TAYLOR UK HEADLINE SPONSOR STUDENT PASTRY CHEF OF THE YEAR

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.

Taylor UK is delighted to support the competition as Headline Sponsor, providing state-of-the-art blast chillers and a beautiful glass-fronted display fridge for the finalists to make and display their beautiful ‘desserts on the go’, all meeting the competition brief.

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.

This is truly a national competition with the cream of pastry talent from all nations being represented.

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.  We are so grateful to Taylor UK for sponsoring and providing market-leading equipment to give the students the best possible environment in which to create their desserts.”

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, Chris Underwood from Artisserie, Daniel Pearse from The Savoy, Douglas Oberson from Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Loic Carbonnet from Hotel Café Royal and Neil Rippington, Hospitality Education Consultant and author selected the top eight desserts submitted at the semi-final stage.

This is truly a galaxy of pastry stars and this competition is designed to feed both the finest pastry kitchens in the country and the future UK Pastry Team with the finest up and coming pastry talent.

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.

2021 Finalists – Student Pastry Chef of the Year

The finalists:

• Alex Williams – Halesowen College

• Annie Carter – The Manchester College

• Courtney Mcallister – Glasgow College

• Josie Wheeler – Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw

• Mina Mohsenie – Leicester College

• Orla-Kate O’Neil – The Manchester College

• Shirin Asl – The Manchester College

• Zarema Yalkhoroeva – Leicester College

The sponsored ingredients from Henley Bridge 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:

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

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

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

• 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

We are also delighted to join our co-sponsors Henley Bridge, First Choice Produce, Bragard, Mitchell & Cooper, Matfer Bourgeat and Adande – It is great to see so much support for this competition from fellow supplier brands, all coming together to support the next generation of chefs.

To learn more about The Chefs’ Forum, visit their website: www.thechefsforum.co.uk