I always dreamed of going to culinary school for pastry. After getting a bachelor’s degree and getting the normal college experience I went on and fulfilled that passion. I completed the Baking and Pastry Certificate at the Santa Rosa Junior College in Sonoma County, California in the Spring of 2015.
The initial part is Safety & Sanitation (learning about food safety) and then basic knife skills. Then you get into the fun stuff! You take an introduction baking course, a production baking course (where you are working in large quantities for the culinary program’s bakery that is open to the public), and then specialty baking classes (Bread Baking, Ice Creams & Soft Desserts, Cookies/Candies/Confections, Chocolate Techniques, Cakes & Cake Decorating, and Tarts & Pies). For the savory side I took courses in professional cooking basics and Garde Manger for plating practice. If the program is adjusted to have a vegetarian track (rumors say eventually!), I will definitely go back to get the certificate in Culinary Arts as well.
All of the chefs in our program are wonderful and really helpful in giving you the knowledge and experience you need to get out into the real culinary world! Most of them are very well known in their specialties and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them. 🙂
