Pastry Chef / Baker

The Pastry Chef known as Pâtissier is a station chef and head of department in a professional kitchen. They are responsible for pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. Disciplines includes; candy making, enriched/laminated breads, chocolate, ice cream and decorator. A Baker is a tradesman dealing in breads and cakes. A Commercial Baker works in manufacturing operating large automated and high-speed machinery.

As a department head their rank is similar to that of a senior chef. When working in hotels, they will plan dessert menus to accompany the other dishes harmoniously. They will make and test new recipes. They cook from scratch daily using a wide range of fresh ingredients, extracting and capturing the essence of flavours and serving-up texture variations.

A Pastry Chef would be able to become a baker with ease. A Baker who switched to become a Pastry Chef would have a solid foundation of some of the main disciplines. Opportunities for this category include; bakeries, hotels, caterers, shops, and pastry businesses.

Formal qualifications are not mandatory but do prolong the work place training needed considerably. In a similar vein to the Head Chef a career can be expedited by developing robust culinary training via a Diploma programme. There are few short cuts in this role. Knowledge and experience are critical to success.

Employers will look for the assurances of qualifications and/or experience. What they seek is competent, tenacious individuals who show initiative and craft skills to perform the job well. They will also be searching for the trait hospitality. Recruitment is a fickle and expensive business. As a result, it can feel a little frosty at times but for the right candidate the process is full of excitement and opportunities. Worth bearing in mind, the initial unknown quantities on both sides. The employer will want a high level of certainty that the individual is capable and with ongoing potential. The employee will want to know that the parameters of the work suit them/their skill set and is beneficial to their career path. WhitePepper’s Level 4 Diploma in Professional Culinary Arts has various commercial pastry skills and experiences built-in to help create a robust graduate portfolio.

A Pastry Chef will have a thorough understanding of the numerous ingredients and how they react at different temperatures and when mixed with other ingredients. The processes, the timings, textures and intended aesthetics of all creations. An eye for detail and good hand-eye coordination.

A Pastry Chef is roughly equivalent in earning capacity to that of a Head Baker or senior chef such as a Senior Sous or Head Chef. The duties are also comparable and include; dealing with suppliers, menu creation, budgeting and plating. Days can start early for bakers and hours are the same as for a commercial chef. Indeed, January 2023, reporting an opening for an experience Pastry Chef with £32,539 as the annual salary.