INTRODUCTION 1

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT 4

INGREDIENTS 8

PLATING FOR POINTS 20

PLATED DESSERT FLAVOR PAIRING GUIDE 26

The Recipes 35

Banana and Malted Milk Chocolate Mousse with Cherry Sauce TEAM BOOS 2000 37

Citrus TEAM HO 2000 41

Strawberry and Almond Milk Delight, Red Currant and Wine Jus TEAM NOTTER 2000 47

Vanilla and Passion Fruit Dome with Mixed Berry Coulis TEAM SETTEPANI 2000 53

Chocolate Dome with Summer Berry Compote TEAM SHOTTS 2000 57

Warm Almond Savarin with Raspberry Gelée Center, and Raspberry Sorbet Served with Mascarpone Mousse, Vanilla Foam, and Candied Almond Dust TEAM KLOCKO 2003 63

Japanese-Style Cheesecake with Caramelized Apples and Apple Sorbet TEAM LHUILLIER 2003 67

Fraîcheur de Cavaillon TEAM SCHOENBECK 2003 73

Chocolate Banana Caramel Crunch TEAM WEIDER 2003 79

Volcanic Eruption TEAM AUSTRALIA 2004 83

Hot Chocolate Soufflé, Ginger Mousse, and Tropical Parfait TEAM BELGIUM 2004 89

Apple Savarin with Mascarpone Cream and Cranberry Gelée TEAM SWITZERLAND 2004 95

Taste of Paradise TEAM USA 2004 101

Peach Mint Financier with Roasted Peaches and Apricot Sorbet TEAM ANGNARDO 2005 107

Esprit TEAM CANILLO 2005 113

Dyaus TEAM DANKS 2005 117

Strawberry Tian TEAM DE SILVA 2005 121

Fruit for Thought TEAM EDWARDS 2005 125

Coconut Cream with Strawberry Confit and Fromage Blanc Ice Cream TEAM LHUILLIER 2005 131

Vanilla Honey Hazelnut Mousse with Peach Sorbet TEAM MCNAMARA 2005 137

Strawberry Floating Island with Fennel Pollen, Spring Fruit Salad and Mascarpone Sherbet TEAM RUSKELL 2005 141

Les Pommes TEAM FRANCE 2006 147

Fruit Emotions TEAM ITALY 2006 153

Fusion TEAM SWITZERLAND 2006 159

Yin-Yang Flourless Chocolate Cake TEAM USA 2006 165

Brown Butter Financier with Fresh Marinated Raspberries and Vanilla Diplomat Cream, Pineapple Passion Fruit Cloud, Banana Passion Beignet, and Exotic Coulis TEAM BRANLARD 2007 171

Georgia (Peaches and Cream) TEAM CALDWELL 2007 179

A Taste of Honey: Cornmeal Almond Cake Filled with Vanilla Bean Custard, Served with Thyme-Scented Candied Citrus Zest and Honey Gelato TEAM DANKS 2007 185

Old El Paso TEAM HOLDEN 2007 191

Dolly's Duo: Chocolate Napoleon with Two Mousses TEAM KNUDSEN 2007 197

Gingered Honey Panna Cotta with Lemongrass Consommé, Mango Gelée, and Lace Tuile TEAM PAGANO 2007 201

Creole TEAM RUSKELL 2007 205

Litchi Cream with Red Fruit Compote TEAM CHINA 2008 209

Imagination Box TEAM ITALY 2008 215

Aurora TEAM JAPAN 2008 219

Strawberry Soup, Vanilla Panna Cotta Napoleon, and Almond Tartlet TEAM SWITZERLAND 2008 225

Pineapple Rum Cake, Raspberry Florentine, Coconut Sorbet, Pineapple Compote, and Rum Anglaise TEAM CHOWDHURY 2009 233

Tropical Napoleon TEAM CO 2009 237

Banana Walnut Financier, Pineapple Jelly Center, Crunchy Passion Tuile, Coconut Cream, and Lemon–Crème Fraîche Ice Cream TEAM DADZIE 2009 241

Orange Savarin, Orange Chiboust, Banana Croustillant, Blood Orange Sorbet, and Orange Caramel Sauce TEAM DEWITT 2009 247

