How to become a pastry chef
Official title: Pastry chef
Also called: Assistant pastry chef, Executive pastry chef, Assistant pastry chef, Executive pastry chef
Pastry chef oversees all the production of pastry served at the restaurant, banquet functions, and other outlets. He/she creates new and exciting desserts to renew the menus and engage the interest of customers, and decorates pastries using different icings, toppings etc. He/she also monitors stocks for baking ingredients such as flour, sugar etc. and makes appropriate orders within budget, while checking the quality of materials and the condition of equipment and devices used for cooking.
Main tasks
- Planning and developing recipes and menus, estimating food and labour costs, and ordering food supplies
- Monitoring quality of dishes at all stages of preparation and presentation
- Discussing food preparation issues with managers, dietitians, kitchen and waiting staff
- Supervising and coordinating the activities of cooks and other workers engaged in food preparation
- Inspecting supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure conformance to established standards
- Determining how food should be presented, and creating decorative food displays
- Instructing cooks and other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, and presentation of food
- Participating in the recruitment of kitchen staff and monitoring their performance
Ways in
- Apprenticeship: Work-study diploma. Related ITE work-study diplomas: Work-Study Diploma in Culinary Arts & Management. You are employed by a company and study at ITE at the same time. Peernovo matched these from course names.
- Polytechnic or ITE: ITE course (Nitec or Higher Nitec). Related ITE courses: Higher Nitec in Pastry & Baking. Peernovo matched these from course names; ITE does not publish which jobs each course leads to.; Polytechnic diploma. Related diplomas: Diploma in Culinary & Catering Management (Temasek Polytechnic); Diploma in Restaurant & Culinary Management (Republic Polytechnic). Peernovo matched these from course names; polytechnics do not publish which jobs each course leads to.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $36,408 a year. The middle half earn $30,036 to $55,200 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
- Chef (excluding pastry chef)
- Kitchen operations head/supervisor
- Photographer
- Interior designer
- Decorator
- Visual merchandiser
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Questions people ask
How do I become a pastry chef?
Ways in include: ITE course (Nitec or Higher Nitec); Polytechnic diploma; Work-study diploma.
How much does a pastry chef earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $36,408 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $30,036 to $55,200.
Will AI change the work of a pastry chef?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026