A sweet course is a perfect way to end one’s meal. For those who have a sweet tooth, local sweets, pastries, and doughnuts are the go-to options to satisfy sugar cravings. It is the bakers who are responsible for providing us with mouth-watering and melting in-the-mouth delicacies.
Baking as a profession
A perfect chef is an artist who can enhance the dessert with innovation and creativity as well as present it aesthetically. He/She is an artist in the truest sense. While it was once a career option for the privileged or the bold, executive pastry chef is now becoming a mainstream field.
Earlier career fields such as engineering, medical, and law were considered to be the ideal career prospects. Over the period of time, new-age and creative fields such as cake artists, home chef bakers, and executive pastry chefs are emerging to be innovative career avenues.
Baking as a new-age career option
Baking is one of the largest segments of the Indian food processing sector. Over the due course of time, it has been flourishing at a significant pace. Not only are the bakery chains growing but hotels and restaurants are keen on offering a wide variety of baked goods to the consumers.
Baking was considered a legit professional field in abroad. However, due to the surge in travel and tourism in India, various hotels and restaurants were pushed to include flavorsome and creative bakery goods to meet the demands of the tourists as well as the locals (who were intrigued by the western sweet delicacies). This is the reason why now luxurious and delectable sweet courses are available in varieties that come with exceptional taste and high-end presentation along with premium packaging.
Since the demand for such desserts especially baked items is increasing; the need for talent possessing the relevant experience is also growing. The students especially from Gen Z and millennial generation prefer pursuing their passion as a career path and baking indeed is an option that is considered by many.
The pathway to becoming an Executive Pastry chef
Even the education scenario has transformed significantly. There are various culinary institutions offering diploma, associate, and bachelor’s degree programs in pastry arts for students who wish to build a viable career in this booming domain. Depending on the level of education, this can take one to four years. As this industry includes practical knowledge as well, an internship is often part of the curriculum. To pursue the field of baking and become a pastry chef, students usually go through a formal apprenticeship which includes many years of on-the-job training.
Most professional kitchens follow the apprenticeship system. Most new cooks start at a lower level- 2nd or 1st cook position and work their way up to reach a good position. Becoming a pastry chef requires being innovative, artistic, creative, and detail-oriented. From trainee to executive chef, each position comes with different roles and responsibilities. An executive pastry chef may have other chefs or assistants within their department and may also be members of the pastry department in larger establishments. Executive chefs work along with other pastry chefs for large establishments and are also responsible for developing a dessert menu, managing inventory, and purchasing supplies, as well as cost control.
Being an Executive Pastry Chef requires prioritizing customers and ensuring their satisfaction. One who wants to reach the Executive level of pastry chefs must have to demonstrate their training, and experience as well as have an in-depth understanding of both culinary and kitchen management skills.
Apart from the opportunity to go creative, come up with your own recipes, and play with flavors as well as ingredients; baking now is one of the highest paying jobs. Adding to it, the field offers flexibility along with a happy environment and workstation where there are colors, aromas, and toothsome treats.
Summing up!
To pursue the field of baking and to become an executive pastry chef, one needs to have the relevant expertise and enroll in baking-specific courses. Various academies are present that offer full-time as well as part-time high-end baking courses. These academies and institutes are making concerted efforts to provide not only theoretical knowledge but also practical exposure along with hands-on learning experiences. They work with the sole aim to train the students and transform them into professional bakers so that they can explore their desired career avenue of the executive baking chef!
