CLASSIC PASTRY ARTS - 600 HOURS
OVERVIEW | CURRICULUM | START DATES+TUITION | SPECIAL PRICING | ALUMNI STORIES | PASTRYSCOOP.COM | PASTRY STUDENT JOURNAL |
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overview

In just months, you learn what other schools take years to teach.
Are exquisite pastries, cakes, and desserts your passion? The FCI's Classic Pastry Arts program will be your nirvana. In fact, every nuance of the curriculum that will guide and inspire you was created by pastry legend Jacques Torres, our Dean of Pastry Arts. He'll even perform some unforgettable demos himself. To bring his vision to life, Chef Torres summoned top pastry chefs from around the world to be your instructors. Under the watchful eye of such a passionate and accomplished faculty, you'll practice, bake, cook, and create in small classes, while being exposed to masters of the industry. Such comprehensive training — intense, thorough, and fast — is a hallmark of The FCI.

Your pastry career can be a reality in just 6 or 9 months, not years.
With our Total Immersion^SM method of training the atmosphere is electric, the feedback is immediate, and the learning is thorough and fast. That means it takes just 6 months by day, or 9 if you train at night, to learn the pastry skills that other schools take years to teach. So if you've been dreaming of a new career in pastry, it's less than a year away.

Learn all the major elements of fine pastry.
Guided by inspiring Chef-Instructors, you'll learn breathtaking skills, including conquering the tricky chemistry of chocolate, theatrical sugar skills, and beautiful, fanciful presentations from every genre. On day one you'll bake an apple tart, and by graduation your repertoire will rival that of the world's finest pastry chefs. Imagine it. You, with the skills and confidence to whip up creations such as:

• the classic pastry doughs, like pâte brisée and pâte sucrée
• pâte à choux (cream puff pastry)
• pâte feuilletée (puff pastry), for napoléons and palmiers
• croissants, danish and brioche, and a full range of quick and yeast breads
• the art of bite-sized petit fours
• an incredible realm of cakes, from the génoise to the dacquoise
• a romantic, three-tiered wedding cake
• sophisticated plated restaurant desserts made to order ("à la minute") including frozen and hot desserts
• blown sugar, spun sugar, pulled sugar, and marzipan to dramatize a dessert or make a presentation piece
• glorious chocolate: creating delectable candy and decorative showpieces

A one-of-a-kind experience: Learn directly from the Master, Ron Ben-Israel.
Ron Ben-Israel's cakes have been seen at many of the most high profile events around the world. And only The FCI offers you the opportunity to learn up-close and first hand from this legendary master. As a guest instructor, he personally teaches every class the skills and techniques that have made him an extraordinary artist, including his one-of-a-kind approach to sugar paste.

Earn your coveted Grand Diplôme and launch the career you've always dreamed of.
The day you receive your Grand Diplôme, you'll command the skills to take charge in the finest commercial kitchens, the confidence to open your own business, or accept a position in a top pastry hot spot. You'll also have an added benefit in today's job market-the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe^® Food Protection Manager Certification, America's most desired food handling certification.

curriculum

Classic Pastry Arts combines both hands-on (537 hours) and theory (63 hours) instruction. Each course unit starts with a short lesson on equipment, technique, theory, procedures, and recipes. Thereafter, your work is hands-on, with the guidance of your Chef-Instructor. So you get very good, very fast. Here's what you will learn:

Tarts, Cookies, and ServSafe^®
Learn the basics of professional pastry making, including measurements, equipment, and procedures. Make French pastry dough and short dough, such as pâte brisée and pâte sucrée, as well as cookie dough and tart fillings. You'll create a classic French apple tart on the very first day. You'll also learn theory and practical use of basic food safety principals, leading to an in-class HAACP exam and ServSafe^® Food Protection Manager Certification by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation. This certification makes you even more valuable in the job market.

Pâte à Choux
Discover the pastry art and design secrets of making great cream puff, (pâte à choux), then create a variety of desserts with this unique dough, exploring different shapes, glazes, and fillings. In this unit, as in all units, theory, recipes, and procedures precede practice.

Pâte Feuilletée (Puff Pastry)
You'll make four different types of multilayered puff pastry, each with its own texture and use. Learn how to fill and decorate rich, flaky napoléons and create palmiers as well as other time-honored delicacies and modern desserts.

Viennoiseries / Bread
Make a delicious array of breads and pastries, including sweet croissants, Danish, brioches, quick breads, muffins, and scones, plus crusty yeast breads, including classic European breads and specialty breads. You'll practice four primary methods that help you create both sweet and savory breads and pastries.

Cakes
Create and assemble a wide variety of sponge (génoise, joconde) cakes, meringue-based (dacquoise, succès) cakes, and cakes made with biscuit layers. Learn meringues, Bavarian creams, mousses, ganache fillings. Start the art of decoration with frostings, icings, and smooth glazes.

Petits Fours
Make the bite-sized, beautiful treats known as petits fours. You'll learn both non-baked and baked petits fours, cutting, molding, filling, glazing, and decorating them as tiny works of art.

