The first semifinal of the competition Patissier des Jahres 2016-2017 was held in Achern, where the winners were André Siedl (1st place, Ecco Zurich in Switzerland) and Alexander Huber (2nd place, Restaurant top air in Stuttgart).

Siedl impressed the judges with his creativity when using the three required components of the contest: beetroot, yogurt and lime. For the freestyle dessert, he used soy, black rice, avocado, and yuzu with the intention of “surprising and awakening the public.” The 15 pralines made of java chocolate, hay, sea buckthorn, and hazelnut were his perfect conclusion.

Huber took second place with his raw marinated beetroot with lime crumbles and yogurt paper and his freestyle dessert of carrot, orange, Valrhona Bahibe and Piedmont hazelnuts.

Both, apart from getting a pass in the final to be held in 2017 in Anuga in Cologne, received the Rama Cremefine audience award; the Platinum sponsor has doubled their Jochen Schweizer 2-person getaway prize as both Siedl’s and Huber’s pralines were assigned the same number of points. In addition, Sara Gastro Products awarded each participating team with a dehydrator.

The next qualifiers will take place in Salzburg, Hamburg, and Cologne.