Pastry Chef Careers

Pastry Chefs are responsible for creating unique desserts, confections, pastries, ice creams, and baked goods.  They generally work from recipes established by Executive Pastry Chefs, or client requests.  They often decorate items with edible ornaments that they have created.  To do this, they use icing, sugar paste, spatulas, cream bags, and a variety of other tools.  They are responsible for ensuring all products are uniform and meet quality standards.  Customer satisfaction is pertinent so they must strive to please all clientele.  Pastry Chefs are artists of food, and must be imaginative and efficient when creating products. 

Most Pastry Chefs work in modern, well equipped kitchens.  They generally have generous work space and numerous assistants for preparing each specialty.  Some professionals, however, must tolerate small, cramped quarters with older or outdated equipment.  Some decorating assignments may include detailed work, so it is important that chefs are meticulous, patient, and have great manual dexterity.  They may endure long hours in extreme heat, and occasionally endure burns from ovens or stoves.  Many items must be created at specific temperatures, so chefs must be precise when working with these products. 

Training for these occupations varies by specialty.  Professionals may attend vocational or formal programs ranging from one to four years.  The shorter programs generally allow entry to the lower level positions such as Chef Assistants, but candidates work their way up to Pastry Chef with experience and/or continued education.  Since many of the two to four year programs include internships, candidates possessing these degrees or certificates may enter higher level positions with more ease due to their experience. 

Since the cooking industry is so large, careers are projected to be favorable.  Due to the increased mass production of baked goods and other confections, these occupations will experience average growth compared to other industries.  Although careers will be favorable in coming years, competition for the top kitchens will remain high, and chefs with a Bachelors degree combined with experience will have the best opportunities.  For more information on a career as a Pastry Chef, please visit the following sites:

• Pastry Scoop
• Profile of a Pastry Chef
• The French Pastry Chef
• Pastry Chef Central
• Pastry Championship

For a list of available Pastry Chef positions as well as a database of Pastry Chefs searching for a career, please visit iHireChefs.