Chocolate Creations
Discover how to melt, temper, and mold milk, white, and dark chocolate. Make everything from simple chocolate candies and truffles — to spectacular chocolate showpieces, expressing your unique vision.

Individual Desserts
Create and serve a full array of desserts plated to order (à la minute), the standard for fine restaurant service. You will learn hot desserts (soufflés, crepes, individual cakes baked to order); and making and molding of frozen desserts, including ice creams, sorbets, and parfaits.

Combining your previously acquired skills, you will create and decorate individual offerings. Next will be the organization, assembly, component development, decoration, and menu wording that comprises a complete dessert menu. Ultimately, you will develop your own dessert menu, organize a work station, and make items as requested for your instructor to critique.

Sugar Decoration
Discover the magic of nougatine, marzipan, pastillage, cast sugar, and sparkling pulled and blown sugar as you learn to make it and use it for dessert decoration, cake stands, and presentation pieces. In a not-to-be-missed session, Visiting Master Pastry Instructor Ron Ben-Israel will teach the one-of-a-kind sugar paste flower techniques you will use to decorate the pastillage project for your final exam.

Wedding Cakes
Make, assemble, and decorate a memorable three-tiered wedding cake using specialty fillings, frostings, decorations, and techniques. You'll be given the challenge of designing and creating a cake for "clients" with specific concerns and interests you must address.

Review, Written, and Practical Final Exam
The culmination of your entire program is your final exam. All your skills will be involved in creating and making a variety of pastries and candies, including designing and creating the display stand itself, from sugar, chocolate, pastillage, or nougatine. You'll be evaluated on timing, scheduling, and accuracy as well as your presentation.

At this point, you'll be ready to receive your Grand Diplôme. The day you graduate, you'll be ready to enter the pastry chef job market, capably, in the finest commercial kitchens or even in your own pastry shop.

The French Culinary Institute is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).

start dates + tuition

Learning Mode: Hands-on - 537 hours. Theory - 63 hours.

Please note: Classes are limited to 22-24 students per session and tend to fill quickly. If the class you select is full, we'll enroll you in the next available class with the same schedule.

Check back frequently since we are constantly updating our course schedules. Or contact us at 888.324.2433 for additional start dates. 

Evening Schedule
Tuesday & Thursday, 5:30pm - 10:30pm & Saturday, 9:00am – 2:00pm (9 Months)

Start	End	Price
October 12, 2010	July 26, 2011	$ 36,800

Evening Schedule
Monday, Wednesdays & Friday, 5:30pm – 10:30pm (9 Months)

Start	End	Price
October 20, 2010	August 17, 2011	$ 36,800

Day Schedule
Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 2:30pm (6 Months)

Start	End	Price
November 11, 2010	May 10, 2011	$ 43,550
January 14, 2011	July 7, 2011	$ 43,550

Tuition includes application fee, uniform, utensil kit, and all books and supplies.

special pricing

The French Culinary Institute offers special tuition pricing for select students enrolling in career programs. View the criteria below to see if you're eligible, or contact your Admission representative for more information.

Recent High School Graduates
If you're between 17 and 20 years old and hold a valid high school diploma dated within two years of your start date, you may be eligible for 10% tuition reduction off the cost of our Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, or Art of International Bread Baking programs.

Recent Military Veterans & Their Spouses
If you’re a recent military veteran and have been officially discharged within 24 months of your start date, you may be eligible for a 15% tuition reduction off the cost of our Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, or Art of International Bread Baking programs. The spouses of recent military veterans or service members on active duty may also qualify.

Paid-In-Full Credit
All students who pay in full the total cost of tuition for Classic Culinary Arts or Classic Pastry Arts are eligible for a $500 Paid-In-Full Credit. The entire balance due must be paid in full by cash, check, or credit card upon enrollment or no later than one week prior to the start date. Students enrolling in the Art of International Bread Baking program are not eligible to receive this credit.

alumni stories

Graduates of our Pastry Program enjoy sweet success in a variety of settings. Many open their own shops or patisseries, others make their mark in restaurants, hotels - even museums! And still others blaze new trails in careers as food writers and editors, stylists, tasters, catering and food retail professionals, and countless other lucrative positions in the expanding world of food. In less than a year, you can do the same with an education from The FCI. Click here to read just a few stories from some of these adventurous alums.

pastryscoop.com
PastryScoop.com is a website founded by The French Culinary Institute to keep anyone interested in the pastry arts and baking abreast of what is going on in the industry. It is designed to inspire and inform professionals and nonprofessionals alike. Visit us to find the latest trends and innovations, along with tips and techniques from top chefs and cookbook authors. PastryScoop.com is also a valuable resource with comprehensive listings of where to get supplies and equipment, calendar listings, ingredient tables, and an extensive conversion chart for weights and measures. Plus, you will find online video demonstrations, recipes, and industry interviews and profiles. Check out PastryScoop.com today!  
 
following the sweet life
Want to know what a typical day is like studying at The FCI? Curious about what it takes to excel in the pastry arts? Read about the day-to-day experience in former student Emily Carrus’s journal: Following the Sweet Life, where she candidly writes about her triumphs and challenges as she journeys towards accomplishing her pastry goals.