Quick meals have become such a fundamental portion of modern life that few people consider the cultivation, shipment, processing and preparation that bring foods to the table. However, many culinary students do not just learn how to sauté or batter, but gain insight into the entire food industry as well. Increasingly, traditional and online universities are preparing students for careers in the culinary arts by offering business programs such as food service management.

While many industries are suffering through the economic downturn, the cupcake market seems to be experiencing a nearly unmatched boom in the Washington DC metro area.

At least a half a dozen cupcake shops have opened around the city and its suburbs in the past 20 months, the Washington Post reports, and some locations are continuing their expansion.

Aaron Gordon, who opened Red Velvet at the beginning of the year, says his sales rate of about 1,500 cupcakes each day at $3.25 apiece will earn his company between $150,000 and $200,000 in profits this year.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the middle 50 percent of chefs and head cooks earned between $25,910 and $46,040 in wages and salary in 2006.