Program at a Glance
- Hands-On, Home Kitchen-Based
- Online
- Noncredit or 4 Credits
- 7 Weeks
- Tuition & Fees: $700
Join Pastry Chef Janine Sciarappa as she teaches you to identify and prepare a variety of cookie doughs, master both stovetop and baked custards, and create Swiss and French meringues while understanding differences in peak development. The class also covers essential cake-making methods, emphasizing how gluten formation influences texture, as well as basic cake decorating skills such as torting, leveling, crumb coating, and icing.
Additional topics include making German and Swiss buttercreams and piping decorative elements, such as borders and roses. By the end of the course, you will gain a strong foundation in preparation methods and the ability to execute a wide range of pastry techniques.
Flexible, Online Pastry Instruction
Next Course Dates: September 02 – October 16, 2026
If you seek to build upon your foundation in the art of pastry making but need to maintain a flexible, part-time schedule, Boston University’s Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating offers a path forward. Study at your own pace over the course of seven weeks and benefit from a dynamic and interactive online format, employing a combination of step-by-step video tutorials and weekly-one-on-one sessions with the chef-instructor.
You will have access to the Blackboard course site, where you can review the week’s videos and recipes at your own pace. Each week of class, you will:
- Review instructional videos and printed recipes
- Practice and execute recipes at home
- Engage in weekly one-on-one Zoom meetings with Chef Sciarappa
Learn with a Professional Pastry Chef
Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating is taught by Pastry Chef Janine Sciarappa, who has more than twenty years of experience in high-end, professional baking. She earned her certificate in Culinary Arts from Boston University, where she trained under Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, and Albert Kumin. After completing BU’s Culinary Arts program, Chef Sciarappa went on to work in various high-end pastry shops in and around Boston. Her love of pastry and all things French brought her to Lenôtre in Paris to continue her education. Chef Sciarappa is the core chef instructor in baking for Boston University’s Professional Culinary Arts Program.
Transform Your Kitchen into a Patisserie
Following online instructional videos tailored and filmed specifically for this program, you will turn your kitchen into a place where you can experiment, practice, and produce pastries at your own pace. You also have access to a unique online library of pastry lectures, available to you at any time. You will be able to discuss your pastry making experiences via weekly one-on-one meetings with Chef Sciarappa, during which you will review your process from the week, get help correcting your mistakes, and receive constructive feedback and answers to all your questions.
Take Your Pastry Arts Skill to the Next Level
Over the course of Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating, you will learn to identify and prepare a variety of cookie doughs, master both stovetop and baked custards, and create Swiss and French meringues while understanding differences in peak development. The class also covers essential cake-making methods, emphasizing how gluten formation influences texture, as well as basic cake decorating skills such as torting, leveling, crumb coating, and icing. By the end of the course, students gain a strong foundation in preparation methods and the ability to execute a wide range of pastry techniques.
Course Materials
Course materials are hosted on Blackboard. After your registration is complete, you will receive an email from BU Information Services & Technology with instructions on how to establish your BU account. (You may need to check your spam folder for this email.) Once you have established your BU account, you will be able to access the Blackboard course site.
Academic Credit Option
Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating is available as an elective for graduate credit in the Master of Arts in Gastronomy and the Certificate in Food Studies and can also be taken for credit by those who are not matriculated in a degree program at BU MET. Learn how to register for credit.
Tuition and Registration
Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating is $700, including fees.
Refund Policy
A full refund is available before the second week of the course. After that, there are no refunds. However, you may transfer your enrollment to another person.
Learn More
Please contact us with any questions you may have about Baking Essentials: From Cookies to Cake Decorating.
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