Pastry program students.

Pastry & Baking Arts

Our Pastry & Baking Arts program combines classic techniques, modern artisan trends, foundational skills and knowledge to best prepare you for a new culinary career.

Diploma Program

Now Is the Time – Make Your Mark in Pastry and Baking Arts

If you've been considering a career in the culinary arts and have a special interest in attending pastry school or baking school, our Pastry & Baking Arts program teaches an amazing wealth of skills and knowledge. Graduates of our renowned program have gone on to win national awards, write top cookbooks and appear on TV and in leading food magazines.

The Pastry & Baking Arts diploma program is available at both our New York and Los Angeles campuses, and can be completed in as little as eight months. Students looking to take their education a step further can pursue an associate degree in pastry and baking at ICE’s Los Angeles campus.

Quick Facts

Program Name: Career Pastry & Baking Arts

Program Duration: 8-11 months

Class Times: morning, afternoon, evening and weekends

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Old World, New World and the Whole World

Drawing from the pastry arts training and baking arts traditions of France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, as well as contemporary American variations, our Pastry & Baking Arts program is both international in scope and constantly evolving with modern global influences. Our award-winning curriculum has been shaped by Nick Malgieri, renowned pastry chef and author of 12 cookbooks, as well as Chef Michael Laiskonis, former Executive Pastry Chef at three-Michelin-starred Le Bernardin and winner of the prestigious James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

Pastry Arts program students prepare doughs at the Institute of Culinary Education

Culinary Skills that Will Last a Lifetime

Pastry and baking combines art and technique unlike any other field of the food industry. Your hands-on education starts with our chef-instructors, who will guide you through the crucial components of this craft and lead you on the path to becoming an accomplished professional. You'll cover a wide range of pastries and breads, including flaky croissants and crusty sourdough, beginning with an exploration and tasting of ingredients to study how flavors and textures combine. Instructors cover a wide range of dough-based products, from strudels and tarts to puff pastries. Our bread curriculum, designed by Chef Sim Cass, the founding baker of Keith McNally’s Balthazar Bakery, will teach you to prepare yeast-raised classics like bagels, brioche, pizza and baguettes.

 

A beautiful hand-piped cake in the baking arts program.

With a strong emphasis on theory, our baking arts and pastry arts curriculum will teach you the essential techniques of cakes and chocolate, highlighting the key ratios and methods that allow you to go beyond recipes and produce unique creations. You'll practice decorating cakes by hand until inscriptions and piping become second nature. Ultimately, students have the opportunity to apply these skills to design and produce a tiered cake of their own creation. Chocolate confections are also part of the curriculum, from the simple truffle to intricate showpieces. What's more, Pastry & Baking Arts students in New York have access to the ICE Chocolate Lab, where they can learn more about the bean-to-bar process of chocolate production.

An ICE pastry arts student plates a chocolate dessert with sorbet

A Large Culinary School Offering an Intimate Experience

Your education is our main focus. By the program’s end, you will have handcrafted everything from cakes and confections to classic breads and elegant desserts, preparing you to create intricate and imaginative recipes of your own.

Your dedicated Career Services Advisor will meet with you regularly throughout your time as a student to introduce you to the wide variety of career paths based on your unique goals. Beginning with the one-on-one guidance to help you find the right fit for your industry externship, this same team will be with you as an Alumni. After you graduate, you’ll receive on-going job placement services including weekly emails highlighting interesting job openings, career fairs, and various networking opportunities.

Freshly baked bread cools on speed racks

Externships Put Your Career in Motion Right Away

After 400 hours of careful instruction and practice, you are ready for the exam that matters most: working in a professional kitchen. Through our externship program, you will spend 210 hours on-site in a restaurant, bakery, hotel, catering kitchen or other culinary business. A wide variety of externship options demonstrates the diversity and caliber of our professional network. Best of all, externships often result in job offers and can provide students with invaluable contacts for the rest of their career. Explore culinary careers inside and outside the kitchen.

Study at the Campus of Your Choice

Culinary School Chef Instructor teaching at the Institute of Culinary Education To provide the utmost flexibility, you can pursue your pastry and baking education in-person at an ICE campus in New York or Los Angeles. We offer a wide variety of schedule options, including morning, afternoon, evening, or weekend schedules depending on which campus you choose (weekends schedules are only available in NY). Classes meet between two, three or five times per week.

Tuition and fees include a pastry tool kit, knives, uniforms and books so you're fully equipped for your kitchen classroom from day one. Tuition also includes ICE’s popular Wine Essentials series. Visit our Tuition and Discounts page for complete information on the cost for specific class dates and times.

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NY - Pastry & Baking Arts

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LA - Pastry & Baking Arts

Take the Next Step Toward a Pastry & Baking Career

The admissions process is the start of a lasting relationship with ICE. Your Admissions Representative will introduce you to the personal experience the culinary arts school is known for. Their mission is to understand your career goals, help you select the right program(s) to fit your needs and your interests. 

Why Choose ICE

You know it's in you — the ambition to pursue a rewarding career in food. ICE is ready to help you find your culinary voice and achieve your culinary career dreams.

12 Reasons Why You Should Choose ICE.

International Students

Like the cities our campuses inhabit, ICE is a hub of multiculturalism. We’re proud to have had students from 44+ countries choose ICE for their career training and we celebrate the unique perspective an international student body provides. International students have the opportunity to gain knowledge and hands-on experience in America’s major food cities, by attending our New York City or Los Angeles campuses and completing an industry externship. It’s no wonder students come from around the world to Find Their Culinary Voice at ICE.

Learn about International Students at ICE.

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Ready to take your interest in ICE further? Speak to an Admissions Representative about your personal goals, start your application or download our career brochure so you can access our program information anytime.

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LA Career Brochure

The Most Critical Connections of Your Career Are Often Right Next to You.

Tour the classrooms at our campuses in New York and Los Angeles and you'll see a diversity of age, experience, background and goals. When looking for good pastry arts schools or baking arts schools, students come from all over the United States and around the world to attend ICE.

Some are at the start of their careers, studying at ICE to embark on a career in the pastry arts and baking arts. Others are career changers who want to enter a new field. And some students have already worked in the food industry and want to sharpen their skills in pursuit of better opportunities.

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Professional Demonstrations and Extracurriculars

ICE offers enrichment activities focused on cooking and beverage-related aspects of the food industry, free for alumni and students. Culinary arts and pastry arts experts from all over the world come to ICE to teach, lecture and cook for our students, providing the exclusive opportunity to watch, interact with and ask questions of these successful epicureans. What's more, ICE hosts great culinary entrepreneurs, from California winemakers and New Orleans chefs to food website founders and specialty food company presidents, as part of our Meet the Culinary Entrepreneurs series.