Have you always dreamed of becoming a professional cake decorator? You are not alone if you dream of putting together the most exquisite desserts imaginable for friends and family. Cake decorating is fast becoming one of the most popular of all the pastry arts. Do you stop to look at the beautiful desserts on the cover of cooking magazines, or stop every time you walk by the bakery store window? Is your idea of a good time a long afternoon spent in the kitchen, creating beautiful, intricate desserts? If so, then perhaps you would be suited for a career in the pastry arts. If so, here are five tips for getting the job of your dream as a cake decorator.

1) Enroll at your local culinary academy to get professional training in cake decorating. Perhaps you have always thought of cake decorating as a hobby, something to do on the side rather than make a full-blown career. But if you are serious about becoming a cake decorator, then you will definitely want to get some kind of formal training under your belt. The best way to go about doing that is to take coursework on the professional level.

2) If you are not ready or simply can't enroll in a culinary program, at least take a cake decorating class at your local community college. Cake decorating is serious hands-on business, so you will want to get some serious hands-on experience. There is no better way to do this than in the classroom. No matter how original and inspired your designs are that you have created on your own, all good chefs and bakers and decorators understand that they can always stand to learn new and cutting-edge techniques. At the very least, you can master techniques and methods that may have been foreign to you before you started class, and you can begin to build your own cake decoration portfolio in case you will be looking for work as a professional cake decorator.

3) If possible, find yourself a mentor. This can be difficult to do because it is hard to force relationships, but if possible, you should seek out a mentor. There is no better way to learn than from a more experienced baker or pastry chef with the time and the patience to show you the tricks of the trade. The pastry arts are riddled with tricks and tips, and there is no better way to learn them than through hands-on instruction from a person you both admire and trust.

4) Find work where you can find it. That is, don't expect to get a big salaried position right off the bat. The cake decorating industry is a niche industry, so it can be hard to become established right away. You kind of have to wriggle yourself into a professional cake decorator position. You can do this by finding odd jobs here and there that let you practice the art of cake decorating while making connections within your local pastry chef and baking community. For instance, you can get a job in catering to learn more about the business side of the professional baking world.

5) Brush up on your photography skills, or else look around for a good still photographer. If you are serious about breaking into the cake decorating business, you will want to build a portfolio of the cakes you have worked on. That means that you will need nice photographs of your cakes. It is not easy to get exquisite photography of the type you see in the glossy magazines. You may want to practice taking food shots, or else look for someone with a talent for still or food photography.