A YORK pastry chef who works with Nestle alongside running his own macaroon business in the city has been crowned the Overall Winner of the 2015 Pastry Open.

As well as claiming the overall title, Florian Poirot, who runs FP Macaroons, won the Best Sugar Piece for his sugar sculpture, inspired by the competition's fairground theme.

His centrepiece featured handmade sugar darts exploding into a target, as well as a rollercoaster rail, fairground signs and flashing lights, while his fruit dessert, featured a crunchy base with layers of mango cremeux, hazelnut daquoise a Valrhona Gianduja and Valrhona Gianduja mousse.

Mr Poirot had practiced the piece and dessert ten times in the lead up to the competition.

His win assures him a place as one of the team that will represent the UK at the World Pastry Cup (Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie), which is set to take place in Lyon in 2017.

Martin Chiffers, team president for the UK Pastry Team said: "This is when the real work starts: Florian is a real asset to the team, as he has already worked so hard for this competition, so I know he’ll put in the work and time to prepare for 2017.

"We now need to complete the selection and start practising."

The UK Pastry Open saw six competitors take six hours to produce a display in either Valrhona chocolate or sugar, as well as a chilled dessert made from either Valrhona chocolate or fruit puree.

Mr Poirot will receive a cash prize of £500 and a stage at the French Pastry School of Chicago including flights and accommodation, among other prizes.