Taystful

👏❤️👍🔥🔪

We have had an amazing day with our new Association of Pastry Chefs (UK) members competing as finalists in the Young Pastry Chef of the Year 2024!
A huge well done to all, how lucky we were to taste such a range of inspiring dishes using a variety of technical skills!
Congratulations Lewis Jackson of the Ritz who took the overall title!
Runner up was Erin Whipp of Leeds City College.
Best plated dessert went to Harshveer Singh Sahgal of Westminster Kingsway College.
Best Puff pastry was won by Claudiu Zlate of University College Birmingham.
Best filled chocolates was awarded to Amy Phillips of Cheshire College and best dish using Tilda Rice was won by Natasha Duff of Farnborough College!
We had the privilege of being supported and sponsored by the following generous businesses and suppliers:
Russums - thanks for the brilliant chefs whites!
Ponthier - delicious fruit purées we’re used in the dishes
chocolate for the filled chocolates and in the desserts
University College Birmingham - massive thanks to Lewis and the team for the huge amount of work it too to accommodate the competition!
for the amazing pastry brake/sheeter, what a piece of kit!
Tilda Rice for the rice used in the recipes
Chefi Knife Rolls
The Craft Guild of Chefs
Claire Clark Academy
Stuart Mcleod
Daniel Ayton
Disciples Escoffier UK
Murray Chapman
A Passion To Inspire
British Culinary Federation

Barry Johnson
A huge success of a competition, well done to all involved!

What a pleasure to judge today with a great team at for the final of ! .uk Results and more pictures to follow!

Great day had with chef Ryan for this busy one to one chocolate course! Lots of chefy chat and plenty fabulous creations!👏👏
Flavours were:
Sesame praline ganache with honey
Chocolate dipped pecan nut brittle
Lemon, raspberry and macadamia duja snacking bars
Sloe gin syrup truffles
Blackthorn Salt caramel ganache truffles
Pink grapefruit and basil infused ganache
Passion fruit hearts
Rosemary infused bars with smoked sea Blackthorn Salt
Scottish tablet
Gin caramel
Cigarillos made too!

A real privilege to have a former Scottish Chef of the Year and 'Hat' awarded (in New Zealand in the Cuisine Good Food Awards for top culinary experiences at Amayjen The Restaurant, pronounced Imagine) chef Andrew May here at Taystful for some creative chocolate and patisserie work! A full on and really fun day!
Flavours are:
Apple with Bergamot Pate de fruit and Blackthorn Salt sea salt caramel ganache snacking bars
Strawberry confit with balsamic ganache domes
Pecan nut chocolate dipped brittle (always a fave of mine as some of you will know!)
Amaretto Truffles (Amaretti biscuit coating)
Pink Grapefruit and basil ganache
Fresh ginger infused slab ganache
Passion fruit cheesecake with mango and lime insert and passion fruit glaze
We practiced some chocolate cigarillos, entremet collars and some other decorative techniques. Lots of valuable chefy chat too of course!
Thanks Lakeland Dairies Foodservice - UK/Ire for the dairies!

Last year I had the pleasure of holding a privately booked chocolate course down at Esh Winning in County Durham, and have just come back from holding another one there! This time it was creative chocolate work, so lots of decoration techniques! Leigh was the perfect host (and pastry queen) as usual, and I had the pleasure of company from keen bakers Deb, Lynn, Gill and Karen too! Such a brilliant day had, well done all, it was a busy one! Plans in the pipeline for next year too ☺ Thanks for having me!🙏👏🍫🙌🤎

Nearly all set for tomorrow’s creative chocolate course near Durham, focusing on a large variety of patisserie decorations! Lovely to be back here again after a brilliant chocolates course with this lovely group last year! 🍫🙌🔥🤎

A fantastic way to find out more about Blackthorn Salt! Such a great idea having the virtual tour, gives a great visual insight in to the process and lots of precious information too! 💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Virtual Blackthorn Tour: Welcome to our world!🌍

We are often asked if we can give Tower Tours, but sadly, unless they are trade, media, or education-related, we simply aren't able - we are just a small team, busy with the glamorous day-2-day of salt making, boxing and sending out.

