The 2004 World Pastry Team Championship

The 2004 Inniskillin Icewine World Pastry Team Championship, presented by CapFruit, will be held July 7 and 8 at the Rio All Suite Hotel in Las Vegas. Twelve teams, from Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and, defending champion, United States, will compete for thirteen hours over two exhausting days by creating entremets (cakes), frozen desserts, plated desserts, bonbons and more. The competition will culminate with the teams' presentations of their astonishing chocolate and sugar showpieces to the judges, audience, and The Food Network cameras.

The theme, The Four Elements; Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, is a marked departure from past years' National and World Competition themes which have included "Broadway Musicals," "Circus" and "Hollywood." Explains event organizer Michael Schneider; "We wanted to really challenge the competitors" creativity this year by giving them a subjective theme that is wide-open in terms of interpretation. How will they express an abstract concept such as "wind" in pastry? We believe it adds another layer of depth to the competition and, from the audience's perspective, guarantees a great deal of surprise and excitement."

24 internationally acclaimed pastry chefs, two from each competing country, have been selected as judges who will be led by the world-renowned chocolatier Jacques Torres. They will score according to the competition's strict judging guidelines that take into account not only flavor, creativity and interpretation of theme, but also the degree of difficulty and skill required in the execution of the dessert. Nuances, such as team dynamics and kitchen cleanliness, are also highly important.

Held every other year respectively, the six year-old National and World Pastry Team Championships have gained worldwide respect for their stringent rules that ensure complete objectivity. Only the highest level of pastry talent in the world is allowed to enter; each team captain must have previously medaled in a national or international pastry competition.

For more information about the competition regulations and competing teams, log on to www.pastrychampionship.com.

The 2004 Inniskillin Icewine World Pastry Team Championship presented by CapFruit

July 7 and 8, 2004


The Rio All-Suite Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Admission: $150. General seating for the two-day competition and admission to the tradeshow and demonstrations. Several packages are available. Log on to www.pastrychampionship.com for details.

Reservations: To purchase tickets to the 2004 World Pastry Team Championship and for information on special hotel rates and discounted airfare, please call Susan Levitz of Protravel at 888-725-2223