Golden Scoop Award winners celebrate their win. Winners (l-r) include Johnny Iuzzini, Rebecca Michaels, Jean-François Bonnet, and Kee Ling Tong
It’s been another whirlwind year for PastryScoop.com as they took on one milestone after another with the fervor of a toddler on (what else?) sugar.
From aphrodisiac dessert ingredients to a veritable chocolate Zen—no indulgence was spared at their 2nd Annual Passion for Pastry Conference on Sunday, May 15 th. Some 300 pastry chefs, dessert connoisseurs, and chocoholics from around the country descended on The FCI for a day of demonstration-based workshops with top chefs. Participants feasted on funny stories and tips of the trade from Tara Bench, Ron Ben-Israel, Tina Casaceli, Jürgen David, Lauren Dawson, Gina DePalma, Deborah Snyder, Jason Licker, Sam Mason, Jehangir Mehta, Kee Ling Tong, and Hans Welker. Topics ranged from chocolate desserts to the dreamiest ice creams, fanciful chocolate centerpieces, hot-from-the-oven sweet breads, sugar orchids—even pizza! (And, rumor has it, the table of chocolates at the E. Guittard afternoon break was a chocolaholic's dream.)
On June 6th, the winners of the
2nd Annual Golden Scoop Awards were honored with an awards presentation at The FCI which kicked off with a performance of sugar-pulling prowess by Master of Ceremonies and The FCI’s Dean of Pastry Arts Jacques Torres. With more than 100 entries in this year’s competition, the announcement of the five winners—by The FCI’s Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Food Arts founding editor and publisher Ariane Batterberry and PastryScoop.com editor-in-chief Judiaann Woo—was met with high anticipation. The winners were:
Demo by Chef Jacques Torres
Johnny Iuzzini, executive pastry chef at Jean Georges (NYC), received the E. Guittard Chocolate Best Dessert Menu Award for his winter menu. Jean François Bonnet, former executive pastry chef at Daniel (NYC), received the All-Clad Metalcrafters Most Innovative Dessert Award for his Maple Chibouste and Praliné Feuilletine, Madagascar Mangaro Chocolate Mille Feuille. FCI Alum Kee Ling Tong (Pastry Arts ’00), chocolatier and owner of Kee’s Chocolates (NYC), received the Cacao Noel Best Confection Award for her Lemon Basil Bonbon. Deborah Snyder, executive pastry chef at The Lever House Restaurant (NYC), received the award for Best Dessert Revival for her Chocolate-Mint Ice Box Cake with Mint Chip Ice Cream. FCI Alum Rebecca Michaels (Pastry Arts ’02 and Bread ’02), pastry chef and owner of Flying Monkey Patisserie (Philadelphia), received the award for Best Bakery Recipe for her Raspberry Rooibos Cake.
Before being saluted with a champagne toast, winners were presented with an engraved sterling silver champagne bucket, a Golden Scoop Award Winner logo patch for their chefs' jackets, and gifts from award sponsors.
They were also featured on PastryScoop.com and in the September 2005 issue of Food Arts (look for them as well, in the January 2006 Accolades issue). Judges included Tish Boyle, editor-in-chief, Chocolatier; Tina Casaceli, Director of Pastry Arts, The French Culinary Institute; John Miele, pastry chef, Aureole; and Jim Poris and Gary Tucker, senior editors, Food Arts.
On Sunday, October 16th, The 2nd Annual Sweet Success Conference took place at The FCI. Pastry pros and amateurs alike dove into desserts in a dozen workshops featuring some of today’s hottest pastry chefs, chocolatiers and bakers, including former Daniel pastry chef Jean-François Bonnet, Craft’s Karen DeMasco, Kee’s Chocolates’ Kee Ling Tong, Sweet Melissa Pâtisserie’s Melissa Murphy and Andrea Lekberg, Eleven Madison Park’s Nicole Kaplan, Chocolate Bar’s Alison Nelson, Martha Stewart Living’s Shelly Kaldunski —plus, The FCI’s pastry gurus Ron Ben-Israel, Sam Mason, Hans Welker, Tina Casaceli and Jürgen David.
PastryScoop.com also participated in Gingerbread Homes for Animals again this December, and will host the 3rd Annual Golden Scoop Awards and the 3rd Annual Passion for Pastry Conference next spring. And, as they enter their third year, count on more online chats with trailblazing pastry chefs, Supper Club dinners, featured chef demonstrations, e-newsletters, and much more.
PastryScoop.com is a free online resource dedicated to supporting and celebrating the pastry arts. Their 24,000+ members include pastry professionals, serious amateurs, dessert connoisseurs, and food industry professionals. To subscribe to PastryScoop.com, click here.
“It’s been wonderful to see the tremendous response that PastryScoop.com has received. In just two years, we’ve grown to become this huge force in the pastry community—earning the respect of renowned pastry chefs while appealing to home bakers and inspiring the next generation of pastry talent. The future looks bright for PastryScoop.com and we’re excited to see where the next year takes us.” – Judiaann Woo, Editor-in-Chief.
