Have you ever wondered how to become a pastry chef? You may be closer to becoming one than you think, and not even realize it. Do you already have a passion for creating eye catching treats that excite the taste buds? Do your friends and family rave about your delicious creations, and make you bring a dessert to every possible get together? Do they make up get togethers for no other reason that they know you will bring dessert? Everyone is well aware about your favorite past time and your natural ability for the preparation of sweet home made treats of all kinds. That means you are the one everyone calls on to bake for school bake sales, the church bazaar bake sale, and for the preparation and decorating of special occasion cakes. Anyone who needs a cake for a birthday, anniversary, wedding has you on their speed dial as the one to call on.
Whether you realize it or not you have become a pastry chef. You have heard of a personal assistant or personal shopper, well just consider yourself everyone’s personal pastry chef. The personal assistant and personal shopper chose their careers while you have just sort of fallen into the role of personal pastry chef by being there for your friends and family whenever they needed a homemade delectable dessert. Think about all of the experience you have attained while baking at home. You have used your natural ability to make homemade cakes and decorate them to perfection, become an expert at flaky pastries, and there is no one who can compete with your homemade pies. With all this expertise maybe it is time for you to start thinking outside the box and start making some money by doing something that you love.
This does not mean that someone who has no experience with pastries cannot become a professional. If you are just coming out of high school, or are looking for an exciting new profession, enrolling in a pastry chef school is a great place to start. They will be able to teach you everything you need to know about the ins and outs of creating edible pieces of art. While you may not have any pastry making skills now, these schools can give you the tools necessary to become a work renowned chef.
How to Become a Pasty Chef
You have two options when thinking about making a living in this line of work. You can either start your own business (either open a store or work out of your home), or join the staff of a restaurant.
If you start a business preparing desserts you have become a master at then you will be able to make your own hours, work while the kids are in school, and make some extra money to help with the family budget at the same time. However, you also have to worry about all the business aspects of the job, which might take up more time than actually creating the food itself. This option is great for someone who already has a family, as you would not need to relocate to make the most money possible.
Joining the staff of a high end restaurant or 5 star hotel will offer the highest pay and give you the exposure necessary to become famous in the culinary arts world. If this is the path that sounds most exciting to you, then it would be wise to try to get your start in one of the major food hubs of the United States, such as Las Vegas, New York City, of Los Angeles. However, nearly every city will have a need for your specialized skills, so you do not have to move if you are comfortable where you live now.
First Steps to Opening your Own Pastry Business
The first step to becoming a true professional pastry chef would be to take a class or two at the nearby school of culinary arts. If all you are interested in doing is preparing all types of pastries and desserts then this is the place to learn the ins and outs of this sweet way of cooking. By attending some classes you will be able to sharpen your natural abilities for baking while learning some new recipes, time saving tips and new ideas from world renowned professional chefs. The new skills you will learn will allow you to expand your menu and offer your existing clients a wider variety of choices while drawing new clients to your new found business or job.
If you are already experienced with pastry making, and are well known in your home town, those classes should be plenty to get you going.
Once you have completed the coursework and sharpened your natural abilities you can now begin concentrating on your business plan and baking from home. Until your business is up and running you will even be able to contract as a pastry chef for various catering companies in your area and work for them. This would also be a good way for word of mouth to get around about your talent and great tasting desserts. Before you know it you will have more work than you can imagine and you will be looking for extra help in order to meet all the orders you will have coming in.
Another way to get your business ideas out there would be to create some fliers and pass them out wherever you go so people will know where to find you when then have a need a birthday cake or desserts for a get together they are planning. You can also design your own business cards and have several of them made up to pass out to prospective clients. Venture outside the box and use your imagination to become a professional well known pastry and dessert chef in your community. Before you know it people outside your community will be calling you to prepare desserts for dinner parties, family get togethers, weddings and anniversaries. The world is wide open and your imagination will take you much farther than you ever imagined when you are ready to make your favorite past time a career of choice.
Becoming an Executive Pastry Chef
If you are looking to become an executive pastry chef in an elite establishment, you probably want to take your education very seriously. Take those basic classes to make sure you have a basic understanding of the art, and that it is actually something you want to do for a career. After that it you should apply to all of the elite pastry chef schools around the country, or even some of the most famous ones around the world.
These schools will allow you to perfect your skills, as well as give you the credentials that will allow you to get some of the top jobs in the industry. While it will be your skill and creativity that will make you a known commodity, it will be the degree from the elite school that gets your foot into the door. It may also allow you to get a pastry chef apprentice position with some of the top chefs on the planet.
If you are able to go down this path there will be an never ending amount of pastry chef jobs presented to you. Once people know how you are, and desperately want you to work for them, you can pick and choose your location and reach the top tier of pastry chef salaries.
When thinking about becoming a pastry chef you really need to think about what you want out of life. As long as you pour your heart into your work you will be a success no matter where you live or who you work for.
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