Depending on where you are in France, it's a pain au chocolat, a croissant au chocolat or a chocolatine, but whatever you call it, Dimitri Bordon of France was proclaimed its champion, beating out 19 other candidates from 12 countries to win the Coupe du Monde le la chocolatine et pain au chocolat.
Each candidate was required to produce two dozen pastries, 12 of the traditional sort, and 12 with fantasy variations. A jury of 18 professionals made the decision. Contestants came from France, Vietnam, Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
Bordon's fantasy variant was a vertical pastry made to look like a windmill, imbued with a dash of tingling Sechuan pepper and covered in a tangy citrus glaze of mandarin, bitter orange and yuzu. Not something you're likely to find in your neighborhood boulangerie!
Among the other fantasies: A contender from Vietnam made a flower-shaped pastry, using bright pink dragonfruit and a yellow citrus fruit called calamansi for trimmings, and one from Corsica made a bow tie filled with chocolate-hazelnut paste and candied clementine cream.
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