To mark 80 years of Elle & Vire Professionnel, six Australian pastry professionals, all customers of Eustralis Food, swapped their kitchens for a week in Paris, training at La Maison de l'Excellence, the brand's own training centre. Alongside a group of Singaporean chefs, they spent three days in the training kitchen before two days exploring Paris's pastry and chocolate scene, a rare chance to learn new techniques and network with their industry peers, but also the opportunity to get hands-on with the newest addition to our range, Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone.
La Maison de l’Excellence
La Maison de l'Excellence is Elle & Vire's own internal training centre, where the brand's in-house chefs develop recipes and work on R&D with Elle & Vire Professionnel’s ingredients, and where they train other chefs, either in-house or by travelling to support markets around the world.
Three Days in the La Maison de l’Excellence Training Kitchen
The masterclasses were led by the two pastry chefs behind Maison de l'Excellence:
• Benjamin de Closets came up through the Parisian palace circuit, from the Peninsula to the Westin Paris, before joining the centre in 2022 to work alongside Nicolas Boussin, Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
• Alexandre Sohm trained at three Michelin-starred houses, L'Oustau de Baumanière and Le Pré Catelan, then spent time at the iconic Maison Ladurée before joining in 2025.
Over three days, the group worked through ten recipes built around Elle & Vire's Excellence whipping cream and the Mascarpone, from a flaky egg-free flan to the brand's signature mille-feuille and a strawberry, basil and green pea plated dessert.
The mix of backgrounds in the room turned into a strength. Chefs running their own pastry shops worked alongside others managing pastry programs at hotels and major venues. The puff pastry technique stood out for several, something they said just isn't taught the same way back home, but favourites varied from there. "My favourite recipe was the toasted vanilla pecan tartlet" one chef wrote, "a very traditional dish but a very creative presentation." Another picked the strawberry, basil and green pea dessert, "well balanced, refreshing" while a third went for the mille-feuille, "because it was something different with cream".
