While LT’s current culinary program teaches students the basics in a variety of skills and techniques, the culinary team noticed they were lacking when it came to teaching baking and pastry skills. After deliberation and approval, to solve this problem LT decided to add a class for the 2025-26 school year: Baking and Pastry Arts. 

The one-semester class is being offered to expose students who are interested in cooking to what a career is like as a pastry chef,” Assistant Division Chair of Applied Arts Brianna Basic said. “In the culinary industry, you can either go a culinary arts route or baking and pastry route, so the focus of the class is to expose students to various baking techniques, prepare them for what a career would be like as a pastry chef, and give students a semester-long curriculum solely based on baked goods and sweets.”

The class will only be offered at NC and can only be taken by students who have previously taken Culinary Arts, as the new class will expand on topics taught in that class. Units of Baking and Pastry Arts will include: laminated doughs, enriched doughs, advanced cake decorating, frostings, fondants, pies and tarts, and custards. 

“The class is going to be very hands-on,” Basic said. “For students who learn by doing, it’s a great class for them. For students that have a sweet tooth and are interested in baked goods or maybe owning their own bakery or baking business one day, they should consider taking this class. None of our other culinary classes really focus on a lot of baking, so Baking and Pastry will be a great opportunity to really dive in and learn all the different types of doughs, cookies, buttercreams, pastries, and baking techniques. Students will learn a lot of new skills in this class that will truly broaden their knowledge and prepare them for additional success in the culinary arts field.”

The teacher of the class is not yet determined, but will depend on the number of sections they have of the class, Basic said. If there are a lot of sections, there might be multiple teachers. 

“I’m taking baking and pastry next year because I want to learn how to bake better and learn new recipes,” Danika Gordon ‘26 said. “My favorite part [of the culinary program] is being able to cook with new people, make new friends, and of course eat the food.”