The European qualifying round of the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie will be held on January 18 and 19, 2026, as part of Sirha Bake & Snack at Paris Porte de Versailles. This competition will mark the debut of several continental teams: the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and, for the first time, the Middle East.

Nine countries (Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom) will compete for a place in the top five and a spot in the grand world final, which will take place at Sirha Lyon in January 2027. The major new feature of this edition of the European Pastry Cup is that the entire team can now compete. A few years ago, the decision was made to limit participation to two of the three members of each team, excluding the ice cream representative.

Each country will have five and a half hours to conduct three tasting tests (ten reimagined individual Tarte Tatin desserts, 12 chocolate-based finger foods, and 12 individual plated frozen desserts), three artistic tests (a chocolate piece, a sugar piece, and an artistic piece made of sculpted water ice), and a final buffet.

The creations will be evaluated by Pierre Hermé and Frédéric Cassel, president and vice-president of the competition respectively, who will be accompanied by a technical jury, a tasting jury, and an artistic jury. The committee members will also evaluate the candidates’ compliance with the CSR criteria.

Photo: Nicolas Reynaud