Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie is the Pastry World Cup and one of the most prestigious competitions in pastry and dessert making. Each country enters a team of three, one in each of the disciplines: chocolate, sugar and ice. The route to the final in Lyon runs through a continental selection, and for Europe it is decided in a European selection the year before.
Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie – Team Sweden started up in the autumn of 2025. A couple of months later the team was in place, and a couple of months after that it was in the competition kitchen in Paris on 18 and 19 January 2026: a chocolate sculpture, a sugar sculpture, an ice sculpture and a large number of desserts, presented on a shared buffet within a set time.
Sweden did not go through to the final. That the team got there and completed the competition, with an organisation less than a year old, is the starting point for everything that happens now.
“We learned more in those months than we would have in a year of planning. We got there, we delivered, and we now know how it works in practice. That knowledge goes into the next team,” says Master Pastry Chef Gustaf Mabrouk, President of Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie – Team Sweden.
The first year went largely into building the organisation, recruiting competitors, finding partners and creating a training environment. The training facility in Segeltorp, with a fully equipped competition kitchen, was inaugurated earlier this year and is the team’s permanent base.
That work is done. The time up to Lausanne can go into the craft itself.
“The difference from last time is that we are starting with something. We have the facility, the partnerships and the routines. What remains is what actually decides it: the hours in the kitchen,” says Gustaf Mabrouk.
Before every competition cycle each country appoints a new team, and holding a selection is a requirement for entering. The team is made up of one competitor per discipline.
Applications open on 1 October and close on 1 December. The team is expected to be in place around the turn of the year and begins its work in 2027. Anyone who applied last time is welcome to apply again. Read more about who can apply and how to apply.
“We are not only looking for those who are best today. We are looking for those who want to put two years into this,” says Gustaf Mabrouk.
Once the team is in place, the work starts with the theme and the thread running through the whole presentation. Then come the design of the sculptures and the moulds to be made, then ingredient trials and tastings before the recipes are settled, and after that the visual build of the buffet.
The final year is about time. The organisers announce the competition elements and the exact conditions ahead of each selection, and only once those are known can the full run-throughs be planned and the work stations optimised.
“A competition entry is not built in one go. It is a long series of decisions where each step builds on the one before, and only when it all holds together can you run it against the clock,” says Gustaf Mabrouk.
Alongside the competition work, the work of passing on knowledge has begun. The aim is for the technical level required internationally to raise the standard of Swedish pastry more widely than in the competition kitchen alone.
The first example is the collaboration with Internationella Hotell- och Restaurangskolan (IHR), presented earlier this autumn. Students who show particular interest and skill in pastry, chocolate and confectionery are given teaching, mentorship and work in a professional environment.
The way from there to a place in the team is long and runs through professional experience. The collaboration is about giving young pastry chefs a direction and a chance to become candidates in time, not about a fast track from school to the competition kitchen.
“What we learn should be teachable. IHR is the first step, and over time the knowledge should reach more parts of the industry,” says Gustaf Mabrouk.
Applications for the selection ahead of Lausanne 2028 are open from 1 October to 1 December. How to apply for the next team.
Master Pastry Chef Gustaf Mabrouk
President, Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie – Team Sweden
+46 73 838 31 12
gustaf@cmpsweden.se
The World Pastry Cup was founded in 1989 and is held every two years during the SIRHA food trade fair in Lyon. Each country selects its own team, which then competes in continental qualifiers to earn a spot in the world championship held every other year.
Master Pastry Chef Gustaf Mabrouk won Årets Konditor, the Swedish Pastry Chef of the Year title, in 1995 at just 19 years old. He then moved to New York to develop his craft further. In recent years he has worked in Sweden, including as a product developer at Delicato. He has competed in the World Chocolate Masters, coached the Swedish national pastry team, and was named World Pastry Chef of the Year in 2019. Today he runs the café and bakery Panem in Gamla Stan in Stockholm, and since 2025 he is also President of Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie Sweden AB.
Together with our partners – who contribute knowledge, equipment, resources, and time – we are building a Swedish team for the international stage.
