Goodbye 2017, hello 2018!

We are counting the last days of the year. We have contacted some of our pastry chefs asking them about their year that is just finishing and desires and hopes about the one that is just coming.

Helen Vass

If you had asked me this time last year how 2017 would be for me, I would never have thought that my journey would have brought me where I am now! I have worked so hard to get here and I still have so much more to learn and experience as a pastry chef.

I was very honoured to receive the Patisserie Chef of the year award at the CIS Excellence awards in Scotlands as well as the Dessert Gold medal at the Scottish Food Awards.

This summer, I had a chance to collaborate with the world renowned award winning restaurant, The Three Chimneys, on the Isle of Skye which was an outstanding experience. It was great to share my passion and knowledge with the kitchen brigade and live in such a magical location. I returned there at the start of December doing a Christmas chocolate dessert demonstration for the guests of the hotel using different chocolates of the Cacao Barry range.

I had the opportunity to take my Dulce dessert pop up concept overseas to Tenerife and work with the Sheraton La Caleta resort which was great fun.

Over the past couple of months I have been working with award winning pastry chef, Claire Clark MBE and her business partner, Sarah Crouchman at their patisserie catering company, Pretty Sweet in London which has been an amazing experience. It is great to think that some of the cakes and desserts I have been making with the team are sold at Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

So much has happened, but I would say one of the stand out moments for me was my demonstration at the Scottish Chefs Conference in November. I was the only pastry chef at the event and I demonstrated my dessert pop up concept alongside chefs as Isaac McHale and Masterchef Professionals winner, Gary MacLean. It was surreal to see Chef Albert Roux OBE, in the front row of the audience watching my demonstration.

My favourite dessert this year, was my chocolate, hazelnut praline and crunchy corn entremet which I demonstrated at the conference. This was made up of a hazelnut and chocolate dacquoise sponge, a crunchy corn and chocolate layer, chocolate mousse and a praline cremeux. The contrast of the salt in the corn with the praline and the chocolate is delicious.

How is 2018 looking for me? I am returning to Glasgow at the beginning of February and after a long time searching, I have finally got myself a production kitchen in central Scotland for me to start my business, Dulce, which I am very excited about. I am hoping to launch Dulce in the spring and I have my first wedding client in March, creating patisserie desserts for them instead of the traditional wedding cake. I have also been nominated as a finalist as dessert chef of the year at the Scottish Food Awards in May 2018. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that 2018 will be a good one, but I just take life one day at a time and live in the moment! I would like to wish all the Cacao Collective readers a very happy new year filled with lots of chocolate!

If you had asked me this time last year how 2017 would be for me, I would never have thought that my journey would have brought me where I am now! I have worked so hard to get here and I still have so much more to learn and experience as a pastry chef.

I was very honoured to receive the Patisserie Chef of the year award at the CIS Excellence awards in Scotlands as well as the Dessert Gold medal at the Scottish Food Awards.

This summer, I had a chance to collaborate with the world renowned award winning restaurant, The Three Chimneys, on the Isle of Skye which was an outstanding experience. It was great to share my passion and knowledge with the kitchen brigade and live in such a magical location. I returned there at the start of December doing a Christmas chocolate dessert demonstration for the guests of the hotel using different chocolates of the Cacao Barry range.

I had the opportunity to take my Dulce dessert pop up concept overseas to Tenerife and work with the Sheraton La Caleta resort which was great fun.

Over the past couple of months I have been working with award winning pastry chef, Claire Clark MBE and her business partner, Sarah Crouchman at their patisserie catering company, Pretty Sweet in London which has been an amazing experience. It is great to think that some of the cakes and desserts I have been making with the team are sold at Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

So much has happened, but I would say one of the stand out moments for me was my demonstration at the Scottish Chefs Conference in November. I was the only pastry chef at the event and I demonstrated my dessert pop up concept alongside chefs as Isaac McHale and Masterchef Professionals winner, Gary MacLean. It was surreal to see Chef Albert Roux OBE, in the front row of the audience watching my demonstration.

My favourite dessert this year, was my chocolate, hazelnut praline and crunchy corn entremet which I demonstrated at the conference. This was made up of a hazelnut and chocolate dacquoise sponge, a crunchy corn and chocolate layer, chocolate mousse and a praline cremeux. The contrast of the salt in the corn with the praline and the chocolate is delicious.

How is 2018 looking for me? I am returning to Glasgow at the beginning of February and after a long time searching, I have finally got myself a production kitchen in central Scotland for me to start my business, Dulce, which I am very excited about. I am hoping to launch Dulce in the spring and I have my first wedding client in March, creating patisserie desserts for them instead of the traditional wedding cake. I have also been nominated as a finalist as dessert chef of the year at the Scottish Food Awards in May 2018. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that 2018 will be a good one, but I just take life one day at a time and live in the moment! I would like to wish all the Cacao Collective readers a very happy new year filled with lots of chocolate!

Domenico Camporeale

For me this year has been a year of very special events and moments.
It was a year full of accomplishments because just after a year after arriving to UK I could share my knowledge and passion with so many great people. I can’t forget my trip to Paris, which I was talking about already in my previous interview.

I can’t call it the best dessert but a dessert into which I invested most of my time. It was made out of chocolate shortcrust pastry, with pineapple and verbena, a soft biscuit of banana and speculos, chocolate semifreddo, vanilla custard and caramel and chocolate tuil.

In this moment I am working at Aqua Shard as sous pastry chef and all I desire for 2018 is to get better, to create stunning desserts and to share my creation and thoughts with people around me.

What I wish to say to all my colleagues is that we are entering into 2018 and we need to be more connected, sharing our work and explorations, and not living too high - each of us is different, with different backgrounds and we all can learn from each other.

Happy 2018! I hope it will be a great year full of creativity and satisfaction.

Sarah Barber

My greatest achievement for 2017 was definitely seeing how much my Pastry team has progressed. They are the most talented and creative pastry chefs and I am so proud to have seen them all grow so much this year.  They make me so happy to work with them everyday and I am blessed to work with them, this is what I enjoy the most.

Best dessert this year? I can’t respond to this. I would say everything that we have created in my Pastry kitchen this year I really loved. However one of the highlights has been getting the Patisserie unit in the windows of Regent street for Papillon. We have had the new display unit for 3 months now and the feedback we have received has been great.

My wish for 2018 is to continue working and developing my team and helping make them better and stronger pastry chefs all round. Teaching and training them everyday is what makes me happiest.

Fabrizio Fiorani