Higher Diploma in Pastry, Chocolate and Bakery · Year 2
Entremets, pralines and showpieces
300 kitchen hours of the work people photograph — plus costing, supervision and a second six-month paid internship at CHF 2,390/month gross minimum.
The year at a glance
From foundations to finish
Semester 3 is the taught half: six practical labs and six academic modules in Lucerne, 300 kitchen hours in total. Semester 4 is your second six-month paid internship.
The technical jump is real. Year 1 taught you to make a ganache; Year 2 asks you to temper, shell, fill and finish a tray of pralines to a consistent standard, then build a showpiece that holds its own shape. The academics move in step — cost management, supervision and small business, because the next rung assumes you can run a section.
How the internship model works
Semester 3 · 300 kitchen hours
Six labs, six benches
Ice Creams & Plated Desserts
Sorbets, parfaits and the dessert as it leaves the pass
Advanced Chocolate Pralines
Tempering, shells, ganaches, moulding and finishing
Petit Fours & Petit Gâteaux
Precision work at small scale, repeated to a standard
Entremets Cakes
Layered mousse cakes — structure, glazing, assembly
The Art of Showpieces
Sugar and chocolate built to be looked at
Catering Operations
Producing at volume without losing the finish
Semester 3 academic modules
- Small Business Management
- Creativity & Design
- Food and Beverage Cost Management
- Supervisory Development
- Career Development and Professional Integration
- German or French Communications (optional)
120 credits / 60 ECTS for the year, then a six-month paid internship in Semester 4. BHMS publishes 300 kitchen hours for the taught semester as a total, not per lab. Lab descriptions above are our summary of what each module covers, not BHMS module text.
Entry & fees
What it takes, what it costs
Entry
The Higher Diploma builds on the Diploma in Pastry, Chocolate & Bakery or an equivalent qualification. Completing it allows progression to a third year for the dual bachelor's degree.
Intakes: August 2026 · November 2026 · February 2027
Fees
CHF 40,100 — Year 2, all-inclusive
Same cost categories as Year 1: tuition, operating costs, living expenses, application fee, uniforms and equipment.
This is the published Year 2 figure within the pastry pathway. BHMS does not publish a separate standalone price for the Higher Diploma taken on its own — confirm with admissions if that is your plan.
All feesAfter Year 2
Continue: the bachelor's degree
Year 3 is academic — patisserie design and innovation, new food product development, managing culinary resources, creativity and entrepreneurship — followed by a third six-month paid internship. You graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts and Patisserie, a dual award from BHMS and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen (UK): 180 ECTS / 360 UK credits in total.
Year 3 and the degree
Questions
Straight answers
What makes Year 2 different from Year 1?
Year 1 builds the foundations; Year 2 is where the work becomes recognisably yours. The labs cover entremets cakes, advanced chocolate pralines, petits fours and petits gâteaux, ice creams and plated desserts, and showpiece work — 300 kitchen hours in the taught semester. The academics shift too: costing, supervision and small business management, because Year 2 assumes you will eventually run a section.
Can I join the Higher Diploma directly?
The Higher Diploma builds on the Diploma in Pastry, Chocolate and Bakery or an equivalent qualification, so direct entry depends on what you have already completed. Send your transcripts through the application form and admissions will assess them.
What does the Higher Diploma cost on its own?
CHF 40,100 is the published Year 2 figure within the pastry pathway, on the same all-inclusive basis as Year 1. BHMS does not publish a separate standalone price for the Higher Diploma taken by itself — confirm with admissions if you intend to take Year 2 alone.
Where does it lead?
Completing the Higher Diploma allows progression to a third year for the dual bachelor degree — the Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts and Patisserie, awarded jointly by BHMS and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen (UK).
Three intakes a year. One decision that pays you back.
Next intakes: August 2026 · November 2026 · February 2027 · Lucerne, Switzerland
Every programme year pairs a taught semester with a six-month paid internship — CHF 2,390/month gross minimum in Switzerland under the national hospitality labour agreement. How the internship model works →