Facilities
Baking & Pastry Arts Lab
Put your techniques to the test in our expansive lab—outfitted with world-class equipment like the MIWE Condo four-deck oven with integrated loader.
About this program
Ready to pursue your passion for baking? You’ve come to the right place. At Penn College, you’ll get hands on with all things sweet and savory. Learn in small class sizes with expert faculty by your side and world-class equipment at your fingertips. And thanks to the condensed format, you’ll be ready to dive into your career in only a year!
Professional Baking has reached capacity and is now on a waitlist for Fall 2024. You can still apply for this major. You will not begin technical coursework in your first year if it remains on a waitlist.
Next steps...
You're on your way to becoming a tomorrow maker.
Careers
- Cake decorator
- Baker
- Pastry cook
- Confectioner
Courses
At Penn College, we believe your educational experience should go beyond specialized skills. Real-world ready means taking a broader approach that builds communication skills, inspires collaboration, and encourages exploration of arts, history, and science.
Specialization requires in-depth knowledge and high-level proficiency. Students learn and apply major-specific concepts, skills, and methods.
- Purchasing (FHD117)
- Sanitation (FHD118)
- National Sanitation Certification (NSC)
- Introductory Baking (FHD137)
- Cakes & Decorations (FHD138)
- Professional Bakery Production (FHD214)
- Foundations of Professional Cooking (FHD101)
- Careers in Hospitality (FHD104)
- Menu Planning & Cost Control (FHD125)
- Directed Baking & Pastry Elective (BKP)
- Principles of Chocolate Works (FHD141)
- Classical & Specialty Dessert Presentation (FHD270)
- Cakes, Pastries & Desserts (FHD276)
- Baking & Pastry Arts Internship (FHD279)
Perspectives are points of view, offering a variety of ways of understanding, interacting, and influencing the world. Students identify, explain, and utilize the approaches used by academics and professionals to study, analyze, or understand problems, and offer solutions.
Virtual Tour
Baking & Culinary
Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchens used for instruction and Le Jeune Chef, our on-campus casual fine dining restaurant. The live labs give students an opportunity to put their talent on the table and work with real customers.
Facilities
Le Jeune Patissier at the Market
Develop products from conception to the final sale in the Advanced Baking & Pastry Operations class. Students create items from their menu, then sell their products at Le Jeune Patissier at the Market - a small retail space on campus, open to the public.
Student Experience
"Penn College offers so many opportunities I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else! How many people can say they went to the Kentucky Derby to work every year with the support of their college and professors?!"
Gloria Boronow
Tour Schedule
Seeing is believing.
Think Penn College might be a good fit for you? Make plans to visit and discover what hands-on learning is all about.
Oct 5
Undergraduate Open House
Saturday, October 59 AM - 3 PM
Nov 3
Undergraduate Open House
Sunday, November 39 AM - 3 PM
Industry Partners
Work with experts to become an expert
Penn College's strong partnerships impact every step of your journey – from your first day in the classroom and labs, to career placement (oftentimes before graduation) and beyond.
Student Life
Lead and put your skills to the test
American Culinary Federation
This national organization promotes the image of American chefs. Students are encouraged to join and obtain their ACF certification. Graduates of this program who maintain an active Junior membership in the local ACF chapter are eligible to certify as a Certified Culinarian for free.
Student Organizations at Penn College
Your college experience is about more than the classroom. Join one of 70+ clubs and organizations, or create your own.
Penn College News
08.16.2024
Retirees rekindle campus connections
The second annual Retirees Luncheon was held recently in the Thompson Professional Development Center. Pennsylvania College of Technology retirees and their guests enjoyed hearing from three student speakers who shared their exciting engagements with the Kentucky Derby, Wildcat Athletics and Global Experiences.
08.12.2024
WNEP to air story on students' Little League meal prep
WNEP’s Mackenzie Aucker stopped by the college’s Le Jeune Chef Restaurant on Monday to talk with a few of those who are helping to prepare hundreds of pounds of food for the teams participating in this year’s Little League World Series. Watch for Aucker’s report during the local ABC affiliate's 5 p.m. newscast on Tuesday.
07.31.2024
Penn College hospitality program to provide team food for LLWS
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Le Jeune Chef Restaurant – a live-learning lab for the college’s hospitality majors – is preparing to provide well over 15,000 meals for the teams who will participate in the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series. The crew will begin serving when the first teams arrive – several days before the first game is played on Aug. 14 – and will continue through the end of the series on Aug. 25.
Internship
Your knowledge in practice
Show them what you've got. Internship experiences allow students to get a taste of career opportunities before they graduate. In fact, many lead to job offers!
Student Experience
The community as their classroom
More Information
Professionalism is the signature of this Certificate, and is the expectation for performance and appearance. Uniform and personal appearance standards are strictly enforced. Students are required to be clean-shaven (neat mustache above the lip is allowed), have properly contained hair (top of ear and back of collar for men; tied up and under hat for women, utilizing a net if necessary - no protruding bangs). In labs, no excessive makeup and no jewelry are allowed, including rings, watches and earrings or visible piercings of any style.
This major is subject to the transfer standards established by the College (see http://www.pct.edu/catalog/TransferringCredits). Exceptions must be approved by the school dean.
Alternative Credit refers to academic credits earned through means other than traditional college course completion, including: credit by exam, articulation, proof of competency gained in high school, work/life experience, and advanced placement.
Visit the Alternative Credit Options page in our Course Catalog for general requirements and procedures and for information on credit through Advanced Placement.
Students require a baking and pastry arts tool kit, and a professional culinary uniform when working in lab. Both items are currently available through The College Store and are consistent with the AAS degree program.
- Ms. Tabitha H Barbarito, Project Manager, PASA Sustainable Agriculture
- Mr. Francis A Daniele, Chef/Owner, Joanna's Italian Bakery
- Ms. Diane L Dorner, '79, District Supervisor, Carrols Corporation
- Mr. Joel Hough, Regional Manager, The Restaurant Store
- Mr. Chris Kowalewski, Chief Growth Officer & Senior VP of Sales, Compass Group North America
- Mr. George Logue, III, '10, Co-owner/Chef, Herman & Luther's
- Ms. Erin Oggier, '06, Executive Chef, Brock & Company
- Mr. Kristan T Patterson, Chief Artisan Baker, Penn State University Bakery
Already have certifications through ProStart?
Check out the credential/licensure chart to see if your certification qualifies for college credit.
