So... I'm puzzling over whether or not I should seek an education in chocolate-making. I'm self-taught in everything I know about confectionery, so I can't really see myself actually needing to attend a candy-making or pastry art program when I could easily develop my skills on my own in the four years I'll be attending college. I'm proficient at making dark chocolate truffles and I'm covering ground learning how to make good white and milk chocolate ganache. I will admit that I'm horrible at tempering, as I can temper so that I get a hard chocolate shell but can't get a shiny, even color to save my life. But even that, I could probably fix if I had a thermometer. I'm proficient at making caramel and pretty good with pralines and toffee. All I really have left to do is develop more different candy fillings aside from ganache.
The main issue I have with these schools is the emphasis they tend to place on the appearance of the food. I know it's called pastry "art" for a reason, but what I mostly care about it how to make candies taste as best as they can, be they shiny and well-tempered or discolored and bloomed.
At the same time, I feel like I should have some kind of formal training. I think. I actually don't feel too strongly about it as long as I'm making my customers happy. I don't know. For now, I don't plan on attending any pastry art or confectionery school after college.
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