Pastry chef Justin Williams and his team mate Sonia Quek are gearing up to represent Australia in the Asian Pastry Cup later this month.
The duo have been training for the event for the past six months, putting in extensive hours of work before the event in Singapore on 24 and 25 April.
Williams, who teaches Certificate IV in Patisserie at TAFE SA and has worked in hotels around the world as a pastry chef, has been travelling to Sydney each fortnight to train with Quek for up to 15 hours each day.
“We have put in many hours of training, trying and testing new techniques and finessing our creations for the event,” says Williams. “We have put a lot into this so hopefully we can get a good result on the day.”
As part of the competition, Williams and Quek will create an elaborate chocolate and sugar showpiece, 20 desserts and two entremets, all within eight hours.
While the pair are staying tight-lipped about what they’re working on, they have been working with 3D chefs and an industrial designer to help with structural elements for the showpieces.
“Our 3D chef creates a 3D image of our show pieces then prints each component using 3D printers and we then make moulds out of silicon from these printed items,” says Williams. “Our industrial designer is designing and building our finished buffet decorations.”
If the team secure a top three spot in the event, they will be qualified for the Pastry World Cup in Paris in January 2019.