Culinard Culinary School in Birmingham, Alabama, offers a 36-week pastry arts program. You'll receive hands-on training, learning all about pastry and baking as well as the food industry, including labor costs, food control, and ethical behavior. The school is accredited by the American Culinary Federation. The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Tennessee in Nashville also offers pastry programs. Its culinary arts -- baking & pastry program takes four quarters to complete. You'll study the art of pastry and bread, desserts and cake decorating.
With distinguished alumni such as Henry Beard and Julia Child, the Le Cordon Bleu has culinary campuses across the U.S. The Los Angeles campus offers an associate degree and a certification in baking and pastry arts. The program includes hands-on training in professionally equipped kitchens and an on-campus restaurant. You'll also learn to create dessert showpieces. The Oregon Culinary Institute offers an associate degree in baking and pastry management as well as a diploma in baking and pastry. You will be immersed in the technical aspects of baking, learning product weights and measures, how leavening agents work, the mechanics of kneading and the art of blending, how ingredients behave at various temperatures and cake assembly and decoration.
Stratford University in Falls Church, Virginia, offers an associate of applied science degree in baking and pastry arts that can be completed in about a year. It emphasizes food safety, nutrition, service and pastry and baking skills. You will be skilled in artisan bread baking, cakes, custards and creams, specialty wedding cakes, plated desserts and confectionery production and display as well as menu planning and food science. Chosen by the IACP Award of Excellence for Best Vocational Cooking School in 2008, the Institute of Culinary Education in New York is the largest culinary school in New York and offers a diploma in pastry and baking arts. There are never more than 16 students in class to ensure quality training and you're also required to complete a 210-hour externship.
The Cincinnati State Midwest Culinary Institute in Ohio offers a pastry arts technology program, where you can earn an associate of applied business degree. It's a year-long program with all classes in the evening. It is accredited by the American Culinary Federation Foundation and is a member of the World Master Chefs Society. Kitchen Window's Cooking School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a small school with baking seminars and classes designed for the home chef. Topics include cake basics, decorating basics, European cakes, tortes and gateau, baking fundamentals, getting started with bread making, candy and chocolate basics, cupcakes and cake decorating.