Baking & Pastry

This foundational course equips adult learners with the safety knowledge, trade mathematics, communication skills, and professional habits required to succeed in a commercial baking and pastry environment. Students earn OSHA 10-Hour General Industry awareness and basic first aid/CPR readiness while building the measurement, costing, and documentation skills that underpin every subsequent course in the program. Career planning, digital tools, and industry credential orientation prepare learners to pursue ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification with confidence.

How the course runs. 7 blocks: Bakery Hazard Recognition and OSHA 10 Fundamentals; Lockout/Tagout, First Aid, and Emergency Procedures in the Bakery; Trade Math: Baker's Percentage, Units, and Recipe Scaling; Reading Technical Documents: Recipes, Specifications, and Equipment Manuals; Digital Tools for the Bakery Professional; Professional Communication and Workplace Documentation; Career Planning: Credentials, Pathways, and Professional Identity.

What competent looks like. Demonstrate OSHA 10-Hour General Industry hazard recognition and apply lockout/tagout, PPE selection, and chemical safety procedures specific to commercial bakery equipment and ingredients. Perform baker's percentage calculations, unit conversions between weight and volume, and recipe scaling accurately to within ±2% of target values. Read and interpret standard recipe cards, specification sheets, Material Safety Data Sheets (SDS), and equipment manuals common to baking and pastry production. Use basic digital tools—including a spreadsheet application and a point-of-sale or recipe-management platform—to organize recipes, track inventory, and produce simple cost worksheets. Apply professional communication strategies, including workplace documentation, team briefings, and customer-facing language appropriate to a bakery or pastry operation. Develop a personal career plan that maps program coursework to ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification requirements and identifies at least two employment pathways in the baking and pastry trade.

Students develop mastery of yeast-leavened bread production from foundational lean doughs through enriched and artisan varieties, applying fermentation science, shaping technique, and baking mechanics. Emphasis is placed on accurate scaling, dough-temperature control, proofing judgment, and consistent quality standards aligned with commercial bakery expectations. Lesson content maps directly to ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry baking knowledge domains and RBA Certification competency areas in yeast-raised products.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: Bread Science: Ingredients, Fermentation, and Baker's Percentage; Equipment Safety and Operation: Mixers, Deck Ovens, and Proofing Cabinets; Lean Doughs: The Classic Baguette and Rustic Boule; Preferments: Poolish, Biga, and Pâte Fermentée; Whole-Grain and Seeded Breads; Enriched Doughs: Brioche and Soft Dinner Rolls; Sourdough: Natural Starter Maintenance and Levain Builds; Specialty Breads: Flatbreads, Focaccia, and Pretzel Dough; Production Planning, Scaling, and Quality Control; Comprehensive Bread Lab: Portfolio Bake and Sensory Evaluation.

What competent looks like. Scale and mix lean and enriched yeast doughs accurately, controlling final dough temperature within ±2°F of target using baker's percentage calculations. Identify and control the stages of fermentation and proofing, making real-time adjustments based on dough feel, volume, and aroma. Shape baguettes, batards, boules, sandwich loaves, and enriched rolls to professional standard with consistent weight and symmetry. Apply proper scoring, steam injection, and oven management to produce breads with correct crust color, ear development, and internal crumb structure. Maintain a production lab log documenting formula weights, times, temperatures, and sensory evaluations for each bake session. Demonstrate safe operation of commercial mixers, deck ovens, and proofing equipment following OSHA general industry standards and facility lockout/tagout procedures.

Students master the science and craft of laminated doughs—croissant, Danish, and puff pastry—by building and maintaining precise butter blocks, executing multi-stage folds, and shaping a full range of classic and contemporary products. Emphasis is placed on temperature control, gluten management, and understanding the chemical and physical principles that produce even, well-developed lamination. Lessons map directly to ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry knowledge areas covering yeast-raised pastry, pastry doughs, and baking science, and to RBA Certification competencies in production baking and product quality standards.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: Science of Lamination: Gluten, Fat, and Steam; Safety, Equipment, and Workstation Setup for Laminated Dough Production; Détrempe: Mixing and Resting the Base Dough; Building the Butter Block and Locking In; Folding Techniques: Single, Double, and Book Folds; Croissant Shaping, Proofing, and Baking; Danish Dough: Shaping, Filling, and Finishing; Classic Puff Pastry: Vol-au-Vent, Mille-Feuille, and Palmiers; Production Efficiency, Scaling, and Troubleshooting Lab; ACF and RBA Credential Alignment: Review, Portfolio Completion, and Mock Assessment.

