2007 World Pastry Forum

[Ke Kau]

[Moderator's Note: Please see this post below for an exciting announcement concerning the 2007 World Pastry Forum! -- Chris Amirault]

I recently purchased my tickets to the 2007 World Pastry Forum where I will be lucky enough to student assist Stephan Iten in the hands on demo classes that are being offered. I'm really excited about going as I missed out last year.

My question is, does anyone know who the other instructors are going to be and who the competitors are this year? Particularly backgrounds and recent projects. Also, are there any favorites for the competition?

Is anyone else here going? It would be great to meet any fellow eGullet posters. Thanks to all for any information.

Shane

Edited May 30, 2007 by chrisamirault (log)

[Tina Wright]

I was just on the world pastry forum website and they have all the instructors and classes posted now.

Banquet Desserts- Donald Wressell USA

Composition- Anil Rohira, USA

Making Dough with Bread- Ciril Hitz, USA

Entremet- Thomas Lui, Hong Kong

Entremet Glace- John Kraus, USA

Japanese Desserts- Tatsuya Kijima, Japan

Painted Chocolates- Ewald Notter, USA

Plated Desserts- Keegan Gerhard, USA

Sugar Showpieces- Christian Faure, MOF, Canada

Cakes for Pastry Chefs- Nicholas Lodge

the hands on program is Stephane Glacier and Stephan Iten

don't know much about the competitors. I imagine the Branlard team will be tough to beat, and the women's team has been generating some buzz, but not sure where they stand.

[alanamoana]

Official Web Site

Have fun, it sounds like a great opportunity.

[Chris Amirault]

Ciril is fantastic. I urge folks to check his course out.

[duckduck]

I've been told that eGulleter's can get a $250 discount on the demo program if they aren't using any other discount and mention that they're eGulleteers and use the code word ROUNDUP by May 31st. I hope to see some good posts on the classes this year and hope to meet some of you there. I'll be volunteering as usual.

And Ciril was the fave of everyone I knew back when we were at the Rio in 2004. His classes are always great.

[reenicake]

boo, I can't go because I have to cover for other people that are going. 4 or 5 teachers and a group of students from my school will be there. Have fun and take pix, lucky ones!

[Tina Wright]

boo, I can't go because I have to cover for other people that are going. 4 or 5 teachers and a group of students from my school will be there. Have fun and take pix, lucky ones!

←

what school so we can keep an eye out and say "hey"?

[Pam R]

We made a very exciting announcement this morning. Thanks to a generous gift from CaryMax, the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters is happy to make the following offer:

Any Society member who becomes a society donor during the current spring fundraising drive will be automatically entered into a drawing for one of three demonstration tickets to the 2007 World Pastry Forum, a $1,500 value!

Please take a look at the announcement over here for more information.

[K8memphis]

So just imagine, Matthew Sweet's "Come To California" blasting in the background, as in the walls are pulsating to the beat, only sung to the words, "Come To Pastry Forum" dadada dahda dahda dada dada...

Guess who's getting to go???!!!! And I'm taking alllll the classes!!!!

Whooo hooo hoooo hoooo!!!

I'll bring extra batteries and be sure I have a nice fat memory card or two in my camera. I'll do the best I can with the picture thing.

I am SO TANKED about this!

This is a sucha dream come true. I had tickets to a chocolate thing with master chocolate people doing demos & stuff once but I got all involved with the tea-room from hell & missed it all. But I'm noht bitther.

I'm already homesick & planning on coming home at least one night. I'm only three hours away!

I cannot thank God and each of these folks near enough; Egullet et al, Steven, Michael Schneider, Carymax et al for making the opportunity available. Oh and hey, this is true, this is my luck, I once won a book I'd already read. But nevermind!

I get to go to FIVE DAYS OF world class demos at the World Pastry Forum 2007.

I can't even believe it. sniff

[sanrensho]

^^^Wow, congratulations. I can't think of another member that is more deserving of this opportunity.

