Guillaume Schopphoven: “I wanted to make bakery as sexy as pastry’”

Even at the risk of being questioned by a purist, can you imagine a completely round croissant? And in the form of a cube? The French chef Guillaume Schopphoven does. He imagined it and -what is most important- he made it. He belongs to the fourth generation of bakers in his family, and ever since he started in the trade Schopphoven has always thought about going a little further and changing the perception that people have about his trade. ‘I had only one idea in mind, one goal, make bakery as sexy as pastry, and everything started from there… to acquire, master or create the techniques able to refine, to sublimate my different creations.’ We found the chef in Hangar 78, the classroom that Silikomart has in Italy, where he showed the spectacular creations which we now show on so good #22.

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Who is Guillaume Schopphoven?

I am the 4th generation baker in my family, I always heard about bread in my family and I also had the chance to grow up in the midst of passionate professionals, I quickly made this family heritage a passion. I trained in my profession with ‘’Les Compagnions du devoir’’, one of the best vocational schools, and then I did my own tour of the most influential bakeries in France before becoming a national and international trainer for Moulin Soufflet.

What are you up to at the moment?

Today my role is to train bakers all over the world who want to work with Soufflet flour mills, to create new types of flours, like the newest range of organic flours, but also on a personal level, to promote the craft and French know-how through demonstrations and trainings all over the world.

How do you define your creations? What is the concept? 

When I started competing in bakery, I had only one idea in mind, one goal: to make bakery as sexy as pastry. And everything started from there… to acquire, master and create the techniques to be able to refine and modify my different creations.

Why do you think viennoiserie is in fashion?

For me, viennoiserie is fashionable because it was abandoned for the benefit of pastry for quite some time. It was intended, at the time, to be more aesthetic, more diverse and more successful. But today, things are changing because more and more professionals bow down to viennoiserie and succeed in transforming it into something as beautiful as pastry.

“For me, viennoiserie is fashionable because it was abandoned for the benefit of pastry for quite some time”

What will the future of pastry and bakery be in your opinion?

For me, the future of bakery and pastry will be that the professionals of today will want to do even more tomorrow… I hope, with all my heart, that we are moving towards a future that is more respectful to the seasons, the origin of the products, their traceability and the passion of the producers who put their hearts into the work …craft

Tell us a bit more about the geometric viennoiserie that we are going to publish in so good.. magazine. What is the idea?

I wanted to do something new to the craft, something innovative with some technical achievements in its final forms, but I also wanted to do something neat, elegant and nice to look at while you are waiting to be able to taste it!

My Lita and my Rubix cube were developed thanks to these ideas, bringing volume through new techniques in bakery and making them sexy thanks to the delicacy of the pastry’s techniques.

Check out these two recipes by Guillaume Schopphoven in sogood #22!