What competent looks like. Explain the role of gluten development, fat plasticity, and steam in creating distinct laminated dough structures, correctly identifying how each factor affects final volume and crumb. Prepare a butter block of correct plasticity and lock it into détrempe without breaking or leaking fat, achieving a minimum of 27 distinct, even layers visible on cross-section. Execute a minimum of three complete lamination sequences—croissant, Danish, and classic puff pastry—maintaining dough temperature at or below 60 °F throughout processing, with lift and color judged acceptable by instructor rubric. Shape and portion laminated products (croissant, pain au chocolat, Danish pinwheel, vol-au-vent, and mille-feuille base) to within ±5 g of target weight and to standard visual specifications. Apply correct proofing, egg-wash, and bake parameters for each dough type, documenting time, temperature, and humidity in a production log accurate enough to reproduce results. Identify and correct at least four common lamination faults—butter leak, poor lift, greasy crumb, shrinkage—by adjusting technique, temperature, or formula variables during lab practice.

Students master the full production cycle of professional cakes, from scaling and mixing through baking, frosting, and decorating. Emphasis is placed on understanding the science behind each mixing method, achieving consistent quality across cake types, and applying professional finishing skills used in commercial and retail bakery settings. Lessons map directly to ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry competencies in baking science and pastry production, and to RBA Certification knowledge areas in cake baking and decorating.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: Cake Ingredients: Function, Scaling, and Baker's Percentage; Mixing Methods: Creaming and Two-Stage; Foam Cakes: Angel Food, Sponge, and Genoise; Chiffon and Oil-Based Cakes; Mixing Troubleshooting; Equipment Safety and Sanitation in the Cake Station; Buttercreams: American, Swiss Meringue, and Italian Meringue; Ganache, Mirror Glazes, and Poured Finishes; Piping Techniques and Royal Icing; Fondant Work and Specialty Cake Finishing; Production Planning, Quality Standards, and Final Cake Assessment.

What competent looks like. Identify and correctly execute the creaming, two-stage, foam, and chiffon mixing methods, explaining how each method affects cake texture and volume. Scale ingredients by weight to within ±2% accuracy and adjust formulas for pan size and yield using baker's percentage. Bake cakes to proper doneness using visual, tactile, and temperature cues, and troubleshoot common defects such as tunneling, sinking, or excess crust. Prepare and correctly apply buttercream, ganache, and glazes, achieving smooth, professional finishes suitable for retail or foodservice presentation. Execute basic piping techniques and fondant work to decorate finished cakes to commercial standards. Follow all relevant food-safety, sanitation, and equipment-safety protocols throughout cake production, including safe operation of the planetary mixer and correct handling of hot sugar work.

Students master the science and craft of working with chocolate, from bean-to-bar fundamentals and tempering theory through bonbons, ganaches, molded and enrobed confections, and showpiece decoration. Instruction connects chocolate chemistry to real production decisions, building the precision and troubleshooting skills required in professional pastry kitchens and retail bakeries. Mapped competencies support both the ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification exam areas in pastry production and confectionery.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: Chocolate Science: Origin, Processing, and Composition; Chocolate Safety, Equipment, and Mise en Place; Tempering Theory and the Cocoa Butter Crystal Polymorphs; Tempering by Hand: Tabling and Seeding Methods; Ganache Science and Emulsification; Ganaches, Truffles, and Rolled Confections; Molded Bonbons and Filled Chocolates; Enrobing and Dipping Techniques; Chocolate Showpiece and Decorative Elements; Troubleshooting, Costing, and Chocolate Exam Prep Review.

