The Cake & Cookie Co.

Chef turns up heat on competition
-The Fremantle Gazette, March 23 2010

 

O'CONNOR-based pastry chef Trevor Sims has baked his way to the top in the internationally renowned SigEp Cup in Italy.

Following on from his 2009 first place win in the Australian national Artisan Baking Cup, the owner of the Cake and Cookie Company teamed up with three bakers for the international competition.

Competing against entries from 10 countries, Mr Sims and his team took first place for the centerpiece segment and third place in the overall cup after Hungary and Germany.

Mr Sims said his team blended quality ingredients and innovative techniques for the sunflower sundial made from bread dough. 

"To win the Australian national award was really exciting but to travel to Italy and compete with some of Australia痴 finest bakers  and pastry chefs against some of the best in the world was truly an honour", he said. "I put a lot of time and quality into each product I spent four hours in front of the public but there was a lot more done behind the scenes".

Any way you slice it, this baker delights
-The Fremantle Gazette, August 25 2009

O'CONNOR pastry chef Trevor Sims has out-baked chefs from around Australia to win first prize at the 2009 National Artisan Baking Cup.  Mr Sims has over 24 years experience as an artisan pastry chef and owns The Cake and Cookie Company.

He teamed up with renowned baker Rob Howard to create five different pastries, five styles of artisan bread and an artisan centre-piece based on the theme of bread as a symbol of Australia.

The duo took out prizes for seven of their 11 submissions including traditional croissants and French brioche, their chocolate hazelnut praline and blood orange Danish pastry creations, and the Artisan award for their edible creation of WA's Ettamogah pub.
Mr Sims said the key to winning was fresh ingredients and perseverance.

The pair will represent Australia at the International Master Artisan Baking Cup in Italy next year.

 

Two local bakers rise to the occasion with best bread
- The Sunday Times, July 5 2009
- By Gail Williams

Two Perth artisan bakers have used their loaves to make a pub with no beer but plenty of bread.

Their edible scale model of the famous Ettamogah pub won them an award at the Australian Artisan Baking Cup in Melbourne and they cleaned up a host of prizes.

Not only did their bread pub modelled on the one in Cunderdin win the Australian centrepiece competition at the Food Service in Focus Expo, the pair won a further six of the 11 categories and the main prize, the Artisan Cup for 2009.

Rob Howard, whose Howard's Patisserie supplies sourdough bread to many top Perth restaurants, won awards for his baguettes and ciabatta, including a basil pesto sourdough bagette.

Trevor Sims, of the Cake and Cookie Company, won first prizes for his Danish croissants and stolen. Both bakers will represent Australia in an international competition in Italy next year.

The WA bakers had to fly their 10 year old natural sourdough starter which has to be fed daily to Melbourne for the competition.

"It actually went in a bottle in the luggage and it expanded during the flight doubling its size," Mr Howard said.

"We thought the bottle might have exploded. It only does that after flights."

Judges said the WA duo's breads were outstanding.

Competitors had to create an bake five styles of artisan bread, five Viennese pastries and yeast goods and an artistic bread centrepiece based on the theme of bread as a symbol of Australia.

 

 

West do best at artisan baking comp
- Australian Hospitality Magazine, 29 June 2009
- By Olivia Collings

West Australian artisans have scooped first place at the 2009 Australian Artisan Baking Cup.

Held at the annual Food Service in Focus expo in the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre, the competition for bakers from across Australia was won by Trevor Sims from the Cake and Cookie Company and Rob Howard from Howard逞ｴ Patisserie.

In both the team event and as individuals the two men from the west scored very highly with the judges.

Industry stalwart and creative design director for team bakery Australia, Leon Baily, said this year's entries were of a very high quality.

"The judges at the competition put forward some very big scores this year. The scores really reflect a standard which has exceeded previous years and one which reflects what is expected internationally." he said.

Competitors in the competition were required to create and bake five styles of artisan bread, five different Vienesse pastries and yeast goods and an artisan centrepiece based on the theme 'bread as a symbol of Australia'.

Winners from the Australian competition will go on to form an Australian team at the 2010 SIGEP Red Cup in Italy. SIGEP is the largest professional trade fair in the word dedicated to gelato, confectionary and bakery supplies.

 

2009 Australian Artisan Baking Cup: The Winners Are?..Team West Australia!
- Business Edge Magazine

Rob Howard (Howards Patisserie) and Trevor Sims (The Cake & Cookie Co) swept all before them at this year逞ｴ Australian Artisan Baking Cup. Competing against teams made up from some of the best bakers & pastry-cooks from around Australia, Rob & Trevor were crowned the champion team for 2009 at the Bakery Australia Gala Dinner and Awards Night on the 25th June 2009.

The Australian Artisan Baking Cup is a world-class competition that is run as a team event with each team competing in three categories of product. It is conducted in a dedicated live baking arena of 300sq metres using state of the art equipment to fully showcase the talent of competing teams. Teams from Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales (2), West Australia, South Australia and Tasmania all competed for the honour of being crowned champion team for 2009

Rob and Trevor demonstrated their champion winning form by winning seven of the eleven competition classes. They won Baguette, Ciabatta, and Team's Choice Bread product, Croissant, Danish, Stollen and also the Artistic Bread Centrepiece. This was a magnificent achievement by them.