Baking & Pastry Art

Got a sweet tooth and an artistic flair? Do you long to bake the perfect cake? This program will give you great skills in both baking and pastry (including cakes, tortes, cookies, frozen and cream-based desserts), and provide the basis for a career as a head baker or pastry chef. It will challenge your inner artist by teaching you how to blow sugar into intricate shapes. Then it will show you how to do things with chocolate you may have never thought possible before. Whether you're looking for your start in the world of the professional kitchen, or have been there for awhile and want to upgrade your skills, this program will increase your abilities and confidence, and open your eyes (and taste buds) to new possibilities.

• NSCC is the only school in Nova Scotia offering this program.


• We recreate the real-world environment in the classroom and start baking around 7:30 every morning. The work is hands-on with the majority of student time spent creating and baking. Those goods are then sold in our cafeteria, or presented as plated desserts in our fine-dining restaurant.


• Our instructors bring an international touch to the program, having worked in bakeries, hotels and restaurants in France, England and Canada.


• Several students have won gold medals at National Skills competitions – a testament to their training. Finally, your work term assignment will give you the practical experience employers seek. Students in the past have been placed in establishments right here in Nova Scotia, and as far away as Ireland. Decide where you want to go to work, and this program will help you make it happen.

• Upon graduation, you'll be ready to accept an entry-level position in a restaurant, hotel, catering company, or bakery, as well as in a public or private food service operation. Head bakers and pastry chefs are looking for well-trained employees who understand the new innovative techniques and technological equipment of this changing industry.


• This is an industry that is very demanding. Entry-level positions can mean long hours and hard work for awhile. But for those who have a passion for the industry and excellence in their own work, see their long hours and hard work pay off with a satisfying career.

• High School Graduation Diploma or equivalent.

• Additional costs include Food Handlers certificate, safety shoes, uniforms, textbooks and set of tools.


• As a requirement for graduation, students must obtain Standard First Aid and CPR (level A) certification from a recognized organization at their own expense.