What competent looks like. Temper dark, milk, and white chocolate by hand and by machine, confirming proper crystallization with a snap, sheen, and contraction test before use. Produce ganaches, truffles, and molded bonbons that meet professional standards for flavor balance, texture, and shelf life. Fabricate enrobed and dipped confections with smooth, bloom-free coatings within accepted weight and appearance tolerances. Apply safe handling practices for high-temperature sugar and chocolate work, including correct PPE, burn first-aid protocol, and equipment lockout/tagout procedures. Execute chocolate showpiece elements—fans, curls, transfers, and piped decorations—to specification for plated desserts and display. Troubleshoot and document common chocolate defects (bloom, seizing, poor contraction) and apply corrective action using standard reference knowledge.

Students master the composition and execution of restaurant-quality plated desserts, integrating sauces, frozen components, textural elements, and garnishes into cohesive, portion-controlled presentations. Emphasis is placed on balancing flavor, temperature, and texture while meeting professional speed and consistency standards. Lessons map directly to ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry plated-dessert and product-presentation competency areas and RBA finishing and merchandising knowledge domains.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: Plated Dessert Fundamentals: Composition Principles and Kitchen Safety Review; Custards and Creams: Crème Brûlée, Panna Cotta, and Pastry Cream; Plating Sauces: Coulis, Anglaise, Caramel, and Chocolate Ganache; Frozen Dessert Components: Ice Cream, Sorbet, and Semifreddo; Textural Accents: Tuiles, Pralines, Streusel, and Crispy Garnishes; Mousse and Soufflé Techniques; Plated Dessert Composition Workshop: Building a Complete Plate; Allergen Awareness, Dietary Modifications, and Labeling for Plated Desserts; Dessert Service Simulation: Speed, Consistency, and Station Management; Credential Alignment Review and Capstone Preparation.

What competent looks like. Prepare classic and contemporary plated dessert components—including custards, mousses, frozen elements, sauces, and tuiles—to professional quality standards. Compose plated desserts that demonstrate deliberate balance of flavor, temperature, texture, and visual contrast. Apply portion control, mise en place, and à la minute finishing techniques to produce consistent desserts within a timed service window. Execute safe food-handling, allergen-awareness, and kitchen safety procedures throughout all dessert production and plating activities. Document production records including recipe scaling, component timing charts, and plating diagrams suitable for a professional pastry kitchen. Evaluate finished plated desserts against established rubrics for taste, texture, appearance, and portion accuracy, and apply corrective action when standards are not met.

Students apply food-costing principles—recipe scaling, ingredient cost calculation, yield testing, menu pricing, and basic profit-and-loss analysis—to real bakery and pastry production scenarios. Work mirrors the financial documentation expected in retail and foodservice bakery operations and directly supports the business-knowledge competencies tested in ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification exams. By course end, students produce and defend a fully costed recipe portfolio suitable for a working bakery.

How the course runs. 10 blocks: The Language of Bakery Costing: Key Terms and the Flow of Money; Units, Conversions, and Measurement Accuracy; Yield Testing: From Purchased Weight to Usable Product; Standardized Recipes as Costing Documents; Recipe Scaling and Cost Recalculation; Pricing Methods: Food-Cost Percentage and Contribution Margin; Labor Cost and Overhead Allocation in the Bakery; Reading and Interpreting Bakery Financial Documents; Spreadsheet Tools for Bakery Costing; Costing Portfolio: Full Bakery Item Cost Analysis and Defense.

What competent looks like. Calculate as-purchased cost, edible-portion cost, and recipe cost per unit for at least ten bakery items with no more than a 2% calculation error. Perform accurate yield tests on raw bakery ingredients and apply the yield percentage to adjust purchase quantities and costs. Scale recipes up and down by any conversion factor and recalculate total and per-unit costs for the new batch size. Determine a selling price for a baked good using at least two standard pricing methods—food-cost percentage and contribution margin—and justify the choice in writing. Construct a basic daily production cost report, including labor cost allocation and overhead contribution, formatted to industry standards. Identify and correct common costing errors—unit-of-measure mismatches, waste overestimates, and incorrect conversion factors—in a sample set of bakery records.

Students design, produce, document, and defend a multi-component baking and pastry project that integrates skills from every prior course, including bread, laminated doughs, cakes, chocolate work, plated desserts, and food costing. The capstone simulates a real professional commission—such as a catered dessert buffet, a wedding cake order, or a retail bakery launch—requiring students to meet industry standards for quality, food safety, and profitability. Successful completion demonstrates readiness for the ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification exams and for entry-level professional employment.