Passion Fruit–Banana Parfait TEAM MILLICAN 2009 251

Peach Melba Modern TEAM SALAZAR 2009 257

Chocolate-Pear Mousse and Crêpe Soufflé with Passion Fruit Sauce TEAM TREVETHAN 2009 263

Childhood Bubbles TEAM DENMARK 2010 271

Adventure TEAM JAPAN 2010 277

Spiced Coco TEAM MEXICO 2010 283

Rosebud Crème Brûlée with Strawberry Jelly and Champagne Rosé Sorbet TEAM SINGAPORE 2010 289

Le Blanc TEAM SOUTH KOREA 2010 295

Cheesecake with Cherry and Pistachio TEAM UNITED KINGDOM 2010 299

Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Vanilla-Mint Panna Cotta and Berry Gelée TEAM USA 2010 303

BASIC GARNISH RECIPES 308

SOURCES 310

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 313

INDEX 314

Considered the Olympics of the pastry arts, the World and National Pastry Championships were founded by Michael Schneider in 1999. Since then, it has grown into the United States' most prestigious and popular pastry competition, aired annually on TLC. Now, in Plating for Gold, pastry chef Tish Boyle presents the most spectacular dessert recipes from the first decade of the competition and shows how you can recreate the same award-winning desserts in your own kitchen.

Plating for Gold includes 50 recipes for absolutely spectacular desserts created by expert pastry chefs like Ewald Notter, Jacquy Pfeiffer, and Sebastien Cannone, all presented in easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. You'll find whimsical and delicious one-of-a-kind recipes like Strawberry Soup, Vanilla Panna Cotta Napoleon, and Almond Tartlet; Hot Chocolate Soufflé, Ginger Mousse, and Tropical Parfait; and Yin-Yang Flourless Chocolate Cake, as well as insight and advice from top pastry chefs on perfect plating.

• Includes advice on essential equipment, stocking your pastry kitchen, and perfect flavor pairings to help you create your own original recipes
• Features enticing full-color photographs of finished desserts, as well as hand-drawn sketches to illustrate plating techniques and provide endless inspiration
• Offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world of pastry competition, with candid photos and insider advice from some of today's best pastry chefs

Whether you aspire to compete with the best at the Pastry Team Championships or simply want to impress guests at your next big dinner party, Plating for Gold is the gold standard in dessert cookbooks.

New feature

"Thank you, Tish Boyle, for providing a new source of inspiration for pastry chefs worldwide. This book documents the mastery of technique, wealth of experience, and creativity needed to succeed in pastry competition at the highest level."
—Chef Ewald Notter, founder and Director of Education, Notter School of Pastry Arts, Orlando, Florida; author of The Art of the Chocolatier and The Art of the Confectioner

" In this tribute to the competitive pastry arts, Tish Boyle illuminates the process of creating edible masterpieces from conception to execution. Her words and recipes go to lengths to illustrate the Pastry Team Championships in a way that makes this an accessible manual for professionals and enthusiasts alike."
—Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer, founder and Academic Dean, The French Pastry School, Chicago, Illinois

"Tish Boyle brings this rigorous pastry competition to life: from her introduction of the Pastry Team Championships to the recipes for the winning desserts. This will make a good study for any chef who is considering entering a competition or any amateur looking for insight into this world of haute pâtisserie."
—Chef Sébastien Canonne, MOF, founder and Academic Dean, The French Pastry School, Chicago, Illinois

" Aside from her considerable talent as a writer of her own recipes, Tish Boyle can take a chef's complex plated dessert and turn it into an understandable—and doable—recipe like no one else today. Plating for Gold is not only a book of great desserts, but also a notable collection of contemporary techniques, flavors, and presentations; every pastry chef should have a copy."
—Nick Malgieri, author of Bake! and The Modern Baker

50 stunning plated desserts, including:

• Strawberry Soup, Vanilla Panna Cotta Napoleon, and Almond Tartlet

• Hot Chocolate Soufflé, Ginger Mousse, and Tropical Parfait

• Yin-Yang Flourless Chocolate Cake

• Peach Melba Modern

• Chocolate Banana Caramel Crunch

• Apple Savarin with Mascarpone Cream and Cranberry Gelée

• Passion Fruit–Banana Parfait

• Rosebud Crème Brûlée with Strawberry Jelly and Champagne Rose Sorbet