At the Grand Final of the Pastry World Cup, taking place on January 24-25 at Sirha Lyon in France, competing teams will be faced with three tasting tests: frozen desserts, restaurant-style desserts and a completely new test, the “Show Chocolat”. They also will have to create three artistic pieces, in sugar, chocolate and ice respectively. The 18 participating teams will need to respect a special theme for all their creations: National Heritage.
Each team is made up of a chocolate maker, a sugar expert and an ice-cream maker, the 18 selected teams have nine hours to complete these impressive tests.
The candidates will start with the three frozen desserts made with Capfruit fruit purées, a test that has become a staple over the years. To be made entirely on the spot, the frozen desserts, each for eight people, must consist of a single unassembled piece.
In the second key test of the competition, the teams will tackle the restaurant-style dessert, a special test since the creations will have to be served on the plate, prepared entirely on the spot “in the minute” and judged by a panel of professionals specially composed for the occasion. As the theme of the Grand Final refers to the origins of each candidate, the pastry chefs are asked to include a product of their choice, sourced in their own country. On the technical side, they will have to incorporate at least two different textures and two different temperatures, requiring great precision on their part.
A new test this year is the Show Chocolate. At the crossroads of the street-food universe and the enchanting world of chocolate, the candidates will have to create and stage 32 sweet creations based on Valrhona chocolate (including six dummies) in a fingerfood spirit, to be enjoyed in one to three bites maximum. Beyond the competition, this original test, designed as a real show, promises an experience as visual as tasty. In a foodtruck facing the jury, the candidates will have 14 minutes to set up, finalize and present their creations to the members of the jury.
Alongside these various tests, the candidates will also work on the three emblematic artistic pieces of the competition: a sugar piece, a chocolate piece comprising a sculpted Valrhona chocolate block and, finally, a sculpted water ice piece. These works of art will have to be linked together to create a unique and coherent composition and will be complemented by the replicas from the tasting tests, as a buffet.
In 35 years, the Pastry World Cup has become one of the industry’s most prestigious events and is the number one event in the global pastry scene. At the end of a two-year selection process, during which 50 national and four continental selections take place, the 18 finalist teams are in the spotlight during Sirha Lyon.
The qualifying teams for this upcoming competition come from the following countries:
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