[CanadianBakin']

We'll all live vicariously through you, Kate . Have a great time and we look forward to pictures.

[miladyinsanity]

Have fun, K8!

[K8memphis]

Well I'm just popping in to say that I feel at least as guilty as my Mom could make me (she was a pro) that I haven't gotten my pictures posted and my wonderful amazing time at WPF recounted to you all. I am in the midst of launching a bookstore and it's (beyond) the project that ate my brain. And you can only imagine how hungry the project is with that pitiful thing for dinner.

But I am working on it. And I apologize in sackcloth and ashes. So viola.

Just any minute...

[duckduck]

As excited as you were to be there, I figured it had to be something big keeping you from posting. Looking forward to hearing all about it!

[K8memphis]

This is sorbet made from the juice of the cocoa nib. They squeezed the musilage from the nib.

This was so chocolate-y and wonderful. I believe it is illegal for us to have this in the states. Shhh, don't tell.

Rum roasted pineapple with pan roasted pineapple using yellow cane sugar to carmelize pineapple

in the pan, caramel sauce, pineapple financier, pineapple chip, coconut ice cream and tropical granita

made from pineapple juice, orange juice, passion fruit juice, sugar, tahitian vanilla bean and lemongrass stalks.

Strawberry tasting including panna cotta, able Breton, red fruit jus, red fruit granita, streusel,

strawberry foam, strawberry sorbet, clear vanilla sauce and oven roasted strawberry.

In his Chocolate to the Third Power, Keeghan made chocolate pearls with agar agar.

Dropping them into cold oil and letting gravity form the pearl as it drifts down.

I attempted to down load 20 photos and this is my yield for tonight. There will be more...

[K8memphis]

This is Keeghan's Chocolate 3 (to the third power) See the little chocolate pearls?

Oh gosh see the little chocolate

squiggly thing? You make a chocolate crepe type batter and pipe it into hot oil.

So it's kind of a mini funnel cake type look.

His exact quote is "Don't make it look like poop."

This is made with white chocolate cream, jivara lacte creameux, the pearls, blackout cake,

the squiggley things, and chocolate sauce.

There's SO MUCH in each of these ten classes. I'm just gonna toss stuff out there. This is a portion of one class.

This is Oh Toulouse consisting of sable with almonds and gianduja, violet flavored manjari creamy,

light ivoire mousse with mango pulp, violet transparencies, mango pearls and silver violet flavors

This is Tasting of Apple--Oh my yes it is!

Caramel for tatin, spicy caramel/apple pave, cole slaw dressing, green apple jelly, green apple foam,

granny smith granita, carmelized apple, oven roasted apple, apple chips, caramel apple cider ice cream.

[K8memphis]

These are examples of the pastillage pieces you can purchase already made from Albert Uster Imports and

then use to create beautiful time friendly masterpiece centerpieces. They come in all white of course.

This is Anil Rohira's strawberry shortcake with almond sable, lime marmalade, strawberry consume jelly,

lime dacquoise, cream cheese cream made with cream cheese, sour cream, orange zest,

lemon juice, eggs, sugar, water, heavy cream. mmm

Also Anil's. The shine on that heart shaped orb I mean you needed sunglasses to look directly at it. It's chocolate.

It shone like it was made of space age metal. Stunning.

His take on Black Forest, with layerings of chocolate biscuit, streusel made from vanini hazelnut flour

flavored with orange zest, sour cherry marmalade, onyx dark chocolate cream last but not least,

tahitian vanilla bean mousse.

Glory it's not even 10 am here and I've not only cheating on my diet in my heart I've gained weight

vicariously I'm sure...she wrote while her mouth watered on...

Anil's class was really cool because we did a palate test in there. The class was packed to overflowing

with incredible information that helps the chef in the nitty grittiest design properties of dessert. Foundational stuff.

How to scientifically create flavor balances. Something like the difference between the simple child's toy

telephone where you connect two cups with string and listen in at opposite ends and the latest cutting

edge cell phone. Where the peanut butter cookies I made recently are the child's toy, effective, fun and good.

