Students in the Baking and Pastry Arts program gain real world experience each day by producing creative baked goods for the Fresh Start Bakery and Cheetah Café.
Students in the Baking and Pastry Arts Program begin their day with learning theory behind the art of baking. Note-taking, worksheets, demonstrative videos, culinary math, and homework are all a part of this program to ensure our students are well-informed about the functions of the ingredients and techniques they will use daily during shop time. When classroom instruction concludes, students head to the shop to begin the hands-on portion of class. GCIT recognizes the significance of real-life experience in getting our students employed, and it is a focal point in our program. They will also graduate with multiple certifications, such as ServSafe and OSHA-10, making our students highly valuable in the industry.
Freshman year, safety and sanitation, ingredient function, and mixing methods are emphasized to build a solid foundation of fundamental theories. The hands-on part of their class revolves around the unit they are working on. The units covered in this course are the history of the baking profession, knife skills, cookies, and quick breads.
Sophomores, the hands-on portion is all about large-scale commercial type production. Students work in groups that rotate stations around the bakeshop to ensure they learn the importance of each position and work with others. Students complete a variety of bake shop tasks daily, from mixing formulas to laying out batters and doughs to frying donuts, decorating cakes, and more to fill our school store, as well as holiday orders. Job sheets are used to ensure setup and clean-up tasks are completed daily, much like an actual employee in a bakery. This is their first taste of the real industry
Junior year students are focusing on honing their skills and are afforded time to concentrate on particular interest areas. The units covered in this course are frozen and fruit desserts, chocolates, sugar techniques, syrups and sauces, and dessert presentation.
Senior year students return to the commercial bakeshop. The year starts with a focus on cake mixing and baking, icing types, and decorating cakes. We will then shift to rich dough, laminated doughs, and pastries such as cream puffs and eclairs. As well as large production for our school bakery, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter sales yearly.
GCIT has chapters in both FCCLA and Skills USA that allow our students to compete on a state and national level. They will have many opportunities within these organizations to not only grow as young adults but also earn scholarships to various schools. GCIT has articulation agreements with Atlantic Cape Community College and the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill and regularly hosts demonstrations from the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson and Wales University. Students leave with a solid foundation to build their career on; they can easily enter industry, attend college, with a head start, pursue food science or nutrition; the options are truly limitless.
