Cacao Barry – the world’s leading brand of high-quality French chocolate and cocoa products for gourmet professionals – invites pastry chefs and chocolatiers to apply to participate in the 2015 L’Art du Chocolatier Challenge. Now it its fourth edition, the national competition provides a forum for U.S. chefs to demonstrate their creativity and craftsmanship through the medium of chocolate.

As part of the application process, candidates must register and submit a professional portfolio for review before midnight ET on December 19.

Official contest rules, requirements and entry forms can be accessed through the L’Art du Chocolatier Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lartduchocolatier.

A panel of judges will review all candidate entries and select the top eight contestants to advance to the final round of competition to be held May 14-15, 2015, at the state-of-the-art Barry Callebaut CHOCOLATE ACADEMY in Chicago.

Prior to the final competition, finalists will ship 30 pieces of chocolate ganache bonbons to be judged on their shelf life. Over the course of the two-day competition in May, finalists will prepare an original chocolate nut bar, soft caramel, gâteaux de voyage and original chocolate showpiece for judging. A panel of renowned culinary experts will evaluate all entries based on taste, appearance, creativity and interpretation of this year’s competition theme – “The Roaring Twenties Chicago.” The winning chef will be named the Cacao Barry U.S. Chocolatier of the Year 2015.

The L’Art du Chocolatier Challenge is an initiative of leading chocolate gourmet brand Cacao Barry which is part of the Barry Callebaut Group.