Patisserie Experts Wow Students with Chocolate Masterpiece

Patisserie expert, Martin Chiffers, wowed a class of catering students from Sussex Coast College Hastings last week, with his sculpture of a rooster made from chocolate.

20 Level 3 patisserie students spent last Monday (30th) with Martin and his colleague, Chris Zammit, learning key tips and tricks on how to work with and sculpt chocolate.

Martin and Chris, who are both members of the UK pastry team, gave students the opportunity to get stuck in as they helped to create elements of the final display piece, inspired by the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar.

The master piece took 10 hours to create and used approximately 20kgs of chocolate.

Martin Chiffers said: “Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed our day at SCCH. I think it is really important for professional pastry chefs to lead the way for the younger generation of chefs coming through.

I was really impressed with the students, but have to say that the girls out shone the boys. They got stuck in and helped me a lot, so thank you to them for being brave and taking a positive approach on the day.

Doing demonstrations like this is a great way to pass down skills and knowledge, and it gives me great satisfaction knowing I will inspire young chefs to develop and push themselves to be the future leaders.”

The master piece will now be displayed in the college restaurant in a specially made display case, and will last for around 18 months.

Steven Slade said: “To have two of the great names from the world of patisserie visiting us, who represent the UK at the highest level, was an honour and a privilege. For the students to see that high level of skill and detail up close was phenomenal. They now have lots of inspiration and ideas to take forward and to practice in the rest of their studies.”