Tag Archives: pastry

“The Pastry Battlers” documentary

Posted on May 12, 2013 | 1 Comment

Team dinnerTeam Pastry Australia at Le Cordon Bleu, Ryde, March 2013

Hello there!

Some of you might know that my partner and I have been following the Australian Pastry Team for two years in order to document their journey to Singapore for the Asian Pastry Cup, and then France for the World Pastry Cup.

We have hours of great footage, and we need the help of a professional editor to cut all this material into an awesome documentary. You can hear me talk about it in the video above (you’re allowed to have a laugh at my “unnaturalness” in front of a camera!)

TPA ShowpiecesTPA’s Sugar & Chocolate sculptures on display at the World Pastry Cup, France
©M.Venables 2013

That is why we have launched a Pozible campaign, which works on the principle of crowdfunding.

TPA SharkIce shark sculpture made by Barry Jones at the World Pastry Cup, France
©M.Venables 2013

Justin at HGVChocolate competitor Justin Yu at the Hunter Valley Chocolate Festival, 2012
©M.Venables 2013

We got the help of several partners who were very generous and offered their support to help this project come to fruition and thanks to them we have pretty cool rewards for our supporters, such as:

- a gift voucher for a cooking class with Vincent Gadan at Patisse. You can access this voucher and other cool stuff with our special “Ouh la la” reward

Vincent GadanFrench Pastry Chef Vincent Gadan from Patisse cooking school 

- Yearly subscriptions to publication Baking Business Magazine, where you will be able to read all the news about the pastry and baking industry, with regular contributors such as Pastry chefs Anna Polyviou (Shangri-La), Jessica Pedemont (Chocolate Artisan), Planet Cake director Paris Cutler etc.

Aus Baking Business

- 6-month memberships to Learn Cake Decorating Online with renowned teachers like Jessica Pedemont from Chocolate Artisan 

Cherry_cake_cover_image

- DVDs of the documentary “The Pastry Battlers” when it is finished
- Posters of “The Pastry Battlers”
- Downloads of the documentary
- Name listing in the film credits online
- Invitations to the screening launch

… and more!

Andre YssingeauxTPA Sugar competitor & Le Cordon Bleu Head Teacher Andre Sandison
©M.Venables 2013

Lovers of food, pastry and great stories, we need your help to make this documentary happen!

Spread the word to your friends, family, colleagues and even better, support the documentary with a pledge on: www.pozible.com/ThePastryBattlers

You can find more information on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ThePastryBattlers

Jeroen & BarryIce-carving trainer Jeroen Goossens and TPA competitor Barry Jones
©M.Venables 2013

Thank you :)

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Team Pastry Australia: The Film – Pozible Campaign

Posted on January 25, 2013 | 1 Comment
The Australian team wins Gold at the Asia Pastry Cup 2012, Singapore
©Matthew Venables 2012

Dear Readers,

You might have seen in the Sydney Morning Herald of this week an article about the Australia Pastry Team, who is going to compete next week in the most prestigious international pastry event, the World Pastry Cup, taking place at the end of the month in Lyon, France.

As some of you might already know, my partner and I have filming these talented pastry chefs for more than two years now, and it has been a great experience to watch them work and train like madmen and create beautiful chocolate, sugar and ice sculptures. It has also been a privilege and a great pleasure to see them win Gold at the Asian Pastry Cup last year in Singapore!

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Paris, nous voilà! May 2012

Posted on January 16, 2013 | 5 Comments

À nous la capitale!

ParisAaaaah…. Paris.

Tour MontparnasseMontparnasse Tower

Paris PanoramaPanorama Paris, view from Tour Montparnasse ©M.Venables

Following our little misfortunes in Lyon, we had almost a whole week in Paris to live the dream. We had rented a little studio in the 11th Arrondissement, with a “kitchenette”, which allowed us to cook a few meals, coffee and breakfast.

Our place was near the Goncourt metro station, which was ideally close to Canal St-Martin, République, as well as the cool Oberkampf area.

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Posted in French Specialties, Restaurants, Travel

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Team Pastry Australia at the Asian Pastry Cup – Singapore

Posted on July 20, 2012 | 9 Comments

Team Pastry Australia
©M.Venables 2012, All rights reserved

Some of you might know that I was overseas last April-May, namely Singapore and France, sorry it took me so long to sort all that out. I’m back now, with lots of great memories I’d like to share with you!

First and foremost, let me tell you about the Asian Pastry Cup, a competition organised by French brands Valrhôna (chocolate) and Ravifruit (fruit purees) to select the best teams from the Asia-Pacific area. The top 4 will be able to compete in the World Pastry Cup, which will be held as part of the renowned SIRHA (a huuuge fine food show) in Lyon next January.

My partner and I have been following the Australian team closely for more than a year to document their preparation and training for the Asian Pastry Cup and we flew to Singapore last April to witness this crucial step in their journey to the “Coupe du Monde”.

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Sydney Pastry Club at the Bathers Pavilion – Balmoral

Posted on June 27, 2011 | 11 Comments

“Pastry is all about creativity, sharing and generosity.”

This is the motivation behind the creation of the Sydney Pastry Club by Fabien Berteau, pastry chef at Park Hyatt, and Elerig Liguet, from Deshel Foods.

As stated on their Facebook page, the idea behind this club is “to showcase Sydney Pastry Chefs’ skill and imagination” by getting them to revisit dessert themes (eg. Meringue Lemon Tart, Gateau Opera, the Baba, Black Forest…). Chefs have two months to design their idea and to come up with their very own creation, which they will bring to the meeting for the other members to taste. Fabien insists on the fact that it remains very friendly & informal and that it is in no way a competition: “We’re just having fun.”

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M.O.F. Bruno Pastorelli Pastry Presentation

Posted on December 3, 2010 | 14 Comments


Bruno Pastorelli’s Raspberry Macarons – May 2010 Presentation

Lately we have witnessed a revival of the pastry discipline in Australia, as well as an increased interest from the public, particularly with the recent Macaron craze and Masterchef/Zumbo-mania, which is all very good news!

Two weeks ago at work, we had the pleasure of welcoming “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” Pastry Master Bruno Pastorelli, back in Sydney to show his latest creations. He also represents DGF Industries (a leading French supplier in pastry products), for whom he researches, develops and creates new products and recipes, gives presentations all over the world and teaches as well at the DGF International Culinary School… a busy man indeed!

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Taste Baguette – Surry Hills

Posted on August 13, 2010 | 13 Comments

One of the things I missed most about France when I arrived here 6 years ago was good bread and croissants. I didn’t mind the rectangular loaves and toasts, but after a while I was really craving a good old crunchy baguette. I don’t want to mention the first croissants I came across, some horrible, tasteless dough molded into a vague croissant shape, bouark!

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Australian Pastry Team 2010 Presentation

Posted on April 23, 2010 | 9 Comments


I don’t know if a lot of you watched the documentary “The Kings of Pastry” on SBS a few months ago. It follows Pastry Chefs in their journey to obtain the sought-after M.O.F.  title (“Meilleur Ouvrier de France” = Best Craftsmen in France) during a gruelling 3-day competition held in France every 4 years.

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