How do you become a vegan pastry chef?

i'm interested in becoming a vegan pastry chef.
i'm having difficulty finding culinary institutes that offer classes for this, as i'm assuming that i'll have to get my associates in baking/pastries first.
if anyone has done this and could tell me how that'd be great :]
i graduate next year and i really want to go to school right away.

Well as a former chef myself and knowing the regiment they go through it will not be a problem, only thing is most are going to teach a non vegan curriculum, for that your going to have to adapt things for a vegan recipe.

As most will teach dairy and white flour based recipes, for a vegan there are ways to adapt things to a non flour and dairy cream based method, and methodology wise the techniques are the same. You will have to find way to incorporated soy, non wheat based flours and other ingredients into desserts, gelatin is a big part of the work, but with non animal gelatin's like Agar or Alginates from other plants, cream fillings can be made with silken tofu and other non dairy foods.

Just make sure your going to enjoy the work, and is there alot of call for vegan pastry chef, if it is a personal thing fine, but it could be a bit more of a challenge, I am a vegetarian now due to my health issues, and while a lacto-ovo one I use only yougart and egg whites, look at the local institutes and there are some that do have a vegan training course in pastry work, I would check out as many as you can.

I know vegan culinary institutes exist, but they are few and far between. I would talk to the head Chef at the institute and tell him/her what you want to do. They may have no problem substituting ener-gy replacer for eggs and soy milk for milk (vegans can eat any type of wheat). In fact, they may be curious. Generally, pasty is a certificate, not a degree- you have to take the whole "meaty" curriculum for an associates. Keep trying if you hear no. Or, find a vegan baker in your area and ask for an apprenticeship. If you're willing to work for free (or very little) most would be happy to help you out.

Good luck!

There are some places around that make fantastic vegan pastries, desserts, breads, etc. Most are all self taught working on their recipes over the years. If you cannot find a school, find one of these places and see if you can get a job there to learn the skills to become a vegan pastry chef. Most chefs are very open to teaching people their skills.

http://www.vegcooking.com/askVeganChef1....

May not help but maybe will giude you where to find out