Jessica Prealpato, a French pastry chef at the Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée restaurant in Paris, was recently crowned as “World's Best Pastry Chef 2019” by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, which determines an annual list of the world’s finest restaurants.

Prealpato is the first female to win the prestigious award. Previous winners of the award include Dominique Ansel (the creator of the Cronut) and Cédric Grolet (the creator of Rubik’s Cube Cakes).

Prealpato's vision for desserts is one of guilt-free consumption, using less sugar and more natural concepts to bring out the flavor. She prioritizes using surprising ingredients and combinations, such as lemon and seaweed. Prealpato detailed this concept in Desseralité, a book published in November of 2018.

The French word ‘naturalité’ indicates something that belongs to nature. Prealpato applies that to sweets for a concept known as ‘desseralité’. “Desseralité is a mixture of dessert and naturalité,” she says. “And this word perfectly describes my pastry. These are desserts with a raw visual; on the plate, everything must have a meaning.”

“[When I found out I was voted The World’s Best Pastry Chef] I couldn’t believe it. I didn't find myself worthy of receiving such a significant award. But then I realized that this prize is for this new style of pastry. The pastry of naturalité proves that without lots of dough, mousse, creams or sugar, it is possible to make delicious desserts,” she says.