BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD - Alexandria Butler, a Culinary Arts student at West Milford High School, took third place in the 2019 national “America’s Best High School Pastry Chef” competition on March 9.
The competition was presented by The Culinary Institute of New York, Monroe College, in New Rochelle, New York.
Butler was one of eight top finalists selected to compete in the Final Round of the nationwide competition.
She won third place in the finals, taking home a trophy and more than $40,000 in awards and scholarships.
The competition
High School culinary students were encouraged to submit an application for the America’s Best High School Pastry Chef competition that included a signature dessert that they would be able to prepare and present exactly as submitted in a 90-minute final round.
According to the official competition guidelines, “The dessert should be of the style and level expected in an upscale restaurant and include 5 basic elements for a plated dessert (some items may be represented more than once, i.e. chocolate cake is the
main item, etc.) A main item, a sauce, a cookie or crisp item, chocolate, and fruit.”
Applicants were also required to submit a 4 by 6-inch color photo of their desserts along with the recipes for every component.
After the nationwide search by the Culinary Institute of New York and review of all composed dessert submissions, Butler was one of the Top Eight students selected to compete in the Final Round of the Pastry Chef competition on March 9th.
For placing in the top 10 she was awarded $18,000.00.
America’s Best High School Pastry Chefs face off in the Final Round
In the Final Round, the student Pastry Chef competitors were required to bring all of their ingredients for their recipes pre-scaled, as well as any specialty equipment; basic equipment was to be available on a limited basis.
The finalists were required to prepare and present 2 portions of their dessert within the 90 minute time limit allowed.
Butler's dish- a black forest cake with a cherry mascarpone sherbet, a honey tuile, and cherry coulis- won third place in the finals.
She was awarded an additional $26,000.00 scholarship for her accomplishment, and was also featured in a segment on TV News 12 for her achievement, and for being one of two competitors from New Jersey that finished in the top three in the competition.
WMHS Culinary Arts Teacher Danielle (Kaiser) Gardner commented, “I look forward to hearing about her future accomplishments, I am so proud of her.”