Mumbai: Sivako creative director & pastry chef Eureka Arauj has established a new milestone for India as she shared the third position at the 2023 World Pastry Queen Championship, which was held at the Dolce Arena at the SIGEP world expo in Rimini, Italy on 24 and 25 January 2023.

This competition is the biggest global bakery and pastry trade fair in the world and saw participation from competitive countries, including chefs from Japan and Italy. While India made its third appearance at the World Championship this year, Araujo secured the third position, Japan came in second and Italy grabbed the title of World Pastry Queen 2023.

The theme for this year's competition was "The Genius of Leonardo da Vinci" and contestants were required to prepare various desserts in accordance with the theme. These included a single-serving dessert in a glass with espresso coffee-flavored gelato, single-serving warm and cold plated desserts with chocolate and marrons glacés. Small chocolate jewel ring-shaped mini bonbon dessert tray sculptures, baked cake and many more. Araujo not only secured the 3rd position in the championship but also received the prize for the best dessert in a glass with an espresso coffee flavoured gelato.

This marks India's first time finishing third position, at a world competition of this calibre. Araujo said, "The World Pastry Queen Championship is huge and the recognition here holds immense value to me and many other pastry chef’s in India. My participation and position at the companionship are thus dedicated to the exceptional culinary talent in India and to the future pastry chefs all across the country. I am thrilled that this achievement will further provide a platform for more pastry chefs in the country to compete with some of the best pastry chefs across the world."