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The 20 countries competing in next year's World Pastry Cup have been revealed, with a team representing the UK taking part for the first time in eight years.

The prestigious biennial competition, which is known as La Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie, will take place in Lyon on 23 and 24 January. It will see 20 countries from around the world compete for the title, each comprising a pastry chef, a chocolate specialist and an ice cream maker.

Each team will have 10 hours to prepare and present a buffet which must include three chocolate desserts; three frozen fruit desserts; an ice sculpture; a chocolate sculpture; a sculpture made from drawn sugar and a dessert on a plate.

Benoit Blin, executive pastry chef at Raymond Blanc's two-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire, has been selected as the president of the British team. He will be joined by Javier Mercado and Chris Loder, pastry lecturers at Westminster Kingsway College, and Johannes Bonin, pastry chef at the Connaught Hotel.

It is the first time that a UK team is taking part in the World Pastry Cup since 2003 and only the third time the country is represented since its inception in 1989.

"The 2011 Pastry World Cup in Lyon is an exciting and huge opportunity for the UK hospitality industry to demonstrate that the UK pastry and dessert skill is a force to be reckoned with," said Blin.

"The UK pastry team must and will inspire a new generation of young chefs in the country, so let's give them all our support during their preparations."

The 20 competing countries are:

Belgium
South Korea
United States
Italy
Japan
Netherlands 
Spain 
Russia
United Kingdom
Tunisia
Morocco
Singapore
Taiwan
Malaysia
China 
Mexico
Brazil
Argentine
Colombia
Uruguay

Good news for chocolate lovers: Cadbury is planning to open a national chain of branded cafés.

The chocolate maker has secured the backing of new owner Kraft for a series of branded outlets serving afternoon tea and a range of Cadbury-themed goods as well as an on-site chocolatier service.

Apparently the cafés, which are likely to be branded Cadbury Cocoa House, have been in planning for some time. Cadbury signed a deal with a team including David Morris, the former director of food and restaurants at Harrods, before Kraft completed its £11.5bn takeover in January.

While Cadbury said that it was "very early days", negotiations are reportedly already underway, with the first outlet potentially launching in London before the end of the year.

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