Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon

Curriculum Overview

Your journey at The Pastry Academy will take you from the classroom to the kitchen where you will master the technical and practical skills necessary to create world class pastries, chocolates, danishes, confectionery, breads, and plated desserts. Not only will you gain hands on practical knowledge, you will graduate with a thorough understanding of the chemistry and theory behind the art of pastry so that you can utilize your knowledge to create original desserts and take your career as far as you are willing to go.

Location

Las Vegas, NV

Course Length

10 Weeks, 400 Hours

Class Size

ring of chocolate that has chips that look like bark

Course Overview

Module One

Basics

Welcome! We are excited for this journey together. We will start the course getting to know pastry, ingredients, theory, and basic kitchen skills including food prep, knife skills, piping, scaling, decor, and sanitation/cleaning in a professional setting.

Module Two

Petits Fours

Roughly translated to “small cake“, this is a great place to test out your new skills! We will explore a range of traditional and modern techniques as well as the varied textures these pastries range in. From the crispy meringues and sables, to the softer financiers and madeleines. An emphasis is put on mastering the macaroon during this module. During this time we will work on many different varieties and styles of filling as well.

Module Three

Breads & Breakfast Pastries

A staple in every culture, bread has shaped our world for centuries. The module will begin with an extensive Theory of Bread lesson, where the science of baking will be covered in depth: ingredients, mixing, fermentation, and the entire baking process. From flakey croissants to crusty, rustic sourdough loaves the possibilities are endless! French baguettes, focaccias, rye breads, danishes, croissants in various flavors, and brioche are just to name a few highlights of the bread and breakfast pastries module.

Module Four

Tartes & Gateaux De Voyage

Pies and Pound Cakes! Both traditional and modern approaches will be explored on these two pastry types. At this time of the program we begin to let our creativity flow. We will learn a handful of different dough variations. During this time we will also overcome the challenges of puff pastry! Parisian Flan, chocolate tarte, apple tatin and vanilla mille feuilles are some of our favorites during this module, but you never know which pound cake will “take the cake” with the expansive flavor and decor possibilities.

Module Five

Plated Desserts

During the first portion of this module we will touch on classic bistrot desserts such as souffle, flan, molten cake, creme brule. Diving deeper we expand with more contemporary plated desserts with emphasis on textures, temperatures and technique. An introduction to sugar decor is presented at this time as well.

Module Six

Classic & Contemporary Cakes

Sponges, creams, mouse, fillings and glazes are the main components to build a pastry. An introduction will be made to alternative ingredients (ex: low-sugar, gluten free....). Paris Brest, assorted eclairs, fraisier, charlotte, pavlova, and baba are some of the delicious friends we will make this week.

Module Seven

Sugar Confections

The fundamentals of cooking sugar are the base of this module. Nougat, various marshmallows, caramel, gummies and other confections are covered.

Module Eight

Chocolate

In this module we learn how to work with the highest quality chocolate to produce amazing results. You will learn different tempering techniques. From there we go into production mode and make colorful molds, truffles, and enrobed varieties. We educate both towards smaller, hand dipped production to large scale enrobing production. Chocolate decor and chocolate showpiece are introduced at this time as well.

Module Nine

Ice Cream

Science and theory are the base of any great ice cream. Gums and stabilizers are part of the equation too, but how do they fit in? We will show you the range and varieties of ice cream and sorbet flavors and textures. Ice cream cakes will be built during this module as well. Presentation and storage techniques are highlighted during this time.

Module Ten

Creative Pastry With Amaury Guichon

During this last week, you will experiencing the creation of an epic buffet, encompassing all of the modules taught throughout the program. We will be highlighting Chef Amaury’s unique and creative way of seeing and approaching pastry. During this very special week we will celebrate pastry and your accomplishments over the past nine weeks with us!

Program