After ten intense weeks of pâtisserie prowess, Laurian and Thibault from Cocorico Patisserie were crowned the Winners of Bake Off: The Professionals.
Team Captain Laurian Veaudour said of their win: “It was a nail-biting moment in the sense that I didn’t think we would win, especially when Park Plaza Hotels won the first challenge. I thought we were in trouble and history would repeat itself again. At one point Cherish and Benoit came to see us in the final challenge but I just couldn’t talk to them, I felt too emotional because of all the hard work we had put in.
“When I heard our names read out I felt ecstatic, my family were there and to see my wife and kids see me win was such an amazing sweet moment. It really was an event of a lifetime, and I hope I have made Wales proud.
“After we won I hugged Thibault and we were both so happy. You don’t know how you are going to feel until it happens, it’s not just a competition, it’s a statement of years of hard work in the catering industry and it’s so good to be recognised.
“It helps massively that Thibault and I get on so well and have such a great friendship, he helped us make a great team together and it was a special moment for us both knowing we had won. We loved every day of being in the series and the friendship between us was probably one of the best rewards. To find someone who has the same passion in life as you creates a special bond and we are so glad we came back to try again.
“It’s been a hard year but we are both back at work and the Patisserie is doing really well. I actually want to start cookery classes at home, I want to help people learn different skills.”
Across the ten weeks, all of the teams revealed extraordinary skills in sweet but tough pastry challenges. Chocolate and sugar showpieces with themes ranging from The Secret World of Bugs to a magical live-plating, the teams used all their inventiveness and sheer talent to produce brilliant work. Tom Allen and Liam Charles comforted, amused and distracted the teams at every step along the way.
In the Final, the three remaining teams – The Ivy, Park Plaza Hotels and Cocorico Patisserie – fought tooth and spoon for the trophy. World class pastry chefs and expert judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden, set not one but two marathon challenges for the teams. First, they were asked to produce hats which were constructed entirely from chocolate and worn by real models. Alongside this, the teams made two types of filled chocolates. In the final challenge, the teams spent a gruelling seven hours creating a Historical Banquet fit for a King or Queen, to feed eighty friends and family who joined them for the winner announcement.
It was the Cocorico Patisserie team that most impressed the judges with their precision, passion and pastry knowledge, to be crowned the Winners of Bake Off The Professionals 2020.
Congratulations, Laurian and Thibault!
If you are a pastry chef, chocolatier or pâtissier by trade, and want to test your skills against the very best in the business, apply now or forever hold your showpiece! Head to applyforbotp.co.uk now.