Whats tempting the American sweet tooth these days? - AP (File Photo)

SAN FRANCISCO Not too long ago, the pastry chef was a bit of an afterthought.

Sure, there was tiramisu and molten lava chocolate cake. But, for the most part, kitchen celebrity was measured by thrills at the grill, not by teaspoonfuls of baking soda.

That has changed.

Artisan cupcakes are everywhere, Bravo TVs Top Chef is spinning off a show Top Chef Just Desserts, and TLC has Cake Boss. Then theres Food Networks Ace of Cakes, following the adventures of Duff Goldman as he and his crew whip up such concoctions as Viking ship wedding cakes, detailed right down to the breaking waves.

Pastry chefs are the rising stars of the culinary world.

Theres definitely a lot of interest, says Peter Reinhart, baking instructor at Johnson & Wales University and author of five books on bread baking, including The Bread Bakers Apprentice. At Johnson & Wales, one of Americas leading culinary schools, we sell out our baking and pastry program faster than any other program, and that tells us a lot.

Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking From My Home to Yours, thinks blogging has helped shine a spotlight on sweets. There are cake bloggers, cookie bloggers, macaroon bloggers. Theres just been a lot more news about whats going on in the sweet world.

Meanwhile, baking books like Hello, Cupcake! and Whats New, Cupcake?, in which authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson instruct home bakers on how to concoct everything from corn on the cob to rubber duckies from simple cupcakes are making a splash.

Theres a real excitement, says Greenspan.

On the dining side, restaurant pastry chefs even are winning their own followings, people like Johnny Iuzzini, executive pastry chef at Restaurant Jean Georges in New York, and Sherry Yard, executive pastry chef at Spago in Beverly Hills, California.

And as a result, some pastry chefs are striking out on their own, taking flour power to the streets.

Pastry chefs are leaving the restaurant kitchen for whatever reason - family, burnout, becoming entrepreneurs - and many of them are opening their own small businesses, says Kara Nielsen, a trendologist at the San Francisco-based Center for Culinary Development.

With America having a comfort food moment - has there been a time when sticking your face in a bowl of pudding seemed more attractive? - the new businesses are getting a lot of attention. For instance, tweets broadcast the location of cupcake trucks. Finally, some of these pastry chefs have moved into the spotlight, says Nielsen.

Paying more attention to dessert is a welcome trend to Maura Kilpatrick, pastry chef and co-owner of Sofra Bakery and Cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She gets frustrated sometimes with restaurants that serve up great entrees, then fall apart at dessert. Its like, Why dont you pay attention to pastry? I think they are focusing a little more.

Kilpatrick also is pastry chef at the Oleana restaurant in Cambridge, which specializes in Middle Eastern food.

Customers are there for a completely different dining experience, and signature dishes include frozen nougat and cremolata - frozen almond milk churned into ice cream with a warm chocolate sandwich.

Whats tempting the American sweet tooth these days?  

A recent survey of chefs by the market research company Packaged Facts and the Culinary Development Center found that nostalgia is big but consumers also want something a bit adventurous, like desserts made with olive oil or salty sweets that incorporate bacon, sea salt or savory herbs.

Adam Busby, director of the education department at the California campus of the Culinary Institute of America, sees a couple of things inspiring pastry chefs to raise their game. People are more interested in food and they expect more from every course. And with the economy encouraging cost-cutting in every area, dessert has to fight for attention.

The pastry chef today has to be more creative than the pastry chef of 10 years ago to be able to capture and entice the diners of today, says Busby. Theyre more knowledgeable and theyre more demanding and theyre looking for new creations.

Greenspan is pleased to see bakers getting their desserts.

I love baking. I feel like a baking evangelist, she says. I want everybody out there baking. It feels good. Its a great craft. Theres a tremendous sense of satisfaction that you get.

You eat to live, but desserts a treat, she says. It is kind of a gift, because it is special. You can get by without it, but it wouldnt be as much fun.