How the course runs. 4 blocks: Project Design, Proposal, and Production Planning; Full-Scale Production: Baking, Pastry, and Chocolate Components; Costing, Documentation Finalization, and Presentation Setup; Oral Defense and Industry-Panel Evaluation.

What competent looks like. Plan and execute a cohesive multi-component baked and pastry project on a professional production schedule, meeting self-set quality benchmarks for each item. Apply food-costing formulas to calculate ingredient cost, batch cost, cost per unit, and a menu selling price with target food-cost percentage for the complete project. Demonstrate safe food-handling and sanitation practices—including proper temperature control, allergen management, and equipment safety—throughout all production sessions. Produce written project documentation including a proposal, standardized recipes with scaled quantities, production timeline, HACCP-style hazard log, and cost sheets. Evaluate finished products against professional quality standards, identify defects, diagnose causes, and articulate corrections in an oral defense before an industry-panel audience. Organize a professional presentation of finished products suitable for judging, photographing, and tasting by an external evaluator.

Students complete a minimum of 243 supervised hours at an approved baking or pastry employer—such as a retail bakery, hotel pastry department, restaurant, or production facility—applying all program competencies in a real professional setting. A credentialed supervising baker or pastry chef evaluates performance across technical skills, professionalism, and workplace communication. This course bridges classroom training and industry employment and provides documented hours that support eligibility for ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA certification pathways.

How the course runs. 4 blocks: Pre-Placement Orientation and Worksite Agreement; Weeks 1–4: Supervised Entry-Level Production; Weeks 5–10: Independent Production and Skill Deepening; Final Weeks and Summative Employer Evaluation.

What competent looks like. Perform baking and pastry production tasks—including yeast breads, laminated doughs, cakes, chocolate work, and plated desserts—to the quality and pace standards of a commercial workplace under supervisor direction. Demonstrate professional workplace behaviors including punctuality, uniform compliance, respectful communication, and response to corrective feedback across all externship hours. Apply food safety and sanitation practices consistent with a current Food Handler or ServSafe standard throughout every shift, maintaining a safe work environment for self and coworkers. Document daily production activities, supervisor feedback, and reflective notes in a structured worksite log that records skill growth over the placement period. Receive a satisfactory or above rating from the site supervisor on all evaluated competency areas of the employer evaluation form at the midpoint and final review. Identify at least three professional development goals informed by site supervisor feedback and connect them to the ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA certification competency areas.

This course systematically reviews every content domain tested on the ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry and RBA Certification exams, closing knowledge gaps identified through diagnostic assessment and repeated mock testing. Learners practice answering multiple-choice and scenario-based questions under timed conditions, apply exam-taking strategies, and demonstrate readiness through full-length mock exams scored against official passing standards. The course bridges the practical skills built throughout the program to the vocabulary, theory, and regulatory knowledge that written credentialing exams demand.

How the course runs. 4 blocks: Diagnostic Assessment and Exam Blueprint Mapping; Content Review: Baking Science, Sanitation, and Pastry Production; Exam Strategy, Vocabulary Fluency, and Business Knowledge; Full-Length Timed Mock Exams and Individualized Remediation.

What competent looks like. Accurately define and apply baking and pastry science concepts — including fermentation, emulsification, gluten development, tempering, and fat crystallization — as tested on the ACF Certified Fundamentals Pastry exam. Recall food-safety and sanitation principles aligned with the servsafe-level knowledge expected on both the ACF and RBA credential exams, including time-temperature control, HACCP principles, and personal hygiene standards. Apply bakeshop math — baker's percentages, yield calculations, recipe scaling, and unit conversions — to multiple-choice and calculation questions at the level required by both credentials. Identify correct ingredient functions, mixing methods, and production sequences for the full range of baked and pastry products covered by both exam blueprints. Demonstrate professional and business knowledge — including costing fundamentals, equipment identification, and industry terminology — required by the RBA Certification exam domains. Score at or above the published passing threshold on at least one full-length timed mock exam for each target credential before sitting the official test.