Haute-Loire. The best almond pancake remains in Auvergne, it comes from Allier

For weeks, even months, they train and repeat the actions daily (or almost) so that their almond pancake approaches perfection. However, in front of their island, the candidates were no longer so sure of themselves. “I am still much more comfortable in my lab,” admitted one of the 21 participants in the national final for the best almond cake which took place this weekend on the premises of the Professional Training Institute. of Bains.

Jury time

The competition ended at 1 p.m. Monday. But before taking a breather and letting the adrenaline go down, in addition to cooking, one last test awaited the Grail applicants: measuring the diagonals. Indeed, as the winner of the previous edition, Frédéric Alvergnas, confided, the goal is not to make any mistakes. “It’s the only way not to lose points. » The passage in front of the president of the jury Xavier Bordet gave rise to a few cold sweats: the diameter of the pancake must be 30 cm, there is a tolerance between 29 and 31 cm. So everyone held their breath at the time of the measurement.

Once the cakes had been placed, the 21 candidates were invited to resume their civilian attire. The jury took one last look and headed towards the practice restaurant. Seated one behind the other, to avoid any influence, the seven judges tasted each of the pancakes blind.

Anxiety about results

It was at the end of the afternoon that candidates, jury and officials met at the digital city in Puy-en-Velay for the results. The president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry, Dominique Anract, congratulated all the participants. “This is a very high standard that you have all demonstrated. You keep our profession alive. Through your pancakes, we see that you know how to combine tradition and innovation, but also texture and aesthetics, two of the jury's criteria. »

“Simplicity requires art”

For his part, the president of the jury, Xavier Bordet, accustomed to the various competitions implemented by the confederation, will not say anything else. He insisted on the very high quality of the cakes presented. “Be proud of yourself!” You advance our profession, but you also demonstrate that simplicity requires art. Quite honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to be a member of the jury as the level is so high. »

In the ranks of the participants, a certain emotion was emerging, especially since everything was done to increase the pressure a notch. Guard of honor and official photo set the pace before the results were announced.

The best almond pancake comes from Allier

Third in the ranking, Alexis Thierry, a young pastry chef from Val-de-Reuil (Normandy), explained with great emotion that this was his first competition. Second to get on the podium, Anthony Gaboriau from Angers admitted to being very satisfied with his second place. As for the first, Sébastien Triboulet from Huriel (Allier), he seemed not to really realize that his galette was the best almond galette 2025 in France. Or he was already thinking about the organization to put in place, because as Frédéric Alvergnas recalled. “When we win we don’t yet know what awaits us. But you'll see, the most complicated thing won't be the production, because you know how to do it… That's all there is to it. »