Pastry Arts - A Sweet Future

The Auguste Escoffier Pastry Arts program is an accelerated, effective route to building your pastry and baking skills and applying your passion and creativity. At Escoffier, our programs cover essential baking and pastry techniques and methods, from classic French pâtisserie and confections, to plating restaurant style desserts. Our program is a six month, exciting immersion into the world of baking and pastry. In addition, our students benefit from a 120 hour externship which will give you hands on training in a real world baking environment.

Career Building Programs

Pastry Arts feeds your passion, is fast, and comprehensive. We will show you how to develop your sensibilities and philosophy about pastry, baking techniques, ingredients, and presentation. Well-trained pastry cooks may find career opportunities in restaurants, catering companies, coffee shops, hotels, cafes, and artisan bakeries. You might also teach, write or create your own unique business. We are here to help you launch or advance your career.

Pastry Programs - Details

Intensive Pastry Curriculum 

The Auguste Escoffier Pastry Arts curriculum will introduce you to the full spectrum of baking. You learn the important formulas for such basic building blocks as pâte à choux, pâte brisée, and pastry cream. Pastry is both an art and a science. At the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts we balance, integrate and teach both of these important concepts. Our pastry curriculum helps you develop skills that are applied again and again, as you create more challenging pastries and desserts throughout the program.

Excellent Teaching Staff 

Our Pastry Arts instructors are dedicated to their craft. Their in-depth expertise, professionalism, and personal attention are central to developing your pastry skills and helping you realize your potential. Our instructors are experienced in both the chemistry and artistry of pastry. They are passionate about baking and share their expertise every day to give you comprehensive instruction in the world of pastry arts. 

Small Class Size — Typically 16 Students

At  Auguste Escoffier you will benefit from a small class size and individualized attention. You will enjoy a collaborative, nurturing environment where faculty and students work together to create great works of pastry art. You will get to know your fellow students and stay with the same group throughout your program, building friends and colleagues and sharing the passion of baking.

Hands-On Learning

The best way to learn pastry is by doing. Most of Pastry Arts is hands-on. You prepare a wide variety of pastry items and desserts each day, working closely with fellow students and your Chef Instructor. You taste everything, refine your skills, discover what it takes to get outstanding results, and build your skills in culinary artistry.

An Affordable Program for Serious Students

At Escoffier we have made our program affordable. Paying for school is an important consideration for every student, and your baking and pastry education will be both an investment in yourself and in your future.  Plus, financial aid is available for those who qualify.

A Blueprint for Career Success

Our Career Services Team is diligent and thorough, providing assistance with resume development and updates, letters of introduction, networking opportunities and job opportunities. At Escoffier we provide lifetime career services assistance. Also, we can help you find a part time job while you study. We are committed to your success. Call, email, or stop by the school anytime; we are here for you.

Pastry Arts Curriculum

Our Pastry Arts curriculum is broad and intensive. You produce a variety of pastry and baking items each day. The lessons continually increase in complexity of skills and technique.

Profile of a Typical Day

• Pastry Arts begins with a lecture and discussion about the day's lesson.
• You work individually or with a partner to build and create the finished products.
• Tasting together is an important and unique part of your pastry education. You and your classmates explain, critique and evaluate each item for flavor, texture and artistry.

Techniques and Methods

Pastry Arts is based on the fundamentals of classic pastry and baking techniques, methods, and terminology. Our curriculum is designed to help you develop skills that are applied again and again as you create more challenging pastries and desserts and practice contemporary plating styles. To successfully work in a pastry kitchen, it is essential to understand scaling, proper use of equipment, proper temperature of ingredients, and how to assemble a meticulous mise-en-place.

Palate Development

Pastry Arts' focus on palate development is a key part of the Auguste Escoffier learning experience. You taste everything you make. You experience the importance of flavor, its subtleties, harmonies, and contrasts. Everything we teach — techniques, methods, menu development — begins and ends with tasting.

Product Identification and Usage

Chocolate — semisweet, unsweetened and bittersweet. Flours — pastry, all-purpose, cake. They look similar but you need to understand the distinctions of usage, taste, and functionality. Pastry Arts takes this analytical and practical process seriously across all categories of baking ingredients and products.

Pastry Vocabulary

Think of the words "pâte brisée, pâte sucrée." These terms are used in pastry kitchens around the world. In Pastry Arts, we stress the importance of building your pastry vocabulary, acquired naturally in the baking process each day. Your ability to communicate the universal language of the pastry kitchen is vital to your success. 

Written and Practical Exams

Escoffier School of Culinary Arts uses quizzes and written and practical exams as educational tools. The Chef Instructors give you thorough feedback on your practical exams to measure your progress. The practical exams also mirror a typical working interview for a job.

So, if baking is your passion, explore with us the world of baking and pastry at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. An exciting future awaits you.

Escoffier Austin Pastry Program Student Disclosure information