We don't have permanent public facing facilities or even the time to do it justice. Often as not, nor do folk have the time to drive here, to the South West Coast of to have a look. But we are really keen to share what we do and be open and transparent so, we had a think and now we are super excited to finally have this Virtual Tour on our website:

- You can meet our team (*please be kind, we are simply salters not seasoned presenters!
- Learn how The Blackthorn Method works, explore The Thorn Tower; look inside; zoom in on whatever you like, the thorns, the horizon, the brine;
- Visit the Pan House where all the alchemy happens and hear about our ways there;
- Discover the our cosy HQ carriage and learn something about the history of Scottish Salt making...

It's not perfect, but hopefully it answers some questions and please let us know if there is anything missing!

Thanks so much to Liam Airborne Lens for converting this idea to reality and your patience!

We really hope you enjoy it!💚

However, we try to accommodate by holing an occasional 'Open Day or the Blackthorn Big Day Out' where we set aside a day and all are welcome. This year we might be trying something a bit different, but we will keep you posted!

Very exciting to have very talented Scottish multi award winning chef Andrew May from New Zealand visiting Taystful soon for a day of chocolate creating! Jen and Andrew's passion, dedication and determination has led to many accolades for their highly respected restaurant Amayjen! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇳🇿
https://www.amayjen.co.nz/

Well done Kayleigh, Irene and Jane on your very busy full day tailored course today! 👏👏👏
We made:
Blackcurrant truffle pops
Amaretto truffles
Lollipops
Passion fruit hearts
Cappuccino bars
Cocoa butter colours on the caramel ganache bars
Hazelnut praline ganache
Hot chocolate bombs
Dipped pecan brittle
Enjoy savouring all your lovely work!

Great fun time, never a dull moment as usual! 🥰

Excited to hear recently that I shall be accompanying Lakeland Dairies Foodservice - UK/Ire to the brilliant Universal Cookery and Food Festival in September down in Kent! They’ve lots of fun and tasty food lined up!


https://www.cookeryandfoodfestival.co.uk/

As well as being all about the subject matter, it is also about the people you meet on the journey! Fun, entertaining, fulfilling and rewarding time with a group of related attendees today, thanks so much for visiting Taystful!
Chocolates made included:
Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles
Caramel ganache truffles with crispy wafer coating
Passion fruit hearts
Pink Grapefruit and Basil Segments
Lollipops
Raspberry and Vanilla Cups
Hazelnut Ganache Pralines and Pistachio and Orange Pralines

Exciting to have another chocolate course on today for 4 lovely attendees, and a tailored course on Monday! Looking forward to tasting the creations, we have some great flavours in the pipeline!

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Preps underway at McArthur Manor for tomorrow’s wedding! Beautiful day at a gorgeous venue! 🥂☀️🔪🔥

Blackthorn Salt Xoco Gourmet The Scottish Bee Company Lochlea Distillery The Edinburgh Butter Co. 🤎💗

Heartfelt gratitude to all at Blackthorn Salt for an amazing day being able to create some recipes beside your impressive blackthorn tower using Blackthorn salt! I felt privileged to see inside the tower and hear all about the intricate world of your gourmet salt production. So much science knowledge, research, experimentation, passion and dedication is required to produce such a high end ingredient of consistent standard, it really was an inspiring and educational visit.
Whirly, Yuliia, Gregorie I really appreciate your time on this and the lovely welcome I received from you all! Massive thank you also to Xoco Gourmet for the exquisite chocolate to work with, not to mention Mossgiel Organic Farm cream and milk, Lochlea Distillery whisky The Scottish Bee Company honey and The Edinburgh Butter Co. butter! Also making sure I had my trusty Thermapen Thermometer One handy!