Where this class not only dissected the schematics of dessert but gave the participant serious tools

to take and incorporate into everyday use. Really cool stuff.

Ok this is like two classes (but there's more to Anil's somewhere).

There are eight more unbelievable classes plus the competitions . Stay tuned.

I got a lot more to go here. I'm really enjoying reliving it. Cloud 9.5.

I mean you gotta understand that this stuff tastes ten times better than it looks and it all looks amazing.

I mean these desserts are created in the class while you watch and drool.

Running off to help some Munchkins decorate cookies for Easter...

Edited March 15, 2008 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

See the protruding eyeballs sitting atop the head of the dragon in the dark green jutting up on the left

of the picture there? This is a photo of an adorable topiary as if it were a carefree happy loch nessy

peaking up out of the water intermittently at the fabulous venue at Opryland in Nashville TN where

the event was held. The accomodations were not just excellent, they were breath taking.

There was a celebrity cake competition pairing country singers with decorators, picture of one cake...

I have more coming up.

This is from the blown sugar class by Christian Faure, M.O.F. There will be more pictures from this class.

Wait till you see the flowers he made!

Here are some random notes:

Your sugar speaks to you listen to it. (me~chocolate speaks too huh)

Pull till it shines.

When you pull you loose color.

He colored the mold with powdered color then added the poured sugar.

Humidity is good for sugar. Dry makes more breakage.

No oil in sugar, no oil in join, oil in mold.

It looses shine in the mold so heating restores shine.

Glucose helps save your sugar.

Dip in alcohol to finish alcohol is cold.

Heat on both pieces of join.

Don't use cold spray, you'll break your sugar, use a fan.

My astute obversation to this discipline, prepare to be burnt... a lot.

He would make most of this creation in the class then add a few more finishing touches afterwards.

It was amazing.

This is a random picture of the overhead mirror but I mean you can see the action no matter where

you are sitting in the class. No worries there. There are no nose bleed seats. There are no bad seats.

They use the over head mirrors to increase the student's visibility. Seating is also very comfortable.

Everything is so well planned. It went like clockwork.

Edited March 18, 2008 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

More cake competition photos. It was a County Western Music theme.

This last one was the winner. (?) What happened is that it was really somone's birthday so they took

part of it with them, another vehicle to be exact. Equally clever to build it that way and sneaky to abscond

with half the cake! Looks like some tires are missing too.

[K8memphis]

Favored contestants graciously posed before the competition began. I got to see Susan Notter compete in a Food TV event at The Peabody here in Memphis too.

Jacque Torres. Too freaking cool!

This smiling face is my friend from TN, Nancy, she's a pure inspiration. After a liver transplant

she threw caution to the wind and followed the yellow brickle road to live her dream and went on to

attend the Cordon Bleu pastry school in Georgia. Landed a gig with Nicholas Lodge before she got in school.

Way to go, Nancy!

Dreams really do come true.

Ok this is some of the competition:

Check out the plate in the shape of a guitar that they had made special for this plating.

Remember the theme was country song titles.

Hand modeled chocolates. Those are chocolate guitars of course.

Edited March 18, 2008 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

The agony of competition--the icing on this one was sliding off.

Painful painful painful

Ah fayill into a burning rang of fire. Ah went down down down and the flames went higher.

And it burns burns burns, the rang of fire, the rang of fire...

This was so cool--you should have seen it cut.

Edited March 18, 2008 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

These are individual servings sizes. Eye candy candy candy.

[K8memphis]

These colored sugar pieces were imbedded in the clear. Just amazing.

So far we've been in three of the ten classes and most of the competition photos (I think) More to come.

[Rendee]

I was lucky enough to get to assist Amoretti in Ciril's class in the 2007 and I also got the honor of taking the desserts from the competitors to the judges! Carymax called me for the 2008 championship and asked that I be Collette Peters assistant however I had to turn them down due to work, I completely missed out on a opportunity of a lifetime. If I only knew then what I know now I would have been there!!!