Baker or Pastry Chef — Specialties, Journeyman Certificates and the Way Forward

Baker and Pastry Chef is One Trade with Two Souls. Both Build on the Same Basic Craftsmanship but Each Cultivates Their Own Side of It. When You Choose Your Path, You Choose Which Part of the Bakery Gets to Fill Most of Your Day.

As a baker you are a specialist in bread and morning pastries: rye bread, sourdough bread, buns, rolls and everyday baked goods. As a pastry chef you work with the sweet and fine creations: layer cakes, French pastries, desserts, marzipan and chocolate. Both paths require precision and a sense of quality but where the baker often works with large amounts of dough early in the morning the pastry chef works more detail-oriented with decoration and plating.

You typically start with a basic course at a vocational school, where you learn the basics and try out the trade. Then you must find an apprenticeship at a bakery or pastry shop. The education alternates between school stays and practice so you learn the theory and use it in reality. As an apprentice you get paid during the entire education and finish with a journeyman exam that gives you your journeyman's certificate.

• 01In an artisanal bakery or pastry shop.
• 02On hotels and restaurants with their own bakery or dessert kitchen.
• 03In cafes canteens and catering.
• 04In the food industry with production on a larger scale.
• 05As self-employed with own business eventually.

With the journeyman's certificate you can specialise further become master and open your own business or further educate yourself professionally. Many skilled bakers and pastry chefs also travel and work abroad where Danish craftsmanship is valued. The trade gives you a solid practical craft for which there will always be a need — people never stop eating bread and cake.

“A journeyman's certificate is not an ending — it is the ticket to the rest of the trade.”

— Baker's Trade Adviser