France wins Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie for eighth time

23 January 2017 by Katie Pathiaki

France has won gold at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, France, picking up a prize of €21,000 (£18,170).

Japan and Switzerland, came in second and third place won €12,000 (£10,383) and €6,000 (£5,191) respectively. Japan's theme was Jazz Frog, while Switzerland created a Dracula themed buffet.

The bi-yearly competition took place in Lyon on 22 and 23 January and saw 22 countries compete for the title including Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, France, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the USA. Chile, India and Indonesia entered the competition for the first time this year.

Each team consists three pastry chefs each specialising in chocolate, sugar and ice. They have 10 hours to complete six challenges. These are: an artistic creation made of Valrhona chocolate; three chocolate entrements; one artistic creation made using hollow casting with a flower made of drawn sugar; one artistic creation made of sculpted ice; three frozen fruit entremets; and 15 desserts presented on a plate.

Representing France was sugar candidate Etienne Leroy; chocolate candidate Bastien Girard and ice candidate Jean-Thomas Schneider.

The team's winning theme was Rock ‘n' Roll in which they created a sugar sculpted guitarist and a drummer made from chocolate. The final buffet was displayed on a table that played music by AC/DC.

Marks are awarded for the taste, cutting and originality of the desserts, while the sculptures are scored on the artistic appeal, originality of the chosen theme, technique, assembly and elegance.

Gabriel Paillasson launched La Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in 1989, with the aim of raising the profile of pâtisserie chefs. He was inspired by the Bocuse d'Or competition, which starts in Lyon tomorrow (24 January).

See photos from the French team below: