Culinary School for Baking: The Advantages of a Degree in Baking and Pastry

The baking industry in the United States generates over $30 billion annually. It is also a sector that stokes creativity and offers an outlet for those with a culinary passion to craft an innovative career. And with a forecasted growth of 1% per year over the next decade, the outlook is encouraging. But where do you begin? Just as with any career path, knowledge is power. Learning the skills, methods, and processes required to bake successfully, as well as the opportunity to network with established figures and like-minded individuals, can all be found in culinary school.

A baking and pastry degree offers a wide array of concentrations. According to the American Baker’s Association, the bakery market is segmented into the following:

• Bread: 32%
• Rolls: 19%
• Cakes: 15%
• Retail Bakery Products: 10%
• Soft Cakes: 8%
• Pies: 2%
  

No matter what your passion is, where you want to focus, or where you want to end up, developing a foundation based on knowledge and experience is essential. Here are a few of the advantages that are available when you pursue a culinary arts degree in advanced baking and pastry .

In culinary school, you will experience each facet of not only the baking industry but the food service sector in general. Your first semester begins with the very basics of food safety and sanitation, moving through to professional cooking labs and lectures and introductory classes on baking and breads. In the second semester, higher level professional cooking curriculum will build upon what you’ve already learned. In your third semester, the focus of baking and pastry skills really ramps up. Now that you have an established knowledge base, you can concentrate on this specialty. From advanced boulangerie to cake and entremets methods, you will develop the skills for your final semester, which includes custom cakes, confections, and high-level restaurant production and service.

All of the lessons and skills will be learned and developed in state-of-the-art classrooms and commercial kitchens. From tiered lecture halls to demo labs, the facilities available create an environment that will allow you to experience what working as a professional chef is actually like.

While the skills you learn to professional perform your craft are imperative, culinary school also offers several classes that will help you manage not only your career but also your own business. With classes focused on management, math,English composition, leadership, and more, you will graduate ready to enter the workforce as a well-rounded professional.

At Louisiana Culinary Institute, you can earn you Baking and Pastry degree in 16 short months, with access to a vast alumni network , gaining real-world, hands-on experience. With a variety of scholarships and financial aid available, developing the tools you need for your dream job could be closer than you thought.