Star Chef's International Congress- The Sweet

I focused on the savory last time so today the sweet!  I have to begin by introducing one of the coolest artists in food I've ever met Janice Wong.   Janice worked as a pastry chef for multiple big names places like Per Se and Alinea before opening her own place 2am:dessertbar which is focused on dessert as a cerebral experience.  

To get a better understanding of the concept Janice created some free standing art installations that were completely edible.  

This painting was based on the structure of the room at the ICC and made with Tutti Frutti marshmallow and chocolate.

This Zen Garden was created with chocolate pebbles, stones and two types of cookie crumble sand a yellow mustard and yuzu.

Here's Jancie taking a chunk out of her painting.  I'll admit it was a little strange at first but once I dug into the first painting I had no problem enjoying the rest...especially that incredible Zen Garden:)

Janice took the main stage for a pastry demonstration where she created a dessert made of miso and mustard.  Talk about pushing the boundaries of ordinary dessert...it was pretty awe inspiring.

After the great demo I decided it was time for a drink.  Since the theme was sweet I passed on the Ommegang beers from yesterday and went right to the dessert bar for a Green Apple Whiskey Sour.

I'll be honest I usually hate sweet drinks but this was absolutely amazing.  The whipped marshmallow top was smoky from the blow torch and really tasted like a roasted green apple.  I took one sip and thought "Hello there friend I've missed you all my life!"

At this point I walked over to the pastry pop up I had reserved and was told that there was a mistake and it was overbooked for the day.  I was a little let down but there was so much great stuff in the trade area I just decided to go all out on sweets outside and make the best of things.

So I got a little cup a rich, decadent chocolate gelato and a rounded it out with creamy affogato (because I needed some caffeine with all my sugar).

Then walked over to check out the Pastry competition for a while.  I was feeling pretty wacked out on sugar at this point and about to leave for the day when an event staff came over and said a special pastry pop up was being created on the fly just for the people who were overbooked.  Johnny Iuzzini, Patrick Fahy and Sam Mason created three impromptu desserts using everything they found from around the conference.  How in the world could I pass this up!

The first was a peanut butter and jelly crumble with a dusting of yuzu (from Janice's art work I assume).

Followed by a Five spice Panna Cotta with a marshmallow fried doughnut...

...and a Tasting of Chocolates with edible flowers on top that was absolutely incredible.  Each dish was presented by the chef who made it and I honestly felt a little bit like a judge on Top Chef watching these amazing chefs create while I ate.  It was such an amazing experience and a huge highlight of the ICC.

So there you have it...the savory and sweet...the guts and the glory.  It was an incredible showcase of talent and true delight to be a part of such an amazing event.  Cheers to the ICC for an incredible 2013!