Your Professional Grade Baking and Pastry Arts Toolkit:
Your professional grade Baking and Pastry Arts toolkit includes: 10" steel-genesis-bulk, bench scraper-bulk, 3.5" paring knife-genesis-bulk, 4" x 1" knife guard, 9" chef's knife-genesis-bulk, 10" x 2" knife guard, 11" wavy edge slicer–millennia-bulk, 10" x 1.5" knife guard, 10 closed star decorating tips, pastry comb, 12" piano wire whip, plastic bowl scraper, large scraper–heat resistant, pocket thermometer, 4" offset spatula–plastic handle, 2" pastry brush–white handle, measuring cup set, premium measuring spoon set-4, 12" exoglass spoon, 16: polyurethane pastry bag, 10: spatula-bulk, 7 pocket case
Focus on the Fundamentals: Safety & Sanitation and Culinary Foundations I
Learning the art of baking and pastry begins with the basics. You’ll be taught:
- The terminology, standards and organization used in working kitchens.
- Stocks and sauces, and taste and flavor.
- How to handle food safely from acquisition to service.
- Culminating with the nationally-accredited ServSafe® Food Safety exam for certification required to work in a professional kitchen.
Start Baking: Introduction to Pâtisserie and Baking Techniques
Become acquainted with the art of pâtisserie as you learn the way to bake, decorate and create. You’ll be taught:
- The names and uses of various baked products and baking ingredients.
- How to weigh and measure ingredients for baking.
- Techniques for preparing cookies, cakes, muffins, tarts, custards, and petit fours.
- Meringues, butter creams, and Genoise sponge preparation.
Get More Adventurous: Baking Principles and Viennoiserie
Working with your hands, gain an understanding of how yeast works, and the importance of timing and recipe development:
- How ingredients work; techniques for producing and presentation of yeast products.
- Prepare breads, enriched doughs and various artisan breads, phyllo dough, sweet dough and Brioche.
Experience New Horizons: International Pastries, Cake Formula and Assembly
Explore the world of classical European desserts, and the art of assembling, finishing, and decorating cakes with various fillings and icings. As part of this baking certificate program, you’ll work hands on to create:
- Pâte à choux, stirred and baked custards, Bavarians and mousses.
- Crepes, soufflé, sabayon and frozen desserts.
- Creamed, two-stage, and foamed cakes.
- And more.
Explore Your Inner Artist: Advanced Pastry Techniques and Centerpiece/Cake Decorating*
Focus on plated desserts; move on to grander scale centerpieces and wedding cakes:
- Tempering chocolate, piping, and preparing sauces and garnishes.
- Pâtisserie and Baking Market Basket practical.
- More elaborate decorations with pastillage, chocolate, gum paste, cooked sugar, nougatine, and marzipan as you gain the skills to produce celebration cakes.
- Create candies, showpieces, and centerpieces.
* This course is offered in the new 12 month certificate program currently offered at our Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota/St. Paul, Orlando, and Portland campuses.
Get a Real-World Perspective: Externship I and II
Bring it all together and put your skills into practice in an actual business environment:
- Work alongside pâtisserie and baking professionals.
- Refine your skills and creativity.
- Gain irreplaceable immersion in the industry with 180 hours of progressive work-place experience.
- Stay with the same site or explore somewhere new for your second externship.
* The 9 month certificate program offered in Boston, Sacramento, Seattle, and St. Louis, includes one externship course (90 hours).