A Truly British Flavour for The Student Pastry Chef of the Year Finals

England, Wales & Scotland are all represented in the finalists of the Student Pastry Chef of the Year competition. The eight students who made it past the judges and into the final will compete against each other at The Hotel Café Royal on Tuesday 10th May.

Within the 8 finalists three students from Manchester College were chosen along with two from Leicester and one each from Halesowen, Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw and Glasgow.

Speaking of the final Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha said: “It’s going to be a great event and we are so glad we raised the age level as we’ve had so many more applications. This is a popular event and we’ve got a brilliant venue and great team of super-talented judges this year.”

The panel of eight judges, which includes Benoit Blin and Jamie Houghton (head judge) from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Michael Kwan from The Dorchester, Thibault Houchard from Claridge’s and Daniel Pearse from The Savoy, Douglas Oberson from Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Neil Rippington, Hospitality Education Consultant and author selected the top eight desserts submitted at the semi-final stage.

The final eight pastry chefs will be invited to Hotel Café Royal to compete live, on Tuesday 10th May, preparing their ‘dessert on the go’ for a tasted and visual assessment by our panel of expert judges.

The finalists:

• Alex Williams – Halwseowen College
• Annie Carter – The Manchester college
• Courtney Mcallister – Glasgow College
• Josie Wheeler – Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw
• Mina Mohsenie – Leciester College
• Orla-Kate O’Neil – The Manchester College
• Shirin Asl – The Manchester College
• Zarema Yalkhoroeva – Leciester College

The sponsored ingredients from HB Ingredients and First Choice Produce will be supplied to each finalist on the day.

Pre-baked/made products will be permitted for use in the event of an unforeseen issue (e.g. overcooking, damage, mistakes and errors in production) occurring during the final which may prevent a student from completing the task. The use of pre-baked/made items will be at the discretion of the judges and will be taken into consideration during the judging process.

Judges will be looking for:

1. A well-structured dessert with good textures and clear flavours.

2. Presentation and garnishes that also compliment the flavour and design of the dessert.

3. The dessert must be made in a mould selected by the student chef.

4. 1 of the 12 identical desserts must be packaged/presented as it would be ‘for sale’.

The components of the dessert are at the discretion of each competitor, including the sponsored ingredients, selection of additional ingredients and the techniques used throughout the production of the dessert. The judges will consider such aspects in their assessment of the dessert.

Competitors will have 4 hours to complete the desserts.

The winner will receive:

• £400 voucher from Mitchell & Cooper
• A selection of products from HB Ingredients
• A Bragard hat, trousers, jacket & apron
• HB Ingredients pastry demo at your college
• Matfer Bourgeat product bundle
• Afternoon tea for two at The Dorchester

Thank you to our sponsors HB Ingredients, First Choice Produce, Bragard, Mitchell & Cooper, Matfer Bourgeat, Taylor UK and Adande.