More About Pastry Chef Instuctor Mark Hellermann

Above is just one of many of Chef Hellerman's delectable creations.

Chef Mark Hellermann has been in the food service industry for over 20 years. He has worked as a pastry chef for Balducci’s and as executive chef for Tastings Restaurant in mid-town Manhattan. He has also done catering, worked as a specialty food purveyor and produced his own line of baked goods for the NY City farmers market. Chef Hellermann especially likes working with local seafood and vegetables plus chocolate and artisan breads. He has taught culinary and pastry classes at the New York Restaurant School for many years and has recently joined CKCA to teach the professional training program in baking & pastry arts.

Learn more about the CKCA pro program in Kosher Baking and Pastry by visiting http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com. Or call the program's director, Jesse Blonder, at 718-758-1339.

Win $500 Toward Pro Kosher Baking and Pastry

We are having a promotion on our Facebook group page! If you join our facebook group and then invite your friends to join, putting your name and hometown on the group's wall, you could win $500 toward any course taught at CKCA. The contest will be over once we hit 600 members.

Article about Kosher Baking Program published in Hamodia!

From Page A20, Hamodia Weekend Edition, August 25, 2009

Building Kosher Professional Careers, One Chef at a Time

Brooklyn, NY – The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, which has offered a Professional Training Program in Culinary Arts for the past year, is expanding. In addition to the classic Professional Culinary Arts curriculum, CKCA will also offer a new professional training program in Baking and Pastry Arts, starting right after the high holidays.

Based in Flatbush, above a cookware store owned by Lubavitcher Jews, CKCA initially offered only recreational cooking, cake decorating and garnishing classes. However, many people who attended the classes requested more professional training, so they could learn classic techniques and apply them in kosher environments. Until CKCA was established, the only way a kosher-keeping student could study the culinary arts in the United States was to attend a non-kosher program and rely on classmates to taste the food.

Over the past year, CKCA, still the only kosher professional culinary arts program in the USA, has graduated several dozen individuals from numerous states and abroad. All who have desired internships have been placed, and many have been placed in jobs as well. Several grads are opening their own food-related businesses, and some are working as personal chefs. It is expected that the new bakers, who will graduate around Chanukah, will readily find work as well.

“It’s exciting because, as culinary education opportunities become available in the Jewish world, kosher restaurant quality is sure to improve,” said Liz K., a graduate of the CKCA Pro Program from Bergenfield, N.J.

The new Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Program will be comprised of 150 hours of training and include kitchen and classroom components. The curriculum will include a full orientation to the professional bakeshop, including the principles and science of baking, ingredients, and weights and measures. Students will learn to make breads including quick breads, yeast breads and artisan breads. They will learn the fine art of making pastries, pies and tarts, cake baking and decoration, as well as cookies. Additionally, they will master making meringues, custards, souffles, and mousses, work with dessert sauces and fruit desserts. And, of course, there will be considerable attention paid to chocolate! As in the Professional Culinary Arts Program, there will be kashrut and food safety and sanitation lectures as well as preparation for NYC Dept of Health and ServSafe certifications. Class size is limited to allow maximum individual attention.

The Head Instructor for the Pro Baking Program will be Chef Mark Hellerman. For more information, visit http://www.KosherCulinaryArts.com, or call Jesse Blonder, CKCA Director, at 718.758.1339.

Kosher Baking Program Highlighted in News Article!

CKCA is proud to share this great article from the Chabad-Lubavitch News Service about CKCA's expansion into the baking and pastry arts.

The article, by Reuvena Leah Grodnitsky, "Only Kosher Culinary School Outside of Israel Expands Into Pastry Arts," is available right here.

Building Kosher Professional Careers, One Chef at a Time

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, which has offered a Professional Training Program in Culinary Arts for the past year, is expanding. In addition to the classic Professional Culinary Arts curriculum, CKCA will also offer a new professional training program in Baking and Pastry Arts, starting right after the high holidays.

