Our Teen Experiences are 5-consecutive day sessions and designed to introduce high school kids to the professional side of cooking. In addition to learning many techniques and recipes, students are taught how chefs work in professional kitchens through rigorous hands-on learning. These immersion courses are perfect for any passionate teen cooks who may be considering a future career in food.
What You'll Learn
By the end of the class, you will:
- Know how to prep for any baking project, including a thorough understanding of ingredients and how they work
- Understand the principals of choux pastry and how to pipe it for a variety of eclairs and cream puffs
- Master a flaky, butter master dough for pies, tarts, and cookies
- Understand how to construct a multi-layer celebration cake and decorate it like a pro
- Build a foundation of pro-style kitchen skills for future culinary careers
About This Class
Do you want to go to pastry school one day? Dream of owning your own bakery or working as a pastry chef? This intense week of professional-style training in pastry arts will lay the foundation for that future.
Our Teen Pastry Arts Experience is designed for high-school students who are ready to who are ready to roll up their sleeves and learn how to bake with confidence. Each day will focus on core fundamentals through hands-on learning and many tips used by professional chefs. Rather than simply memorizing recipes, we will help you understand more about how things work in the kitchen and, in many cases, the science behind what you’re doing. Through a variety of methods and techniques, you will become more comfortable with many homemade pastries. Eclairs, Pies, Cookies, and intricately decorated Cakes will all be part of the program.
Where better to cement a life-long love of pastry than in the professional kitchen of San Francisco Cooking School?
This class is restricted to high school students only and this policy will be enforced. We recognize there are many talented pre-teen aspiring cooks out there, but this class is not for them (check out our Kids Pastry Camp instead). Students must be either enrolled in high school, or be a recently-graduated senior to be eligible for this course.
Menu
Day 1: Choux, Tart Doughs
Day 2: Cookies
Day 3: Cake Batters and Frosting
Day 4: Cake Assembly and Decorating
Day 5: Choux, Tart, and Cake Assembly for your Bakeshop
Details
- Full meal served in class
- Work in teams
- Five-session series
FAQ
All students must show proof of vaccine before entering school and will be required to wear a mask unless eating/drinking.
We understand and respect that lifestyle decisions during Covid are an individual choice. If you test positive for Covid while the class is in session, you will be asked to send a friend in your place until you have a negative test. Classes will not be rescheduled, credited or cancelled. Once the class session starts the class is non-refundable. This was our policy pre-Covid and continues to be our policy today. We hope you find this policy acceptable and understand that this policy is required for a small school like SFCS to operate and open our kitchens for great food experiences.
The average duration of our current cooking classes is 4 hours, which is predominately hands-on work. You will be standing for the majority of class, cooking at your work station as your instructor demonstrates techniques and walks around providing individual feedback. Most of the time you’ll be working with a partner or small group on a few different recipes.
Doors will open 10 minutes prior to class starting and we will begin promptly on time. Students will be asked to queue up outside the door of the school to have their vaccine cards checked the first week of class (these will only need to be checked once).
Please arrive at the school with your own mask on. New, disposable masks are available should you need to replace yours while in class.
Wear comfortable clothes and close-toed shoes (remember, you’ll be on your feet cooking). The kitchens at SFCS are fully equipped with everything else you need, including clean aprons.
You will sit down with your classmates to eat what you’ve all prepared, along with some wine. We do suggest you have a small snack before class as dinner does happen towards the end of each session.
Wear casual clothing you can easily move around in, and comfortable close-toed shoes. Long hair must be pulled back and masks are required while in the building.
Cancellation Policy
Christine Simard
Christine came to San Francisco with the dream of pursing a career in pastry after her previous life in tech. Since graduating from the Professional Pastry program at SF Cooking School, she has worked at Nopa and Black Jet Baking Co., does professional recipe development and bakery consulting, and loves teaching cooking to kids and teens.
Jill McIntosh
A graduate of the Pastry & Baking Program at SF Cooking School, Jill works on the lamination team at MH Bread & Butter and was formerly at Jane the Bakery. She has also spent time working in pastry at Cotogna and Quince.