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 deserts. 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
16
Course Overview
Week 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.
Week 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.
Week 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.
Week 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.
Week Five
Plated Desserts
During the first portion of this module we will touch on classic bistrot desserts such as souffle, flan, molten cake, creme brulee. 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.
Week 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.
Week Seven
Sugar Confections
The fundamentals of cooking sugar are the base of this module. Nougat, various marshmallows, caramel, gummies and other confections are covered.
Week 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 is introduced at this time as well.
Week 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.
Week Ten
Creative Pastry With Amaury Guichon
During this last week, you will be creating 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!
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