Pastry Live! Playtime for Pastry Chefs

Like most pastry chefs and food service professionals, the folks who work at AUI live by the saying “Work hard, play hard.” That’s why last week’s big Pastry 2015Live event in Atlanta, Georgia, was truly the perfect event for us. Sure, we were there working our booth and judging competitions and performing a demo. But, we were also just having fun with our pastry friends and colleagues at an event that really celebrates the art and science of our craft. While the event is primarily a 3 day long marathon of pastry competitions, it’s also an amazing educational opportunity with tons of expert demos and pastry suppliers showing off their latest and greatest innovations.

The theme for this year’s Pastry Live competitions was “Toys,” and the competitors certainly enjoyed some high quality play time! Between the incredible pastry products and the cool equipment that they got to play with (provided by AUI and other sponsors), the competitors in each and every category created an exciting array of pastry masterpieces that paid homage to both classic and modern toys.  

Over the course of 3 days, 99 professional competitors went toe to toe in 7 categories: Signature Plated Dessert, Chocolatier of the Year, The Art of Cake (Sculpted), The Art of Cake (Tiered), The Dessert Cup, Pastry Atlanta, and the National Showpiece Championship. There were also 9 participants in the Student Chocolate Challenge, which featured chocolate showpieces made by pastry students from vocational schools across the country.   

Chef Irene Widjaya’s winning tiered cake creation

A full list of the winners is below, but we want to give a special shout-out to our customers who placed in their categories. Chef Irene Widjaya of the Peninsula Hotel in New York took home third place in The Art of Cake (tiered cake) category, featuring AUI’s Massa fondant in Amethyst, Marigold, and Poppy. Chef Michael Craig of the St. Regis Atlanta created a gorgeous “Stone Garden” dessert that took home third place in the Signature Plated Dessert category and prominently featured AUI’s Silikomart Stone Mold and Black Cocoa Powder. First place in the Signature Plated Dessert and the Dessert Cup categories went to Chef Nicolas Blouin of the Rosewood Mansion in Dallas, Texas. And the title of Best Sugar Showpiece for the National Showpiece Championship was awarded to Cori Schlemmer and Rachel Young of the L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles for their incredible Venuance isomalt tricycle creation.  

The Best Sugar Showpiece as crafted by Cori Schlemmer and Rachel Young

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you to all of the competitors and event organizers for making Pastry Live 2015 such an incredible event. We’d love to hear what you all thought about the event! Who were your big winners? Please drop us a line at pastryteam@auifinefoods.com or visit our pageFacebook. We’ll see you at Pastry Live 2016!

About the author

Carolyn Crow is an experienced pastry chef and chocolatier who has traded in emulsifying ganaches for organizing events and tradeshows as AUI’s Event Manager. Even with a Culinary Institute of America Pastry Arts degree and a University of Maryland English Literature degree, Carolyn still believes the best dessert is a brownie sundae and the best book is anything with Harry Potter in it.

National Showpiece Championship

Most Excellent/Best Overall, Sponsors Choice, Audience Choice, Best Chocolate
Kengo Akabame, Imperial Hotel Tokyo 
Toshinori Akishiro, Imperial Hotel Tokyo

Best Sugar Showpiece 
Cori Schlemmer, L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles
Rachel Young, L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charle

Competitors’ Choice 
Julie Eslinger, Colorado Convention Center
Mariana Ramirez, Colorado Convention Center

Best Artistry
Lionel Touya, Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolates
Christophe Rull, MGM Grand

Signature Plated Dessert
1st – Nicolas Blouin, Rosewood Mansion
2nd – Vincent Attali, Joël Robuchon & L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand, Las Vegas
3rd – Michael Craig, St. Regis Atlanta 

The Art of Cake – Tiered
1st – Joseph Cumm, Edenjoescakery
2nd – Phetsada Mounnarath, PM Sugar Art
3rd – Irene Widjaya, Peninsula New York

The Art of Cake - Sculpted
1st – Johanna Wyss, Joliet Junior College
2nd – Katharina McCawley, Pretty Cake Machine
3rd – Marilyn Bawol, Unique Cakes

The Dessert Cup
1st – Nicolas Blouin, Rosewood Mansion
2nd – Ben Kallenbach, The Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge
3rd – Curtis Cameron, The Little Nell
Audience Choice – Maggie Gibbs, Central Restaurant

Chocolatier of the Year
1st – Nicolas Blouin, Rosewood Mansion
2nd – Ben Kallenbach, The Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge
3rd – Curtis Cameron, The Little Nell
Audience Choice – Maggie Gibbs, Central Restaurant

Student Chocolate Challenge
1st – Emily Holtz, Pennsylvania School of Culinary Arts
2nd – Brooke Ball, Joliet Junior College
3rd – Megan Kuk, Joliet Junior College

Pastry Atlanta
Best In Show – Naanstop (Neal Idnani)
Best Savory Pastry – Naanstop (Neal Idnani)
Best Confection – Karl Vivier (A Cacao Affair)
Best Frozen Dessert – Megan Brent (The Pig & The Pearl)
Best Petite Dessert – Geri Ravelo (The City Club of Buckhead)
Bets Baked Good – Vivian Lee (Osteria Mattone)