Some of Australia’s finest apprentices came together at Fine Food Australia to compete at the Bake Skills Australia 2022 Championships.
Held for the first time since 2019, the anticipation surrounding the Bake Skills Australia 2022 Championships was palpable.
The competition, which is in its 30th year, took place at Fine Food Australia from the 5-8 of September at Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre, and saw Ella Brenton from Berkeley Cakes & Pies, Berkeley, NSW, claim the title of Bake Skills champion young pastry chef, while Shania Murphy from Lost Loaf Bakery, Bowden, South Australia, took home the title of Bake Skills champion young baker.
Each competition was held over two days. Day one saw the pastry apprentices knuckle down for Pastry Day, during which the competitors produced and presented gateau st honore, mille feuille, vol-au-vents, palmiers, game gourmet pies, sweet tarts, modern eclairs, Paris brest and plain profiteroles.
The first day of the baking competition was equally busy for the bakers, and saw the apprentices produce a schedule of doughs including ciabatta, rye sourdough, Turkish, croissants, instant white, brioche and baguettes.
Across the board both of the second days of the competition was slightly shorter, but gave the apprentices the opportunity to really showcase their skills.
For the pastry competitors day two was Special Creations Day, during which they could show off their creative, innovative and decorative skills with baked cheesecakes, creative chocolate entremets, and a special occasion cake.
For the bakers, day two was filled with old-fashioned favourites as well as new age creative challenges and saw the competitors produce and present their bread showpiece alongside other items such as bee stings, iced finger buns, Vienna sourdough buns, flavoured and shaped rye cobs or loaves, and a gluten-free mystery challenge.
Ella Brenton from Berkeley Cakes & Pies, Berkeley, NSW, claimed the title of Bake Skills champion young pastry chef
Shania Murphy from Lost Loaf Bakery, Bowden, South Australia was announced as Bake Skills champion young baker
Bake Skills Australia organiser Craig Perry said the competition had been of a high standard.
“All competitors interacted well and, although they were nervous, handled the unique experience of working in a live bakery in a trade fair environment, pretty well,” he said.
“The two winners were exceptional and some outstanding products were produced, including the mango cheesecake by pastry champion Ella Brenton. The judges’ comment was it was the best they’ve ever tasted at Bake Skills and they scored it 488 out of 500.”
In addition to taking home the BSA Australian Champions green jacket, Bake Skills trophy and plaque, the two 2022 Individual Champions were also awarded a six day, five night trip to Germany to attend the IBA Trade Fair in Munich, industry presentations at IBA as well as a highlights of Munich tour. The runners up were awarded a three day, two night trip to Melbourne to attend the Australian Society of Baking national conference and Chairman’s black tie awards dinner.
The Bake Skills Australia 2022 Championships were sponsored by EOI, Moffat, Fine Food Australia, Mayers, Allstates DCP, Lesaffre, Queens, NBIA, Mauri, and the Official Great Aussie Pie Competition. Providers and supporters included Fraser & Hughes uniforms, Complete Display Equipment, Pace Farm Eggs, Carlyle Engineering, William Angliss Institute, Anchor Food Professionals, Baking Business, Regency TAFE, Sydney Institute of TAFE, and The Australian Society of Baking.
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