Based in Flatbush, above a cookware store owned by Lubavitch Jews, CKCA initially offered only recreational cooking, cake decorating and garnishing classes. However, many people who attended the classes requested more professional training, so they could learn classic techniques and apply them in kosher environments. Until CKCA was established, the only way a kosher-keeping student could study the culinary arts in the United States was to attend a non-kosher program and rely on classmates to taste the food.

Over the past year, CKCA, the only kosher professional culinary arts program in the USA, has graduated several dozen individuals from numerous states and abroad. All who have desired internships have been placed, and many have been placed in jobs as well. Several grads are opening their own food-related businesses, and some are working as personal chefs. It is expected that the new bakers, who will graduate around Chanukah, will readily find work as well.

“It’s exciting because, as culinary education opportunities become available in the Jewish world, kosher restaurant quality is sure to improve,” said Liz K., a graduate of the CKCA Pro Program.

The new Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Program will be comprised of 150 hours of training and include kitchen and classroom components. The curriculum will include a full orientation to the professional bakeshop, including the principles and science of baking, ingredients, and weights and measures. Students will learn to make breads including quick breads, yeast breads, and artisanal breads. They will learn the fine art of making pastries, pies and tarts, cake baking and decoration, as well as cookies. Additionally, they will master making meringues, custards, souffles, and mousses, work with dessert sauces and fruit desserts. And, of course, there will be considerable attention paid to chocolate! As in the Professional Culinary Arts Program, there will be kashrut and food safety and sanitation lectures as well as preparation for NYC Dept of Health and ServSafe certification. Class size is limited to allow maximum individual attention.

The Head Instructor for the Pro Baking Program will be Chef Mark Hellerman. (email us for further information and a biography).

For more information, visit http://www.KosherCulinaryArts.com, or call Jesse Blonder, CKCA Director, at 718.758.1339. There is also a website for the Pro-Baking program, visible at http://www.kosherbakingandpastry.com.

Dates for Fall Kosher Baking & Pastry Pro Program

The dates for the fall program are as follows;
150 hours
October 13 - December 17
Mon - Thurs
2 pm - 6 pm

Don't wait! Visit CKCA on the web, in Flatbush, or call us to request your application for admission to the first professional kosher baking and pastry program offered in the United States.

What Will the Pro Baking and Pastry Program Cover?

CKCA is pleased to announce our Inaugural semester of kosher, professional training program in baking & pastry arts.

This is the only kosher program of its kind in the US.

Classes are open to men and women ages 16 and above and appropriate for anyone who is passionate about food and looking to expand his or her knowledge and skill set in an intensive, professional environment.

The curriculum will include a combination of classroom and hands-on learning in the following areas;

The Professional Bakeshop
- Food Safety & Sanitation
- Weights & Measures
- Ingredients
- Principles/Science of Baking
Breads
- Quick Breads
- Lean Yeast Breads
- Enriched Yeast Breads
- Artisan bread baking
Pastry
- Puff Pastry & Croissant
- Pate a Choux
Pies & Tarts
Cakes
- Cakes & Cupcakes
- Cake Assembly & Decoration
Cookies
Egg-based desserts
- Meringue
- Custards
- Mousses
- Soufflés
Fruit Desserts
Dessert sauces
Chocolate

Amazing Baking Recipe: Feathery Summer Shortcakes

Here at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, our students recently perfected an amazingly light and decadent shortcake recipe which is a perfect building block for strawberry, blackberry or blueberry shortcake.

Split these warm shortcakes in half with a fork and fill them with regular or non-dairy whipped cream and the berries of your choice. If you prep individual shortcakes for each person at your table this Shabbos, you are likely to be greeted with roars of delight. Or better yet, bring the materials to the table and let them make their own(keep them warm in the oven so you can split them easily).

The following recipe has been adapted for the home cook. The weight in ounces is the more precise of the measurements. In baking, as opposed to cooking, it’s important to measure your ingredients with precision, using an ingredient scale.

