The best of Australian and international patissiers battled at the first annual Savour Patissier of the Year competition.

Held at Foodservice Australia, 30 of the nation’s brightest pastry chefs presented their best macarons, tarts, éclairs and entremets in an attempt to win a share in more than $42,000 of cash and prizes.

Despite strong competition with an exceptionally high standard overall, one entrant stood out in front: Cuvee Chocolate owner and Epicure executive pastry chef Deniz Karaca was crowned Savour Patissier of the Year for 2016.

Deniz (pictured top right) won the Éclair and tart categories, and placed in the top five for the entremets and macarons.

“It is a great honour to win this award,” Deniz said.

“The talent in this competition was strong, and I am very pleased with the result.”

Created by Kirsten Tibballs, world-renowned pastry chef and owner of Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School, the competition was created to boost the profile of the industry’s top performers.

No stranger to competition herself, Kirsten has competed internationally at the World Pastry Championships in Las Vegas and the Pastry Olympics in Germany, and has set the standard for desserts among MasterChef contestants as a regular guest Chef and mentor. Her international experiences resulted in her wanting to create something similar at home.

“I really wanted to establish a professional industry competition where the crème de la crème of pastry chefs could showcase their talent and really get recognition for their craft,” she said.

“This competition is the first of its kind in the industry, and is designed to provide a platform to gain really relevant, valuable experience, and exposure to the world’s best.”

The judges tasted 120 individual products throughout the three days of competition.

Paul Kennedy, competition judge and executive pastry chef at Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School, said the judges were particularly impressed by products that fused classic flavours with innovative, modern designs.

“There was a vast difference in flavours, particularly flavours based on the culture of the entrant. Some combinations of flavours were outstanding and some missed the mark,” he said.

“Some combinations of flavours were outstanding and some missed the mark.”

The line-up of judges was as intimidating as it was impressive for those competing, with World Chocolate Master Frank Haasnoot, World Champion pastry chef Julien Alvarez, Best Chocolates in the World creator Paul Kennedy, and winner of the Pastry World Cup Jordi Bordas, joining emcee Kirsten to critique end products.

Congratulations to the individual category winners:

* Tarts: Deniz Karaca

* Macarons: Eigen Ting

* Éclairs: Deniz Karaca

* Entremets: Philip Khoury

The event was live streamed on YouTube, with thousands of people logging on to watch the action. All three days can still be viewed on YouTube by searching “Savour Patissier of the Year 2016”.

Kirsten and the team will be back in 2017 for the second installment of the event, proudly supported by Baking Business.