Photos: Alexandre Alloul

The French team, formed by Haruka Atsuji (chocolate candidate) and Jérémy Massing (sugar candidate), won the European qualifying round of the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie that was held on January 21 and 22 at Sirha Europain. Italy and the United Kingdom came in second and third place respectively. Thus, these three countries have a direct pass to the grand final of the Cup that will take place in January 2025 in Sirha Lyon.

For more than five hours, the teams had to make three frozen desserts, three Paris-Brest desserts, eight restaurant desserts, two artistic pieces (one made of chocolate and one made of sugar), and a buffet.

France especially stood out with desserts based on the theme, the world of fairies. Among their creations we find a frozen dessert that combines fresh flavors such as apricot and raspberry with creamy textures such as yogurt ice cream and vanilla parfait; a revisited Paris-Brest with clementine and hazelnut, and the restaurant dessert “L’Éphémère”, with a chocolate soufflé accompanied by a pear Charlotte.

The International Organizing Committee decided to reward the quality of the work done by Sweden, Switzerland, and Belgium, granting them a Wild Card so that these three teams will also compete in the grand final. Only Denmark has been left out of the classification.