For the 18th Annual U.S. Pastry Competition, sponsored by Paris Gourmet, the theme for 2007 was "The Rainforest".
For Ebow's winning piece, he combined elements from nature's food chain, encorporating flora and fauna
in sugar and chocolate. The underlying structural element, an exotic tree, was intricately carved with detail and embellished
with vines, roots and moss.
Small touches of whimsy, with ladybugs, dragonflies, butterflies and a worm were overshadowed by an airbrushed
pastillage leopard, blown sugar Macaw, and lifelike lizard, all done in bright colors with a variety of texture and shine.
The tree trunk stood four feet tall and was made from seventy pounds of Cocoa Noel chocolate. The cake, which
also won best in show, was made with layers of vanilla mousse, bitter chocolate mousse, raspberry passion fruit Ravifruit
puree, almond sables and decorated with a raspberry caramel glaze and a perimeter of lemon-vanilla macarons, two
of which were lost due to gravity.
Having visited the rainforest in Ghana for ideas and inspiration,, Ebow now plans to recharge in Trinidad
before gearing up for his next project...
