2014 Confectionery Arts World Cup champion, Pastry Chef and consultant, Johanna Le Pape’s main goal is to share her healthy eating philosophy around the globe. Convinced that gourmet indulgence and health can go hand in hand, she works with companies on their food innovation and explores ways in which to make her creations healthier and more sustainable.

What does your job involve?

In my role as a consultant, I create, advise, and innovate in the food industry, rethinking the food of today and the future. I drive the creative vision of Atelier Auraé, the pastry workshop I launched to provide lessons for individuals and companies. Our on-line and in-house range is developed with a team of 6 talented, friendly, and exacting individuals.

What is healthy and responsible pastry?

It is pastry which is good for you and revolves around three main themes: gourmet indulgence, elegance, and health. It is based on 5 cornerstones:

• Diversify, by introducing new plant-food based ingredients
• Balance sugars by adjusting them in relation to fibre content and making low glycaemic index a key focus
• Innovate to ensure that the maximum number of micronutrients are present in our diet
• Increase the life cycle of all waste products by reintroducing them into new ingredients
• Source ingredients from responsible and organic agriculture, ensuring seasonality and short supply chains

Why are balanced pastries so successful?

Balanced pastries are hugely successful because achieving the right balance of sugar enhances the aroma profile, sometimes resulting in new flavours (cocoa sugar, green banana flour or vegetable flour). Balanced pastries, which give pride of place to gourmet indulgence, have every chance of attracting new customers, who are concerned about their daily diet.

What needs do they meet?

Balanced pastries enable you to have a treat without feeling guilty. Gourmet indulgence is at the heart of our society, and today a large majority of the population is aware of the impact of diet on our health.

How do you see the future of pastry? 

Pastry has undergone major changes in recent years. Techniques and the visual aspect have greatly evolved alongside widespread media exposure. In the future, pastry will be expressed through core values specific to each chef. Pastry is no longer an end, but a means with which to give meaning to one’s life. Today, it finds itself at the crossroads between environmental and public health concerns. It must also embody new values, and these are provided by the new generation.

Is there anything you would like to say to those aiming for a career in healthy pastry?

I would encourage them to constantly bring the fundamentals of French pastry into question by acknowledging that the learning process is endless. We are at the beginning of an important turning point and the approach taken must be in line with the values of healthy and coherent pastry. Learning, constantly testing new things, being curious, informed, sharing… It is an approach in which everything still needs to be constructed. There is nothing more empowering than working on something which gives meaning to what you do. Be creative and follow through with your most outlandish ideas!