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Japan beat France to win the World Baking Cup. The event featured countries including Egypt, Mauritius, and South Korea.

The teams competed to create the best once-in-a-lifetime desserts, CNN reports.

Each team had three members comprising chocolate, ice, and sugar experts. The trio had to create three desserts—a frozen dessert, a restaurant dessert, and chocolate—that would represent their country.

But they had just five hours to pull it all off.

Although the 2025 event was held in Lyon, the French team did not win the gold medal, settling for silver.

The top prizes went to Japan, whose team assembled lemon, pear, marigold, and chocolate granita in the shape of an asanohi (hemp) leaf for their restaurant dessert. For the frozen dessert, they came up with an apricot treat resembling a spinning top. “We incorporated Japanese history and culture into the design. We were able to combine flavors and subtle traditional patterns to showcase our techniques,” said Chef Masanori Hata, the team’s chocolate expert.

Meanwhile, the French team created a stunning series of chocolate eggs that were filled with a chocolate-hazelnut soufflé mousse, topped with chocolate streusel, dipped in citrus-vanilla melted butter, and served with fried vanilla ice cream and clementine confit.

And bronze went to Malaysia. The Malaysian team received high marks for their frozen dessert, which they described as “a harmonious combination of bright citrus, sweet apricots and subtle spices,” a nod to the country’s multicultural heritage.

World Baking Cup winners

Japan

France

Malaysia

China

Belgium

Italy

South Korea

Singapore

United Kingdom

Argentina

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