Join us August 3rd, 4th and 5th for the second annual Pastry Live Weekend hosted in Atlanta, GA at the Retreat at Perimeter Summit. Once again, masters of the pastry world will share their vast expertise and insight through focused demonstrations, while veteran chefs and rising stars will compete in fierce competitions.
On Friday, August 3rd, starting off the weekend’s seminars will be Michael Joy of the Chicago School of Mold Making and Chef Jim Mullaney, one of the team captains for the 2011 National Showpiece Championship. The art of mold making will be covered during their two hour class, followed by food casting techniques. Returning seminar hosts, Chef Susan Notter and Karen Portaleo, will present next that day with their demonstration titled “Under the Sea.” Once more, they’ll combine their vast talents, instructing attendees on how to create mermaids from modeling chocolate and other sea creatures from blown and pulled sugar.
Saturday, August 4th, World Pastry Cup Team USA members, Chefs Andy Chlebana and Stephen Durfee will share with attendees how to prepare for the intense world of competitions, offering years of experience and time saving techniques. The pair will discuss invaluable competition strategies used to speed up the production process and increase efficiency within a competition setting. That same day, Chef Michael Laiskonis will wrap up the weekend’s seminars by bringing new life to a traditional “Religieuse” in his seminar titled “A New Take on French Classics.” Those present will get a taste of both his knowledge and skill, along with a sampling of the actual finished dessert.
In addition to the weekend’s seminars, each day will feature various competitions. Taking place Friday, August 3rd, culinary students will battle it out for the chance to win prizes and recognition for their school in the Student Chocolate Challenge. To offer more students the opportunity to compete, the competition has been opened up to all schools this year. Next, cake artists in the Art of Cake competition will display their artistic talents, once more drawing influence from fine art for their designs. These cakes will need to taste just as delicious as they look, as each competitor will need to submit a tasting cake for the judging panel’s approval.
New to this year is the Signature Plated Dessert competition, highlighting the delicate beauty of plated desserts and the talented chefs that create them. Pastry chefs from restaurants across the nation will create and present eight plates of just one dessert that best represents their signature culinary style. Over the course of two days, Friday, August 3rd and Saturday, August 4th, these chefs will compete for the chance of having their creation recognized as being the nation’s best dessert.
The National Showpiece Championship will make its return on Sunday, August 5th, welcoming America’s top sugar and chocolate artists to again push creative boundaries and contended for the title of National Showpiece Champion. While chocolate and sugar will be sculpted into extraordinary forms, some of the world’s highest-quality, handmade chocolates will be crafted in the Chocolatier of the Year. Not only will these delicacies be up for scrutiny by the judging panel, but each chocolate will be put to the test by audience members as there will be an audience tasting portion.
For more details about Pastry Live, please contact Chef Paul Bodrogi at chef@pastrylive.com or (678) 881-9490. Tickets and further information are also available on our website at www.pastrylive.com.
Source: Pastry Live
