Becoming the first ever Irish Pâtisserie Championship winner? A piece of cake for Asia Mahealani McDonagh!
The pastry chef who hails from Hawaii but now calls Ireland home wrote herself into the culinary history books by becoming the first winner of the title, but not without seeing off stiff competition.
Asia was crowned the winner after a nail-biting, six-hour live finale against five other chefs from Ireland's leading restaurants and hotels, which makes Bake Off look like a cake walk.
Asia, who founded Mahealani Pastries in Galway, where she settled after meeting her husband, wowed the judges with her skills on the day.
Her entry consisted of a trio of mouthwatering dishes, including a plant-based café gourmandise dessert, a fine dining dessert, and her showstopper, a delicious chocolate dessert she called 'Mahealani' after her Hawaiian middle name and which means the light of the full moon.
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Asia was blown away by her win and said: "I feel incredibly honoured to have won this title.
"The standard was very high, and to be recognised by such a prestigious panel is a dream come true.
"I poured my heart into every detail, and I am so grateful to Odaios Foods and Valrhona for this opportunity to grow and learn from the best in the business."
Following her win, Asia will now travel to Dubai to train at the exclusive L'École Valrhona, where some of the world's leading pastry chefs hand down their skills to the up-and-coming generation of chefs.
The Irish Pâtisserie Championship formed part of the first DNA Pastry Unwrapped Conference in Dublin, with guest speakers including Gareth Mullins (Anantara, The Marker), Nick Lentini (The Ivy), and Gráinne Mullins (Grá Chocolates) all featuring.
*This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.
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