A pastry cook, also known as a pastry chef, specializes in making pastries and cakes. The pastry cook supervises and coordinates the activities of workers in a pastry shop to produce puddings, icings, and fancy pastries and develops new recipes. He or she also receives orders from customers and restaurants to prepare confections and sweets.

Tasks:

1. Prepares and bakes cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, or desserts, according to recipe: Measures ingredients, using measuring cups and spoons.
2. Mixes ingredients to form dough or batter, using electric mixer or beats and stirs ingredients by hand.
3. Shapes dough for cookies, pies, and fancy pastries, using pie dough roller and cookie cutters or by hand.
4. Places shaped dough portions in greased or floured pans and inserts them in oven, using long-handled paddle.
5. Prepares and cooks ingredients for pie fillings, puddings, custards, or other desserts.
6. Decorates cakes and pastries.
7. May specialize in preparing one or more types of pastry or dessert when employed in large establishment.

Key skills for pastry chef:

• Creativity: pastry chefs are often in charge of creating new and innovative breads and desserts that will bring in customers. Knowledge of ingredients and how to use them in a creative way will serve you well.
• Leadership skills: Pastry chefs are in charge of the pastry staff of a kitchen. Being a good leader, who can assign tasks, hire the right people, motivate workers in a high stress environment will help immensely.
• Hand-eye coordination: Pastry chefs work with knives, icing bags and other precision tools and must have excellent technique when cutting and preparing food. Hand-eye coordination is needed.
• Sense of taste and smell: Delicious food brings in customers. Pastry chefs are the last line of defense to make sure each piece of food is safe, prepared correctly and tasty.
• Time management skills: Kitchens get busy quickly, food can get ruined easily if you cannot manage your time. Great time management will help you avoid burned or spoiled food and angry customers.
• Business acumen: Pastry chefs must understand the restaurant business. This means balancing expenses with profits, managing staff, minimizing waste, and more

Average salary (2013):

The United Kingdom: £19,837 per year
The United States of America: starts at $34,000 and goes to a little over $51,000 per year
Australia: AU$19,59 per hour

Qualifications and training required:

Baking and pastry degrees are not required to enter the field. In many cases, bakers embark on their careers as apprentices at a craft bakery or as trainees in a supermarket or corporate bakery. The knowledge necessary to become a successful baker is often underestimated. Learning how to combine ingredients and how ingredients are affected by the oven's heat are essential, as is knowledge of various kitchen equipment. All food service workers must thoroughly understand sanitation and cleanliness, including government-mandated procedures and standards. Additionally, bakers should be practiced and skillful in icing and decorating.
The route to becoming a pastry chef is a bit more varied. Some chefs start as line cooks and work their way up the chain of command in the kitchen, while others attend culinary or vocational school. Many community colleges, vocational schools, culinary arts schools, and some two- and four-year schools offer training in hospitality or culinary arts. It may require many years of experience to become a head pastry chef in a prestigious restaurant.