Reporting from the European Pastry Cup

Euro Pastry Cup 2020

Rescheduled from late January to the end of March has made it possible for me to go to Paris and report on the European Pastry Cup March 28th and 29th 2022. Each two man team has 5 hours to produce 10 plated desserts, 3 frozen desserts, frozen lollypops and a chocolate and sugar sculpture. This a race against the clock and teams are marked on their sculptures and the taste and appearances of their desserts. Each team has a third member (team President) who represents the country on the judging panel.

This competition is one of five contests around the world  Copa Maya/American Pastry Cup, African Pastry Cup, Asian Pastry Cup and the Middle East Pastry Cup, that act as qualifiers for the Pastry World Cup held in Lyon in 2023. For more about the Pastry World Cup read my article here

To give you just a flavour here is video clip from the 2021 final.

For pastry chefs around the world the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie as it is called in French is the pinnacle of pastry competitions. The final next year in Lyon will pit teams from 11 countries who represent the best of the best. In the Pastry World Cup, each team consists of a 3 man team plus a team president (captain), they must produce 4 chocolate desserts, 4 frozen fruit desserts, 10 plated “restaurant desserts”, plus their display pieces (see below) over an amazing 10 hour competition. A test of stamina, organisation, skill and luck as sculptures have been known to collapse as they are moved to their display tables!

1 Sugar art piece: made from pulled, blown and spun sugar.165cm maximum height (5 foot 4 inches).

1 Chocolate art piece: sculpture including base. 165 cm maximum height (5 foot 4 inches).

1 Ice Sculpture

Here is the French display combining their chocolate and sugar art pieces for the 2021 Pastry World Cup final. The French team came third so it gives you an idea of the standards in the contest. The centrepieces also act as a backdrop to the french desserts that you can see on mirrors at the bottom of the display. This also gives you a better sense of scale of just how tall the sculptures are.

Pastry World CupFrench 2021 centrepiece

For more about the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie you can read my other article here.  So watch this space for the results of the European Pastry Cup.

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42 thoughts on “Reporting from the European Pastry Cup”

    1. Thank you Rosaliene, always good to hear from you.
      These contests are so big in culinary circles, but unheard of to vast majority of people.

      I agree it will take a a forward thinking streaming service like Netflix to put these contests truly on the world stage.

      There is plenty of drama and suspense that would satisfy both food lovers and reality TV geeks.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. They certainly are. Many of the teams (chefs) practice in their free time for 12-18 months. They can choose and theme and have their own equipment, but the desserts, sugar and chocolate sculptures have to be made on the day!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. The contest doesn’t happen until 28th and 29th March but I wanted to publicize it because the general public around the world, don’t really know about it. And that’s the fault of consumer food magazines and websites that have very rigid formats of what they publish.

      Of course once you know they exist you can find lots more information and videos, via google. I myself have a 2 pinterest boards dedicated to the contests.

      Have you posted your truffle and toffee recipes yet?
      Best Wishes Kevin 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  20. Pingback: Interview with the European Pastry Champions – Chef Kevin Ashton

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