Why Do Your Pastry Training at Prue Leith?

Pastry chefs are the artists and the meticulous perfectionists of the culinary world. They create everything from delicate morsels of perfection, through to grand masterpieces, all of which require a steady hand, patience and expert training.

If you have a genuine love for desserts, pastries, complex cakes and all things sweet, then perhaps the refined skills that are required during pastry training, will appeal to you. Plus, pastry chefs are in high demand and are paid well. Thus, if your skills, passion and dedication are stellar, you could aim for the stars and find yourself working in the kitchens of top hotels, restaurants and for famous personalities around the world.

Working as a pastry chef will present you with a creative way to express your artistic side, daily, as the job is complex and challenging. Each dessert needs to be assembled individually, and baking starts at around 3 in the morning! You will need stamina and energy, as the hours are long, but the position is so rewarding.

There is more scope for individual expression as a pastry chef, where one is presented with the opportunity to come up with something fresh and new each day. Famous pastry chefs across the world have made their mark on the culinary scene with their originality and sheer enthusiasm for their craft. Along with a resurgence in the celebration of this culinary art in recent times, as witnessed on popular cooking shows.

Bakes, pastries and all things sugary have seen a 1950’s-like revival, highlighting the brilliance of the creative process behind pastry making. Pastry chefs have finally found their place amongst the world’s most famous celebrity chefs, spurning TV shows and books, dedicated purely to these celebrated chefs.

Of course, some European cities such as Paris and Rome have celebrated pastry chefs all along; evident in the sheer volume and popularity of corner cafés, bakeries and patisserie boutiques in these regions. What would a visit to Paris be without a visit to a world-class macaroon store, without sampling a slice or two of gateau or a collection of truffles? In Italy, pastries are traditionally enjoyed with coffee every morning, and are certainly a way of life in Belgium and Switzerland. Pastry training has been highlighted by all these influences, and at Prue Leith Chefs Academy we offer two different courses to those who are passionate about the craft.

To be a brilliant pastry chef, you require the training necessary to take on the culinary world.  We offer young chefs the opportunity to take either a 6-month fulltime or a 12-month fulltime Diploma course in Patisserie. The 6-month Diploma course prepares one enough for entry level. The course is intensive, covering practical and theoretical aspects, preparing one for the entry level position as Pastry Chef. The course prepares students for five star establishments, and due to the City & Guilds IVQ Diploma in Patisserie exams being written alongside their exams, students are also equipped with qualifications that will be accepted whilst travelling.

The 12-month fulltime Diploma Patisserie also prepares students for entry level, offering intensive French models of pastry training, with modern influences. The course is longer due to the fact that students undergo 6 months of foundational training before specialising in patisserie for a further 6 months.

City & Guilds Diploma in Patisserie exams are written alongside our exams so that the student can achieve both a national framework qualification and an internationally recognised qualification which allows for easier travel work experiences. The course is even more intensive, covering practical and theoretical aspects, preparing budding pastry chefs for the entry level position as Pastry Chef.

The course prepares students for five star establishments, and due to the City & Guilds IVQ Diploma in Patisserie, students are also equipped with qualifications that will be accepted throughout their travels. Prue Leith Chefs Academy boasts a temperature controlled pastry kitchen for their pastry training, amongst their other enviable facilities.

So, if you want to be the next Dominique Ansel, Francois Payard, Jean Georges or Gina DePalma and set the town alight with your beautiful brioche, tortes, tarts or panna cotta, enrol with Prue Leith Chefs Academy for the best Pastry courses money can buy. Invest in your future as a star Pastry Chef. All it takes is dedication, a little obsession, dollops of passion, heaps of creativity and a comprehensive education at Prue Leith Chefs Academy, to reach for the stars as a young graduate!