Pâtissier

Pâtissier (feminine pâtissière) is the French word for a pastry maker. The Larousse dictionary defines it as a person who makes or sells pâtisserie, which covers the cakes, tarts and small pastries sold in a French pastry shop. The same root gives crème pâtissière, the cooked custard of milk, egg yolks, sugar and flour that fills many of them.

In English the role is usually called a pastry chef. Pastry chefs and bakers make baked goods for restaurants, bakeries and hotel dining rooms, and the work includes measuring, weighing and sifting ingredients, kneading dough and making breads, pies, cakes, cookies and pastries. Reference works describe pastry chefs as experts with years of experience and classroom training.

In France the trade is separate from that of the boulanger, who makes bread, though the two crafts share many techniques.