Young Pastry Chef Of the Year
21st April - 1st June 2021
The David Lyell Scholarship
After a delay of 14 months and on the 4th attempt – The Young Pastry Chef Competition form 2020 and now 2021 has taken place. The three talented finalists were Mark Barnes - Grand Hotel Eastbourne, Chloe Hammond – Milton Keynes College and Caitlin Kemp-Powell - Farnborough College. They competed in a covid secure environment – but they also competed under the watchful eyes of three fantastic Judges – Benoit Blin Chef Pâtissier, Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons , Jerome Dreux Town and Country Fine Foods and Jasbir Dawar Executive Head Chef Hilton T5 – and they had their Taste buds take to the limit – Chef Benoit “ Best 3 desserts I have tasted in this competition “ – and the winners was Caitlin Kemp-Powell from Farnborough College with a stunning dish full of great techniques – texture and the balance of flavours was stunning – well deserved - White Chocolate Bavarois with Lemon Puree, Crisp lemon sponge, Dill, Pickled Cucumber served in a prefect decorated white chocolate shell and Rye Meringue – Winner of Young Pastry Chef of Great Britain 2020/21
Entries - From all the fantastic Initial entries that were received at the start of 2020 – a lot of hours were put into judging to get to the 12 semi – finalists who would compete In Glasgow, Sheffield and Slough and produce a Gateau Machon from The Professional Patisserie from Hodder Education – where they all received a copy of the book and Judges Signed.
Finalists - Victoria Hollingsworth - Ruth Dowie - Chloe Hammond - Lourdes Callum Shaw - Mark Barnes and Caitlin Kemp-Powell - Each Finalist had to Produce a Plated Restaurant Dessert for 4 CV's , A moulded flavoured ganache petit fours , Pate de fruits ( using Capfruit Puree's) and Florentine Biscuits making 18 of each in total and small chocolate centre Piece to accompany the petit fours - no higher than 20 cm using Felchlin Chocolate – unfortunately due to Covid we did try to have the final on many occasions and after 14 months we did , but unfortunately due to life and Covid we only had 3 Finalists attend , where the call was made to reduce the competition to 2 hours and just focus on their desert
Winning Prizes - and certificates – Caitlin Kemp-Powell
Were presented by MCGB Vice Chairman Graeme Watson and Jerome Dreux form Town and Country Fine Foods
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The David Lyell Scholarship Trophy
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Special Glass Trophy from The Mater Chefs of Great Britain
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Engraved silver salver
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£250 cash prize
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Chefi knife case roll
2nd place cash prize £150 – plus Special Chefi Gifts - Chloe Hammond
3rd place cash prize £100 –plus Special Chefi Gifts - Mark Barnes
Murray Chapman from the Master Chefs of Great Britain says, “Planning and executing the Competition at The Claire Clark Academy at MK College has been a fantastic experience which will hopefully inspire many more Young Pastry Chefs of the future.
BENOIT BLIN (MCA) CHEF PATISSIER - Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons
"This is a fantastic competition that helps promote and develop young pastry chef in the industry and we really had excellent standards in the final this year. "
Tony Oxley MCGB – Milton Keynes College
“The Young pastry chef competition at Milton Keynes College demonstrated that there is great young talent in this field waiting to come through. I would like to thank all those well renowned and industry specialists who took time out of their busy schedules to judge such a fantastic competition and present quality feedback to all competitors where they can reflect and evaluate their next steps”.
Graeme Watson - Vice - Chairman of The Master Chefs of Great Britain
"As Vice Chairman of The Master Chefs of Great Britain I have watched with great pride as this competition grows in stature. It was heart-warming to see the skills showcased by our young chefs in the 2020/21 young Pastry master chef final and what an absolute privilege to embrace the depth of Young Pastry chef talent we have in the UK”
Maria Bowness - Head of School for Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Catering, Hospitality and Events
"On behalf of Milton Keynes College, I want to thank the Master Chefs of Great Britain for giving us the chance to host the David Lyell Scholarship, Young Pastry Chef of The Year competition in the Claire Clark Academy.”
Judges – Great Judges - Benoit Blin, Jerome Dreux and Jasbir Dawar
NOTE – Apologises from Claire Clark and Mark Poynton – sadly they could not attend.
Special Mention - Tony (Elvis) Oxley and Richie Carter and the team from MK College - and to Jazz from Chefi Knives and Executive Head Chef Hilton T5 – whose car broke down with him and his family the day before – and People from our Industry never give up – with no car he spent £65 in Taxi fees to get to the final – he did not want to let anybody down especially the finalists- Brilliant.
Sponsors - Town and Country Fine Foods – Felchlin Chocolate – Chefi Knife Rolls - Oliver Harvey – “A Passion to Inspire “– First Contact Chefs