{"id":18858,"date":"2021-06-21T12:14:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/?p=18858"},"modified":"2025-01-27T07:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T13:39:15","slug":"chef-frank-vollkommer-certified-master-pastry-chef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/blog\/baking-pastry\/chef-frank-vollkommer-certified-master-pastry-chef\/","title":{"rendered":"From Motorsports to Making Tortes: Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae Frank Vollkommer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food was not Chef Frank\u2019s first love. Motorcycles were! But ironically, it was his love for motor sports that first got him into food.<\/p>\n

Motocross and dirt biking are expensive hobbies for a teenager. Eventually, his father told him that he\u2019d have to get a job to fund them.<\/p>\n

So he employed that time-honored method of finding his first kitchen job\u2014he knocked on the back door of a local restaurant to ask if they were hiring. They started him that very day as a dishwasher.<\/p>\n

Frank worked his way up from dish to prep to sous chef. And at just 21 years old, he found himself an executive chef<\/a>. But that wasn\u2019t enough for Chef Frank. He was fascinated by the technique that went into pastry, but he didn\u2019t get to practice those skills enough in his full-time position. So he took on a second job, working part-time as an assistant baker and pastry cook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Frank“I would go to restaurants early in the morning, make their desserts, and then rush over to my real job [as an executive chef] and start getting set up for service. I did that for a few years.”
\nFrank Vollkommer, Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae, Culinary Olympics Gold Medalist<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Eventually, he realized that if he wanted to transition to pastry, he\u2019d need some formal education<\/a>. So he got his associate degree at a culinary institute to help him work towards that goal. Even though he was already an executive chef, he knew there was still more to learn!<\/p>\n

Competitions and Preparation<\/h2>\n

Certification was important to Chef Frank, but he wanted to prove himself in other ways, too. \u201cI’m what I consider a lifelong learner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Frank“I think that competition and certification both represent opportunities to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and to learn a lot.”
\nFrank Vollkommer, Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae, Culinary Olympics Gold Medalist<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

In the early 2000s, Chef Frank went on a competition blitz, earning accolades at numerous pastry competitions<\/a>. He received awards at the Marc Sarrazin Cup and the Societe Culinaire Philanthropique. He even competed in the Culinary Olympics in 2000, and took home both a gold and silver medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’re practicing with that much intention, and you’re analyzing the details about your performance, and you try to do it better every time, there is a direct correlation between improving your professional skills in competition and how you prepare for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chef

Chef Frank\u2019s chocolate bon bons<\/p><\/div>\n

The practice for these competitions was also a big contributor to his next major pastry success.<\/p>\n

Becoming a Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae<\/h2>\n

Becoming a Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae is no cakewalk, if you\u2019ll pardon the pastry pun. It\u2019s such a difficult process that Chef Frank is one of only eleven<\/strong> CMPCs\u00ae in the entire country. It\u2019s the highest level of pastry chef certification that one can receive. To earn it, Chef Frank had to complete a grueling 10-day exam by the American Culinary Federation<\/a> (ACF).<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s CMPC\u00ae exam<\/a> isn\u2019t quite the same as it was when Chef Frank took it. These days, it\u2019s 8 days rather than 10, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s any easier.<\/p>\n

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Certified Master Pastry Chef\u00ae Prerequisites<\/h3>\n