Ingredients:

32 oz. (2 lb) all purpose flour, sifted (approx. 4 cups)
2 oz. baking powder (approx. 1 and ½ tbsp)
6 oz. granulated sugar (approx. 7/8th of a cup)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
14 oz. Unsalted cold margarine or butter, cubed (approx. 3 and ½ sticks)
9 oz. non-dairy creamer or milk
4 eggs
Powdered sugar for garnish

Directions:

Combine your dry ingredients and then either cut in your cold butter or combine the dry ingredients with the butter with your mixer on low, until nicely incorporated. Add your wet ingredients slowly until you have a thick dough. For extra flakey shortcakes, refrigerate your dough for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough to approximately a half-inch thickness with some flour and cut into 3-inch circles using a round cookie cutter or water glass. Space them two inches apart on an oiled or parchment paper-lined sheet pan.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and immediately dust with powdered sugar. Makes 15 gorgeous shortcakes, and more if you use a smaller sized cookie cutter.

Located in the heart of Flatbush Brooklyn, The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts offers professional culinary training programs and hands-on cooking and baking classes for all ages. Classes are taught by experienced chef instructors and are offered during the day, in the evenings, motzei shabbos in the winter, and on Sundays. CKCA is the only kosher cooking school in the US, and offers professional level training programs in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts.

Learn more about the Pro Baking & Pastry Program of the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts by visiting us here.

New Kosher Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Training to Begin this Fall

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, which has offered Professional Training Program in Culinary Arts in Brooklyn for the past year, is expanding. A new Professional Training Program in Baking and Pastry Arts will begin this Fall.

CKCA was established to offer recreational cooking, cake decorating and garnishing classes. However, they quickly responded to the need for Kosher training. Over the past year, CKCA, the only kosher professional culinary arts program in the USA, has graduated several dozen individuals from numerous states and abroad. All who have desired internships have been placed, and many have been placed in jobs as well. Several grads are opening their own food-related businesses, some working as personal chefs. It is expected that these new bakers will readily find work as well.

The new Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Program will be comprised of 150 hours of training and include kitchen and classroom components. The curriculum will include a full orientation to the professional bakeshop, including the principles and science of baking, ingredients, and weights and measures. Students will learn to make breads including quick breads, yeast breads, and artisanal breads. They will learn the fine art of making pastries, pies and tarts, cake baking and decoration, as well as cookies. Additionally, they will master making meringues, custards, souffles, and mousses, work with dessert sauces, fruit desserts, and more. And, of course, there will be considerable attention paid to chocolate! As in the Culinary Arts Program, there will be kashrut and food safety and sanitation lectures as well as preparation for NYC Dept of Health and ServSafe certification. Class size is limited to allow maximum individual attention.

The Head Instructor for the Pro Baking Program will be Chef Mark Hellerman.

Chef Mark Hellermann has been in the food service industry for over 20 years. He has worked as a pastry chef for Balducci’s and as executive chef for Tastings Restaurant in mid-town Manhattan. He has also done catering, worked as a specialty food purveyor and produced his own line of baked goods for the NY City farmers market. Chef Hellermann especially likes working with local seafood and vegetables plus chocolate and artisan breads. He has taught culinary and pastry classes at the New York Restaurant School for many years and has recently joined CKCA to teach the professional training program in baking & pastry arts.the professional training program in baking & pastry arts.

The Program is appropriate for those who are considering baking & pastry arts as a first or second career, food service professionals wishing to sharpen their skills, and for anyone who wants to learn professional-level technique & skills and train in an intensive, professional environment. The program is for people aged 16 years and older and will meet from Mondays through Thursdays from 2-6 PM beginning October 13. The group will graduate during Chanukah.

For more information, visit http://www.KosherCulinaryArts.com, or call Jesse Blonder, CKCA Director, at 718.758.1339.