A first-year Adelaide baking apprentice has beaten some of the state’s professional bakers to claim one of the Royal Adelaide Show’s top honours, with her chilli chocolate and hazelnut Danish crowned Champion Product of the Show.
Ella Knightley, an apprentice at Prove Patisserie, has only been working at the bakery for around a year after initially joining the team through work experience.
“I’ve been here for about a year. I did my work placement and then they offered me an apprenticeship,” Ella said.
“At first I didn’t want to, but one of the chefs here convinced me to.”
Since then, she has been encouraged to experiment with new flavours and ideas alongside the Prove team, particularly through the bakery’s rotating monthly specials.
“My bosses Megs and Anna love all things creativity,” Ella said.
“We do the monthly specials, and they always try and get everyone to create something new and get everyone’s input.”
When the team spotted an apprentice category in the Royal Adelaide Show’s Professional Baking Competition, they decided it was time for Ella to put those skills to the test.
“Megs saw that there was an apprentice section, and she was like, ‘We have an apprentice now, let’s put you in and see how you go’,” Ella said.
“She gave me my creative freedom and let me do what I want with it.”
The result was a chilli chocolate and hazelnut Danish that first received gold in the apprentice section before going on to claim an even bigger title.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to win,” Ella said.
“It won gold in the apprentice section, and then it won Champion Product of the Show.”
The pastry begins with cross-laminated dough layered with hazelnut crème pâtissière, followed by a feuilletine crunch made with dark chocolate and pieces of hazelnut.
Ella then created a chilli chocolate compote, infusing chilli through the cream until she landed on the right level of heat.
“That was a bit of trial and error because I didn’t want it too hot.”
“The first one I made, I burnt my mum’s head off,” she laughed.
The finishing touches include tempered chocolate shaped into a feather and a little gold leaf on top.
For anyone keen to taste the award-winning creation for themselves, the Danish is Prove Patisserie’s monthly special and will be available on Fridays and Saturdays for the remainder of September.
The Royal Adelaide Show win also isn’t Ella’s first competitive success.
“I did the regional WorldSkills competition recently as well, and I won gold in that, so next year I’ll compete against all the other gold medallists,” she said.
“I also want to go back next year into the Show and keep competing.
“It’s a great way to use my creativity too.”
And while she may be early in her career, Ella says having the encouragement of the team around her has made a difference.
“Everyone’s really supportive around here.”
Prove Patisserie
When: Open Tuesday to Friday from 8am to 1pm, and Saturday from 8am to 12pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Where: 157 Magill Rd, Stepney
To find out more, click here.
