Baking and Pastry Arts

Overview

Imagine yourself working while enjoying the aroma of freshly baked cookies, pies, cakes, and fancy desserts. WMCC can help develop your creativity and baking talents!  Join our Baking and Pastry Arts program and enroll in classes covering all areas of baking including bread making, cake decorating and design, chocolates, confections, and decorative centerpieces.

Career Opportunities

The Baking and Pastry Arts degree is designed for those wanting to work specifically in the field of baking. Baking and Pastry Arts graduates are trained to work as bakers and pastry chefs in establishments such as bakeries, pastry shops, hotels, restaurants, catering services, and commercial bakeries. They are also trained in product development. If you would like to make Baking and Pastry Arts your career, we have a great program for you at an affordable price.

Student Experience

The Associate in Applied Science degree in Baking and Pastry Arts is a two-year program with over 80 percent of the lab courses centered on baking and pastry arts. The Baking and Pastry Arts courses cover all areas of baking: from basic bread making to advanced artisan bread making, from chocolates and confections to cake decorating and design to decorative centerpieces. Students receive a broad education in baking and pastry arts, an education that includes baking theory, management courses, over 250 hours of lab work per semester, and externships at approved worksites throughout New England. To gain a more complete understanding of the way restaurants and hotels operate, students also train in basic food productions.

Students must purchase baking and pastry tools, along with a set of professional knives and three sets of   uniforms. Additional information is mailed to students prior to the start of the semester.

First Year

Second Year

Program Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, graduates will be prepared to:

• Utilize proper safety and sanitation procedures in a kitchen and be familiar with the laws and codes effecting the production of edible goods.  
• Utilize industry standard baking methods and procedures.  
• Accurately utilize computations to properly adjust baking formulas to lend desired yields, to calculate costs, and determine profitable pricing.     
• Use common kitchen equipment, bakeshop equipment, and ingredients in the production of baked goods.  
• Construct and decorate occasion cakes. 
• Produce confections ranging from chocolates to candies.  
• Produce the individual components utilized in preparing plated desserts ranging from dessert sauces to the main dessert offering as well as accompanying items.  
• Produce a wide variety of pastries.  
• Utilize culinary techniques including common cooking methods and to prepare culinary sauces.  
• Apply design principals to present baked goods in multiple ways including individual plated desserts and buffet style service.  
• Use proper dining room food service techniques.  
• Create a menu, an inventory program, and design a production facility.