Recipes I made on the day were mainly Scottish inspired, namely:

Cranachan Snacking Bar - raspberry gel and honey with raspberry and whisky ganache, oat crumble base enhanced with Blackthorn Salt, encased in Xoco Gourmet Mayan Red 62%

Fresh mint infused Xoco Gourmet Nico Brown 70% bars with smoked Blackthorn Salt

Shortbread dipped in Xoco Gourmet Nico Brown 70% and sprinkled with Blackthorn Salt and Xoco Gourmet cocoa nibs!

So lovely to have these photographs from the day expertly taken by Yuliia 🙏
https://www.blackthornsalt.co.uk/

What a day! Audrey is no stranger to a commercial kitchen, with many years catering under her belt we had a brilliant and fulfilling time and plenty to discuss! So much so, I wasn't keeping up with the photography 😆
So, in addition to what you see here (which are: chocolate dipped strawberries, hazelnut praline ganache, passion fruit hearts, hand dipped brandy and orange ganache, caramel ganache and Blackthorn Salt truffles with wafer coating, and vanilla and raspberry cups), we did some comparisons on chocolate mousses, glazes and inserts, discussing pros and cons of various gelling and setting agents suitable for a range of applications including afternoon teas and plated desserts. I can't wait for your next visit Audrey! The list for our future tailored course is looking very exciting!

Great team of professionals at Ayrshire College to learn from!

Do you have a passion for baking? Take your skills to the next level with our Bakery and Patisserie course.

Perfect for aspiring bakers who want to:

🍪Craft delicious cakes, sponges, biscuits and scones
🥧 Learn the secrets of showstopping hot and cold desserts
🍫 Create masterpieces using chocolate

To find out more about this Level 6 course, go to: https://bit.ly/3JAL7k1

There’s one week left for chefs to enter the British Culinary Championships. This popular event, is growing in stature and is a fantastic platform for all chefs but especially student chefs to get a first taste of competition experience.

The salon, managed by Central Bedfordshire College in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs is fast becoming one of the top salons in the country. Enter before Tuesday 14th May >> https://craftguildofchefs.org/competitions/the-british-student-culinary-championships

Wow, this year is bursting at the seams with some incredible projects! Later in the year I have the honour of holding a chocolate course for the talented HIT Training chefs at the magnificent Edgbaston kitchens! Plans already in the pipeline, cannot wait to work alongside the attendees!🙌🔥🍫
https://hittraining.co.uk/

Calling all chefs! Your chance to shine!
Follow the link on how to enter the British Culinary Championships, and show The Craft Guild of Chefs your skills, it is a fast track of learning too!
Not only that, the Craft Guild are on the look out for talented chefs who have ambition to compete internationally, so this is your big opportunity to showcase your work for further exciting adventures.
A great range of classes available! 🔥🌟🔪

https://craftguildofchefs.org/competitions/the-british-student-culinary-championships

What a lovely thank you gift from the team at At-Sunrice Chefs Academy! It was an inspiring time learning about all the ingredients available there and this will further my knowledge, look forward to trying them out!

What an honour to be involved with this special trip to Singapore with Koppert Cress!
Inspiring, fascinating and loads of fun! Loved working alongside the chef team and students at the At-Sunrice Global Chefs Academy, will cherish the memories forever and hope to be back! Huge thanks to Franck Pontais for entrusting me with being involved in the project and the invitation!

Incredible to see the commitment of At-Sunrice Global Chefs Academy for their sustainability and no waste initiatives, by up-cycling by-products (‘side streams’) from food and drink manufacturing and creating them in to delicious and nutritious ingredients, awe inspiring! They taste amazing too, very useful!

https://wellspent.gourmet2go.store/?StoreID=d6757e61-b9e6-4d10-9615-105eef943dd8&Service=PickUp&lang=EN