The Cacao Barry Pastry Challenge, in partnership with Compass Group UK & Ireland, saw chefs prepare four pieces of an original chocolate-based snack item that was suitable to be sold online and delivered by postal means.

The entrants were required to submit a recipe, a brief description and a photo of the dish, plus a short video showing their creation and detailing their reasons for entering the competition.

Andrew Tucker, sales manager for foodservice at Barry Callebaut, commented: “We’ve been amazed by the standard of entries for this competition. We’ve seen some great looking and sounding desserts where a lot of thought has clearly gone into flavour and texture while also meeting the brief.”

At the virtual award ceremony on 13 May, Salon Director Steve Munkley announced the dishes which achieved merit, bronze and silver awards.

The gold award winners included Rebecca Marshman, Wimbledon Tennis Club, Compass, and Szilard Szentesi, Gleneagles Hotel, who was additionally awarded best in class for his pecan, coffee and calamansi chocolate snack bar.

Silver award:

• Bryan Cremey, The Fat Duck
• Laura Dicken, AllSaints Coffee Shop
• Edward Fulcher, Vacherin
• Lizzie Halim, Academy of Pastry and Culinary Arts, Indonesia
• Nicola Harper, Compass Group
• Valentina Burton, Valentina’s

Bronze award:

• David Hearn, Compass Group ESS
• Amanda Currie, Waverton Investment Management
• Sarah Hammouda, Hull College
• Reeba Asad, The Emirate Academy of Hospitality Management
• Daniel Filippi, House of Commons
• Mustapha Rahimi, Searcy’s

Merit:

• Patricia Winters, Winters Brazil Catering
• Craig Miles, Bidfood

The deadline for the next virtual awards, the International Salon Culinaire Bidfood UK Lamb Challenge is 24 May.