Pastry Arts Programs in Chicago IL

The French Pastry School, Chicago:
The French Pastry School, located in downtown Chicago, Illinois, is a premier international institution of pastry arts offering professional, certificate and continuing education programs. The French Pastry School offers you the rare opportunity to learn the art of pastry in an intimate setting, being personally mentored by masters in their field. Your skills will be finely honed through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to the best pastry techniques, tools, and ingredients. Our school is dedicated only to the art of pastry, and it is our goal to be the finest pastry school in the United States, producing the best-prepared professionals entering the industry.

Year-round Cooking / Culinary Arts Certificate Programs:

L'Art de la Pâtisserie:
The Professional Pastry and Baking Program. 24-Week Program Accredited by the Illinois Community College Board.

Classes include:
- Baking Theory, History and Science
- Food Service Sanitation
- Bread Making and Breakfast Pastries
- Petits Fours and Mini Pastries
- Cakes and Tarts
- Plated Desserts
- Wedding and Specialty Cakes
- Chocolate and Sugar Candies
- Chocolate and Sugar Decoration
- Externship Program

L'Art du Gâteau:
The Professional Cake Decorating and Baking Program. Learn from internationally-renowned master chef instructors in L’Art du Gâteau - The Professional Cake Decorating and Baking Program at The French Pastry School. This all-inclusive, 16-week, full-time course is custom-designed to meet the needs of students who want to specialize in the prestigious art of cake baking and decorating.

Classes Include:
- Cake baking, construction and assembly
- Cake components such as fillings including buttercreams, ganaches, meringues, mousses
- Construction methods
- Pastillage & pressed sugar
- Airbrushing
- Mold making
- Sugar decoration
- Chocolate decoration
- Cake sculpture
- The history of pastry, baking, and celebration cakes
- The sense of taste
- Basic skills
- Modeling
- Petit fours & party favors
- The pastry professional
- The pastry kitchen layout and equipment
- Kitchen fundamentals
- Food technology
- The sanitation challenge
- Providing safe food; microbial contaminants
- Food allergens; foodborne illness
- The safe food handler; diseases transmitted through food
- The flow of food through an operation from purchasing and receiving to preparation to service
- Sanitary facilities and pest management; food safety regulation and standards; how to implement food safety practices.
- How to operate a cake business

L’Art de la Boulangerie (8-Week Session)
L’Art de la Boulangerie presents the opportunity to learn under the direct guidance of Master Bakers and World Champions, providing the practice and tools needed to build a solid foundation, so that you can advance in the baking industry. L’Art de la Boulangerie, a comprehensive, eight-week course is custom-designed to meet the needs of students wishing to specialize in the venerable art of bread baking. For eight hours a day, five days a week, this unique, hands-on experience allows students to focus on all aspects of creating artisan breads and breakfast pastries. 

Courses include:
- Food Service Sanitation, Safety, Technology, and Basic Skills
- Fundamentals of French Breads
- Pre-ferments: Poolish and Sponges
- Levains and Starters: Techniques and Applications
- Specialty Whole Grains and Organic Breads
- Breakfast Pastries and Viennoiseries
- Advanced Breakfast Pastries and Viennoiseries
- Specialty Breads from France and around the World

Continuing Education Courses:
The Continuing Education Courses are designed to bring new techniques to the pastry industry in a hands-on setting. Classes are offered to the pastry professional, culinary professional and food enthusiast. Students are taught by our Chef Instructors and Master Chefs from around the world. Each chef will teach you the latest in pastries along with the basics that are sure to impress your customers and friends.