With Cléo, the figure skater from Ile-de-France, Manon, 20, is one of the youngest of the 11th season of the Best pastry chef which begins this Wednesday evening, on M6. Like Maud, 16, who lifted the coveted trophy in 2021, will young people fly over the culinary competition again this year?
Manon, who seriously started baking during the first confinement, has, in any case, a small advantage: she is the winner of the 2nd season ofOn the way to The Best Pastry Chef, antechamber of the prestigious M6 competition. So the lights, the pressure, the jurors, all that, she knows. “Having already baked in front of cameras, under the tent, is a small advantage, smiles the Montpellier. So maybe I was a little less apprehensive than the others during the tests. »
“In the beginning, just to succeed in making a cake, I was happy! »
It was her dad, admiring her preparations, who pushed her to apply for the show. “He said to me ‘You should register, it would be great to try!’,” smiles the young woman. I never thought I would be taken. Ever since I was little, I’ve had snacks with my grandma, my sisters, my cousins… I love it! But it was never a passion. It was really during the first confinement that I started to read books, watch videos, look for little tips for baking… ”
Little by little, Manon improved her technique and developed her art. “In the beginning, just to succeed in making a cake, I was happy! Even if he wasn’t very handsome! By dint of training, I quickly evolved…”, motivated by his relatives, who told him that “it was really great”. Especially fruit pies, which she loves.
Manon has a particularity: she is studying dietetics. So inevitably, in her preparations, she takes care not to have her hand too heavy on butter or sugar. But the passion for pastry and his taste for food healthy are completely reconcilable, she assures. “I try to link the two,” she says. I try to make cakes with slightly healthier alternatives. It is not at all impossible to combine the two. You just have to find the right balance. » The best pastry chef probably triggered something in Manon. Because she hopes, she says, one day perhaps, “to open her own pastry shop”. “We’ll see what the future holds for us,” she smiles.