Yun-Chen Liu, a baking contestant from the Department of Hospitality Management of STUST, recently won third place in College Group and second place in “Christmas Firewood Cake Group” of the Taipei Christmas Cake Contest organized by TAIWAN GÂTEAUX Association in Taipei Miramar Paradise. The Taipei Christmas Cake Contest in December was one of Taiwan’s largest baking competition. The organizer TAIWAN GÂTEAUX Association has been established for 20 years; members of the association include chefs and catering from five-star hotels in North, Central and South Taiwan, together with baking teachers from schools, cake shop operators, equipment and raw materials suppliers, etc. It aims to enrich Taiwan's cake culture, promote various types of cake craft education, and train young students into first-class chefs.

[The award-winning student Yun-Chen Liu from the Department of Hospitality Management of STUST (left) and her advisor Zheng-Sheng Lin (right) were taking a group photo.]

This time the contestants were chefs of restaurants, school baking teachers and trained contestants. The competition was fierce. Yun-Chen Liu, a student from the Department of Hospitality Management, STUST, needed to present her best works in the competition. She did more practice in the baking classroom after class, discussed with her advisor for many times about the competition against works of the professional group, and make corrections and adjustments based on in-depth discussions of taste level design, composition, cake decoration, and overall color matching. This time she won third place in College Group and second place in “Christmas Firewood Cake Group” of the Taipei Christmas Cake Contest organized by TAIWAN GÂTEAUX Association. Her works were unanimously favored by the judges, which shows that her success was not accidental.

[The winning work of Yun-Chen Liu from the Department of Hospitality Management, STUST, which won second place in the professional group of “Christmas Firewood Cake.”]

The Department of Hospitality Management, STUST, puts great emphasis on teamwork and mutual support in the guidance and training given to students trained for competition. This professional training also allows students to get help from teachers and solve situations that are emergent or critical. It also allows students to break through the bottleneck during the critical period and get to the next level. Yun-Chen Liu said that she was very happy to have participated in the baking course of Zheng-Sheng Lin. In this competition, besides presenting her own work, she could also taste the cakes made by each contestant. Afterwards, she discussed and shared with others about how to make mousse cakes with different flavors. She learned the decoration, color matching skills, and the details of work handling; her mentality had grown a lot. She also thanked the teachers and seniors for their opinions and suggestions during the practice, which made her continue to grow. At the same time, she also learned to fight against stress and make on-the-spot responses to the challenges of various competitions.

[The work of Yun-Chen Liu from the Department of Hospitality Management of STUST, which won third place in the college group of fresh cream cake decoration.]

Mei-Lan Lin, Chair of the Department of Hospitality Management of STUST, said that the long-term and deep cultivation of catering technology and the spirit of teamwork in STUST allow students to immediately provide help and methods to solve emergency when meeting a bottleneck. It is very difficult for students to practice alone and break through the bottleneck in the competition. The department’s excellent teaching team and teaching methods can help students improve themselves. The department was obviously able to show its strength in the competition, winning the runner-up and third place and being greatly recognized by the judges. This is the greatest affirmation of STUST’s teaching achievements and student learning.

[Awards Ceremony for Taipei Christmas Cake Contest of TAIWAN GÂTEAUX Association, Yun-Chen Liu (left one) from the Department of Hospitality Management of STUST won the runner-up of professional group for firewood cake and received the award with the campion of professional group.]