Japan defeats France to win the Pastry World Cup
CNN —
It’s a matter of national pride, with carefully chosen teams spending years training in pursuit of winning the highest honor in their fields and representing their country on the global stage.
No, not the soccer World Cup. The Pastry World Cup.
The biennial event features contestants from as far afield as Egypt, Mauritius and South Korea in a sweet showdown where teams compete to create the best once-in-a-lifetime desserts. This year’s competition took place on January 20 and 21.
Each team had three members — specialists in chocolate, ice, and sugar respectively. The trios were tasked with developing three desserts that would represent their country: a frozen dessert, a restaurant dessert — which can have a special garnish added at the judging table — and a show chocolate.
And they only had five hours to pull it all off.
The pastry chefs relied on both ingredients and designs to highlight their countries’ culinary delights. The Chinese team put together an elaborate dragon made of sugar, while Mexico’s competitors incorporated chocolate, corn and other native foods into their desserts.
Team China wore festive headwear while working on their desserts.In addition to representing their homelands on plates, competitors wore themed outfits and accessories.
France’s team members sported chic Breton striped shirts and berets, Mexico’s chefs wore Day of the Dead sugar skull-inspired masks, and Team UK worked on their desserts while wearing natty newsboy caps and bow ties.
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The winner’s circle
Although the 2025 event was held in Lyon, the French team did not win the gold medal, settling for silver.
Top honors went to returning champions