Course 1
INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE LEARNING & RESTAURANT REALITIES
13 hours
This course is designed to familiarize students with best practices for success in our online program and in the restaurant industry. Topics include learning management system use, internet research and time management. We also introduce the tenets of professionalism and the expectations of the food service industry.
Course 2
INTRODUCTION TO BAKING TECHNIQUES AND INGREDIENTS — PART 1
90 hours
After a comprehensive introduction to knife skills and food safety, students learn about equipment, baking tools and baking measurements. This course is designed to teach about ingredients and how they function, with a focus on sugar and fruit. Students will use a range of methods for preparing fruit desserts, progressing from sautéing techniques to complex fruit garnishes. This course has a comprehensive practice of sugar cookery to prepare classic and modern sugar confections. The course teaches basic decorating skills and how to use a pastry bag and cornet.
Course highlights:
- Apple Tart Tatin — A French caramelized upside-down apple tart
- Honeycomb Candy — Cooked honey and sugar lightened with baking soda to create a light, airy confection
- Chocolate Dipped Confections — Strawberries and meringue cookies dipped in chocolate
Course 3
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT & MENU DESIGN
21 hours
This course is designed to acquaint students with the realities of a culinary business by exploring concepts — from creativity to profitability. By surveying the industry, students explore all types of operations and analyze concepts, as well as research feasibility and location selection. Students gain the knowledge required to develop and refine their ideas.
This course also gives a comprehensive view of key aspects of the menu, including planning, pricing, layout and design. Students prepare sample menus as a project.
Course 4
INTRODUCTION TO BAKING TECHNIQUES AND INGREDIENTS — PART 2
60 hours
This course focuses on dairy and egg functions in the bakeshop with an emphasis on custards, frozen desserts and classic French pastries. The class will prepare dishes to practice each technique and build confidence and competence. The course teaches the art of plating techniques such as sauces, garnishes and plate composition that students can use throughout the program.
Course highlights:
- Crème Brûlée – A crispy caramelized layer of sugar over a rich custard
- Ice Cream and Sorbet – Various flavors of churned frozen desserts
- Eclairs and Cream Puffs – Pate a choux pastries filled with custard and topped with chocolate and whipped cream
Course 5
FOODSERVICE FINANCE
30 hours
A working understanding of numbers is critically important to culinary success. The curriculum for this course focuses on the use of financial statements as a tool for cost control and decision-making. The course progresses from training students to associate numbers with financial and logistical aspects of a foodservice business to an overview of budgets, industry standards and variation analysis. Case studies are used to provide real world examples.
Course 6
BREADS AND OTHER YEAST-RAISED DOUGHS
60 hours
This course introduces students to yeast leavened doughs, with a focus on lean and rich doughs, proper shaping techniques and how to achieve the perfect crust. The course teaches content on different types of flour and yeast, naturally leavened breads and how to cross-utilize their skills with an introduction of multiple savory baked items.
Course highlights:
- Baguettes – Demi- or half-sized loaves made from a lean bread dough
- Sourdough Bread – Making a starter from scratch to use as a leavening agent
- Braided Bread – Using a rich bread dough, forming strands and braiding them all together
Course 7
SUPERVISION
27 hours
People are the most important resource in any culinary business. This course focuses on the major functions of management communication, hiring practices, recruitment, training, discipline and staff organization.
Course 8
PASTRY DOUGHS
60 hours
In this course students will the learn art of how to properly roll pastry doughs. The class is designed to build upon the baking fundamentals they have already learned and how to apply those skills to retail pastry items. The course teaches lamination techniques, sweet and savory tarts and pies, and classic and European cookie production.
Course highlights:
- Croissants – Laminating dough and butter to create rich viennoiserie
- Tarts – Caramelized onion and cheese puff pastry tarts and classic fruit tarts
- French Macarons – Combining almond flour, powdered sugar and meringue to make macaron shells sandwiched with chocolate
Course 9
PURCHASING & COST CONTROL
27 hours
Strategies for purchasing and control are vital for the success of any culinary operation. This course examines labor, beverage and food costs, and revenue control. Purchasing guidelines, inventory and control, employee performance standards, productivity and scheduling, use of point-of-sale systems, computers, and new technology are also reviewed.
Course 10
CAKES, FILLING AND ICING — PART 1
90 hours
This course will review cake mixing methods, baking times, and temperatures for various cake sizes and shapes. Students will be exploring filling and icing options used to create classic retail bakery cakes. Cake decorating techniques used in this course will set the foundation for future cakes and edible works of art.
Course highlights:
- Gluten-free baking – Baking with alternative flours to create cakes, cupcakes and cookies
- Buttercream-Iced Cakes – Cake, fillings and meringue buttercreams
- Mousse Cakes – Fraisier cake composed of strawberries, mousse and sponge cake
Course 11
COMMUNICATIONS, SOCIAL MEDIA & PUBLIC RELATIONS
21 hours
Effective communication is essential for success in all areas of food service, from management to menus. This course uses media, including reviews, blogs, tweets, videos and press releases, for students to explore the relationship between restaurants, communication and public relations.
Course 12
CAKES, FILLINGS AND ICINGS — PART 2
60 hours
This course covers more complex techniques for an international cake portfolio. The course teaches how to create multi-component cakes and entremets with a review of mousse applications and understanding the proper fundamentals of glazing and enrobing cakes.
Course highlights:
- Entremet cakes – Multi layered cake enrobed in a reflective mirror glaze
- Lemon Chiffon Roulade – Jelly roll cake with a tangy lemon meringue filling
- Opera Cake – Almond sponge cake and coffee buttercream assembled and glazed with chocolate
Course 13
LEADERSHIP, TEAM BUILDING & CHANGE MANAGEMENT
21 hours
Great leadership goes beyond good management and permeates a culture. This course explores leadership variables and principles, the power of vision, the importance of ethics, the empowerment of people, understanding people, developing others, and performance management.
Additionally, instructors help students identify their own leadership styles and how best to utilize them to maximize leadership through organizational change and team building.
Course 14
PLATED DESSERTS AND MIGNARDISE
60 hours
Our plated dessert section includes theory, preparation, and presentation to give students a platform to expand their creativity. The students start with artisanal desserts and work their way up to a multi-element, contemporary plated desserts. This course also introduces students to mignardise applications which can be applied to many pastry buffet preparations, such as tempered chocolate confections, Petit French pastries and tea cookies.
Course highlights:
- Plated Desserts – Baked Alaska and summer pudding
- Hand Rolled Truffles – Made with tempered chocolate
- Petit Choux – Mini cream puffs with crunchy components baked in
Course 15
CAKE DECORATING
60 hours
Continuing the foundations of cake baking and building, slicing and icing, this course aims to expand student’s advanced decorating elements. The course teaches how to use modern cake decoration techniques and also introduces students to rice and wafer paper, gum paste and fondant applications. This course also covers how to stack and travel with cakes securely for cake deliveries.
Course highlights:
- Drip Cakes – Chocolate glaze piped onto the top of a cake with precise, picturesque drips down the sides
- Stacked Two-Tiered Cake – Preparing a cake to be ready for delivery
- Fondant-Covered Practice Cakes – Decorated with gum paste flowers and leaves
Course 16
EXTERNSHIP
200 hours
This is the last course in the program, during which students work in a foodservice-related site. While ICE strongly recommends that students extern in restaurant kitchens, they may request venues such as hotels, catering companies, corporate dining rooms or test kitchens in accordance with their professional goals.