Bastien Blanc-Tailleur, the art of ornamental pastry-making

Flowers so perfect they look real, pearls, friezes and ribbons, arranged on mounted pieces several meters high. To make them, you need sugar (lots of it), butter, cream and flour... and a special know-how that few pastry chefs possess. Bastien Blanc-Tailleur impresses!

As talented as he is modest

It was in Toulouse, at Maison Pillon, that the young pastry chef began sculpting chocolate. He then entered competitions, a way of distinguishing himself and finding positions (Carette, Ledoyen, George V...) but a talent that, in most cases, found no commercial reality. It was after leaving the Four Seasons Hôtel George V, while consulting for various brands, that he met an American wedding planner. She was looking for a pastry chef for a large wedding in Paris. It was an encounter that changed everything for the chef. One of those encounters that just click.

The art of sugar, not so young

Today, sugar and chocolate sculpture are culinary arts confined to pastry competitions and championships, and sometimes to decorating buffets or shop windows. Yet this ancient art flourished in the 18ᵉ century and was brought to its apogee in the 19ᵉ by pastry chef Antonin Carême "There are five Beaux-Arts, namely : painting, sculpture, poetry, music and architecture, which has pastry-making as its main branch " he wrote, daring to join the two disciplines.

A source of inspiration for Bastien Blanc-Tailleur, who draws on Carême's drawings, decorative arts (bronzes, plaster casts, moldings, etc.) and other crafts to decorate his pieces....) and other arts and crafts such as jewelry, goldsmithing, embroidery...

Although the art of sugar and pastry-making is French, it was in the United States that the wedding cake craze developed. So much so, in fact, that the wedding planner who called on the pastry chef would sometimes bring cakes from the United States for her clients' Parisian weddings.

Pieces (almost) for the eyes only

"The Americans have a relaxed way of showing off their money, which is not the case with the French. I sell very few large cakes to French families". Bastien Blanc-Tailleur has found a market, albeit a niche one, in which he distinguishes himself by offering a made-to-measure service, with one-of-a-kind pieces designed to meet the wishes (or whims) of his demanding customers.

He works with shapes and colors to match the wedding theme, even going so far as to reproduce the embroidery on the wedding dress by collecting samples from the couture house. He personally delivers and assembles the cake prepared in his Parisian laboratory, wherever the venue. This is precisely what his wealthy clients buy, not necessarily edible value (most of them have a dessert buffet as well) but the know-how that will amaze their guests.

By the way, only one part of the cake (the one the bride and groom will cut) is actually a cake; the slices served, decorated in the same way, are cut and plated in the kitchen. On the other hand, the entire decoration of the pièce montée is made in sugar paste, the motifs fashioned from silicone molds that he makes himself. And if guests feel the urge to rush to the flowers (which has already happened), no problem.They're made from sugar and food coloring, with breathtaking realism and precision.

Opéra Garnier / Audrey Paris

" My customers don't feel that they're just one among many. She's not buying a brand, she's buying a rare savoir-faire, which is mine, unique every time, because it's out of the question to make the same piece twice. If I show them my portfolio, it's only to give them an idea, because she won't want anything she sees there."

Labeled expertise

" I'm no more gifted than anyone else," says Bastien Blanc-Tailleur modestly, " but what's unique is that I'm able to sell this expertise. The chef has just been awarded the "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (Living Heritage Company) label by the Institut National des Métiers d'Arts (National Institute of Arts and Crafts), which recognizes excellence in craft and industrial know-how."It's a recognition of my work and that of my team. It's a bit like being one of France's Best Craftsmen, in that it confers a seal of quality on us. Some people don't care, but others do.

And it's because of this unique craftsmanship that wealthy future brides and grooms from all over the world choose him to create the pièce montée that will be one of the highlights of their celebration.