Building upon the foundations established in the Certificate Pastry Program, the labs in this further your understanding of theory and principles, introduce you to advanced techniques, and draw out your personal style as you prepare and present individual pastry creations.

Fundamentals of Pastry Arts
Study the theory and principles of French techniques used in making traditional pastries, including presentation, plating, and adaptation. Develop a strong understanding of the chemical function of ingredients and scalability of items for commercial baking, and explore the ingredients, tools, and techniques utilized in classic European desserts and pastries. Learn to make and identify choux, Viennoiserie, fillings, meringues, sauces, and cakes. Create intricate and delicious desserts that you will present and evaluate as a group.

Combined Savory Component
A well-rounded pastry chef who can assist in all areas of commercial kitchen work is highly desirable in the food industry. Learn to incorporate your growing pastry expertise into the savory side of food production, working with eggs, sauces, stocks, vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood. Practice shaping pasta and pizza doughs, and develop full savory dishes utilizing a pastry or dough component. With your peers, you will complete meals drawn from a variety of international sources, preparing, presenting, and evaluating them as a group.

Advanced Techniques & Presentations
Prepare international pastry recipes and explore the tools and techniques that will bring your creative vision to life. Learn advanced plating methods, chocolate tempering and molding, advanced pastillage and gum paste shaping, and the art of sugar pulling. Create elaborate chocolate and sugar showpieces, design a wedding cake, build a towering croquembouche, and complete a multitude of confections, truffles, and classic French sweets.

Further advance your culinary knowledge and build up your professional marketability through a wide range of seminar topics.

Nutrition for the Foodservice Professional
Receive an overview of food and nutrition science and its role in today’s foodservice industry. Become proficient in nutritional standards, dietary guidelines, and the nutrients and composition of specific foods. Relevant topics such as fad diets, genetic engineering, reading food labels, adapting recipes for specific dietary needs, and evaluating nutritional claims will be reviewed.

Food Writing
Reading about food can be life changing, whether from a memoir, a blog, scripts for movies, magazine articles and cookbooks, and reviews. Learn how current writers land a book deal, how bloggers launch their pages and brands, how to write pitch letters, and create your personal writing niche through prose and voice. Discover sources and tools for getting your work published in magazines, newspapers, and online publications and practice your craft through guided exercises.

Wine
Heighten your senses during this interactive overview of wine production, the political and historical events that influenced wine culture, and varietals from across the globe. Explore wine tasting practices to help you develop your palate and better assess grape variety, quality, and value. Address popular and unusual food and wine pairings with various white, red, sparkling, and fortified wines to understand the logic behind menu recommendations.

Cheese
Taste European and American cheeses and gain an appreciation of the distinct characteristics of cheese styles, including bloomy-rind, washed-rind, semi-firm, hard, and blue cheeses. Compare several samples within each category and learn about the history, cultural relevancy, production, and proper storage of each. Building upon this knowledge, you will start to appreciate cheese plates, pairings, and the role of professional cheese buying in the foodservice industry.

Catering
From developing clientele to mastering transportation and creative flexibility, the art of catering appeals to many seeking an alternative to restaurant work. Discover the professional skills and business techniques that will help you find success as a caterer.