Everything I did in European Pastry School

My European Pastry School Experience: A Week-by-Week Recap

In the summer of 2024, I spent two amazing months abroad attending pastry school. One month was spent in France at ENSP (École Ducasse), and the other in Italy at ALMA. It was a jam-packed, sugar-filled adventure full of classic desserts, traditional flavors, advanced techniques, and showstopping creations. I thought it’d be fun to take you through everything I did, week by week—highlighting the skills we learned and the memories made in the kitchen!

Week 1 – France: Bread & Viennoiserie

We kicked things off with traditional bread and viennoiserie. If you’re unfamiliar with the term viennoiserie, don’t worry—you’ve definitely eaten one! Think croissants, danishes, brioche buns... basically, any yeast-leavened dough enriched with eggs, sugar, and lots of butter. We also made classic breads like baguettes, buns and loaves.

The bread lab was a dream—the ovens alone could have their own blog post. (Seriously, I could talk about them for hours.) But we’ve got a lot more pastry goodness to cover, so moving on...

Week 2 – France: Plated Desserts

This week gave us a peek into what it's like working in a high-end restaurant or hotel kitchen. We dove into the world of plated desserts, learning how to balance textures and flavors while making everything look gorgeous on the plate. It was so fun figuring out how all the elements work together—visually and flavor-wise—to create something both delicious and beautiful.

Week 3 – France: Petit Gâteaux

This might’ve been my favorite week in France. Our focus was petit gâteaux—which literally translates to "little cakes." You know those elegant mini desserts with a shiny glaze, maybe a chocolate garnish, a mousse dome, or a crunchy base? That’s a petit gâteau. These are usually built in molds, layered with mousse, then finished with a glossy glaze. I can’t wait to dive deeper into this week in a future post—there were so many cool creations!

Week 4 – France: Sugar Showpieces

The most stressful (but also thrilling) week: sugar work. Yep—sculpted sugar showpieces. And yes, it was just as intense as it sounds. Working with hot isomalt was brand new to me, and I quickly learned that timing is everything. While our final showpiece didn’t quite look like the chef’s... we finished it! And honestly, I’m super proud of how far my sugar skills came in just one week.

Week 1 – Italy: Gelato Time

Gelato week! We were lucky enough to learn from two chefs who run their own gelato shops in Italy—aka total pros. I didn’t expect it, but this week was math-heavy. Balancing recipes and understanding the science behind texture, sweetness, and mouthfeel felt like a full-on chemistry class (but with way more delicious homework).

Week 2 – Italy: Bread, the Italian Way

Back to bread, but this time with an Italian twist. We explored pre-ferments, sourdough starters, and long fermentation methods. We made panettone—Italy’s beloved holiday cake—plus tons of other loaves and buns. We also tackled cornetti, Italy’s answer to the croissant. They look similar but are surprisingly different in structure and technique. Still buttery, still flaky, still delicious.

Week 3 – Italy: Chocolate Work

Chocolate week was a dream. We learned to temper chocolate—a skill that is so awesome once you master it. We created molded chocolate bonbons and even built a full chocolate showpiece. While this week didn’t come with the burn risk of sugar work, it was still intense and I’m really proud of how our piece turned out!

Week 4 – Italy: Italian Classics + Plated Desserts

The final week! We went all-in on Italian dessert classics—tiramisu, cannoli, sfogliatella, cannoncino—you name it, we made it. Then came the ultimate challenge: plating these desserts for a real dinner service. We assembled and served our creations in front of chefs and fellow students. It was high pressure but super rewarding. And that meant that I could finally go home and sleep for an indefinite amount of time!

And that’s a wrap! I hope this not-so-brief little post gave you a fun intro to everything I learned in European Pastry School. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be diving deeper into the recipes, techniques, and highlights of each week. We’ll see where it goes—whether it’s a detailed recipe breakdown or just some tasty behind-the-scenes moments.

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @juliassweettreats for all the delicious visuals and behind-the-scenes fun from pastry school and beyond!