Certificate in Professional Baking and Professional Pastry
Your day might start before dawn, but your reward is seeing delighted customers devour the buttery croissants you created in the early morning hours. Our hands-on education has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios among post secondary culinary schools. You’ll be prepared to become a pastry cook in bakeshops, restaurants, or other commercial kitchens, and you’ll have a firm foundation for further study in the culinary field.
- Hands-on learning at NECI’s professional bakery classrooms.
- 15-week residency on the Montpelier campus.
- 15-week, 450-hour professional internship.
- Foundation for future study in Associate of Occupational Studies in Baking and Pastry Arts.
- Three enrollments throughout the year – April, July, and October.
- Questions? Call us toll-free at 877-223-6324 and ask to speak to an admissions representative or email us at infoREMOVETHISBEFORESENDING@neci.edu.
Schedule a tour today.
Certificate in Professional Baking
Overview
All course work in the certificate program has a direct credit transfer for students wishing to continue on into the AOS or BA program.
Fundamentals of Baking
Introduces the basic skills required to pursue a career in baking and pastries. These fundamental skills include:
- basic dough mixing methods for cookies, biscuits, breads, pies.
- bakers math in practical applications and basic recipe development.
- fillings and custards for basic applications in pies, tarts, etc.
Introduction to Basic Pastries
This extends the course work into basic skills in pastries including:
- cake mixing methods: genoise, chiffon, high ratio, two stage.
- meringues: French, Italian, Swiss.
- butter creams: production of French and Italian buttercream.
- cake and tart fillings: pastry cream, ganache, curds, etc.
Introduction to Artisan Breads
This course work explores the modern standards of fermented dough production in a hands-on lab setting. Course work includes:
- utilizing preferments in breads and their advantages: biga vs. poolishes.
- building sourdough cultures from scratch.
- hand shaping and artisan shapes.
- mixing skills.
- oven management.
Advanced Breakfast Pastries
Explores the world of enriched doughs (butter and eggs as primary additional ingredients):
- Variations of brioche that explore butter and sugar percentages and how those additions affect mixing technique.
- Lamination techniques: different techniques for producing croissants and Danish, including difference ways to incorporate butter and different folding techniques.
- Students will also explore a variety of garnishes and fillings including pastry cream, fruit fillings, as well as knife skills.
Healthy Baking
Covers alternative baking techniques for special dietary needs such as vegan, and gluten-free baking. Special-dietary-need baking is one of the fastest growing segments in the industry. This course will cover the basics in egg, dairy and flour substitutions.
Customer Service
Students will learn the basic skills of customer service in a bakery cafe environment. They will learn about coffee service and direct customer interactions.
Students are enrolled in a professional development class to learn teamwork and the basics of resume and cover letter writing.
Students will be ServSafe certified before completing the program.
Internship placement through Career Services is provided to help pair students with employers that can help them build on the skills they want to learn more about, be it in a restaurant, bakery, or production setting.
There is information here about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who have completed this program, and other important information about this program.
Similar information about all of our programs is here.
Certificate in Professional Pastry
Overview
All course work in the certificate program has a direct credit transfer for students wishing to continue on into the AOS or BA program.
Fundamentals of Baking
Introduces the basic skills required to pursue a career in baking and pastries. These fundamental skills include:
- basic dough mixing methods for cookies, biscuits, breads, pies.
- bakers math in practical applications and basic recipe development.
- fillings and custards for basic applications in pies, tarts, etc.
Introduction to Basic Pastries
This course is an extension of basic skills in pastries including:
- cake mixing methods: genoise, chiffon, high ratio, two stage.
- meringues: French, Italian, Swiss.
- butter creams: production of French and Italian buttercream.
- cake and tart fillings: pastry cream, ganache, curds, etc.
Pastry Unit Two
Students use the fundamental skills in pastries to build finished cakes and tarts. The class focuses on creating a selection of items that can be sold in a retail pastry operation and covers finishing skills including:
- cutting cake layers.
- building cakes with classic flavors.
- crumb coating and finishing cakes.
- lining and filling tarts.
- piping and basic design.
Pastry Unit Three
Students use the fundamental skills in pastries to build finished cakes, tarts and other individual items that can be sold in a plated dessert outlet. A final project includes a blind basket plated dessert element that is evaluated by the class and other NECI peers. Skills include:
- sauces: anglaise, coulis, chocolate, etc.
- plating design and execution.
- garnishes: knife skills, chocolate, tuiles.
- ice creams and frozen desserts.
- custards.
Customer Service
Students will learn the basic skills of customer service in a bakery cafe environment. They will learn about coffee service and direct customer interactions.
Students are enrolled in a professional development class to learn teamwork and the basics of resume and cover letter writing.
Students will be ServSafe certified before completing the program.
Internship placement through Career Services is provided to help pair students with employers that can help them build on the skills they want to learn more about, be it in a restaurant, bakery, or production setting.
There is information here about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who have completed this program, and other important information about this program.
Similar information about all of our programs is here.
Questions? Call us toll-free at 877-223-6324 and ask to speak to an admissions representative or email us at infoREMOVETHISBEFORESENDING@neci.edu.
Schedule a tour today.
