We were excited to have Chef Masaki Okazaki, head pastry chef of the Conrad Tokyo, show off his specialty, sugar art, in a Master Class on September 9th at our Tokyo school.
Chef Okazaki is particularly known for his innovation in sugar art. He won an internationally renowned pastry award, “Le Mondial des Arts Sucrés 2012”, with a never-before-seen technique of “sucre soufflé” decorated with stripes. Effectively, air is injected into sugar to inflate it three-dimensionally; it is then shaped and decorated. This technique attracted a lot attention when Chef Okazaki first demonstrated it and is now spreading worldwide. Students were shown sucre soufflé in the class along with various other sugar art techniques.
Students were mesmerized by the various ways Chef Okazaki manipulated the sugar, asking many questions and requesting different sugar shapes such as peony pedals. Following the chef’s techniques, almost all students went on to make the petals successfully on their own. It was hard not to be impressed with everyone’s artfully wrought sugar pieces! In addition to sugar, the chef shared his personal experiences working in the industry.
Recounting his time visiting museums to cultivate and elevate the aesthetics of his pastries, students learned that the road to success is never without effort.
Chef Okazaki is constantly refining his craft at the Conrad Tokyo. Afternoon tea can accommodate up to 200 guests, but thanks to the chef’s acclaimed pastries, reservations are definitely recommended, especially for weekends. Drop by and you’ll see why!
It was a pleasure having Chef Okazaki – we would like to extend a big thanks to him for sharing his expertise and passion with us!
2017/10/02
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