CIT student and patisserie chef Rachel Crawford is one of six local students who recently took home an award after competing in the National WorldSkills championship, Australia’s biggest vocational education and training competition.

Taking out a gold medal in the Retail Baking category, Ms Crawford spent two years preparing for the competition, juggling her commitments by attending CIT twice a week whilst working full time.

“It was quite full on, quite intense,” she said.

“It’s just trying to memorise the process, tweak tiny variables and every single time doing something slightly different until you get it right.”

The competition required the talented chef to make a variety of productions one would learn throughout an apprenticeship as a display of her bakery skills, creating everything from basic white loaves to artisan croissants, sourdoughs, and baguettes.

So thorough was Ms Crawford’s preparation, she even developed her very own croissant recipe for the competition.

“I spent many days in this kitchen making sure that everything was right,” she said.

Her biggest learning from the painstaking and gruelling experience? “Perseverance.”

“Hard work and dedication pay off,” she said.

Both Ms Crawford’s parents were chefs by trade; she has been in a kitchen since literally before she could walk.

“That just sort of transferred into the sweeter side of things, into pastry,” she said.

“As I’ve gotten older and enjoyed the technicality, it’s moved into lamination, like croissants, and sourdough; it’s just kind of a big evolution process!”

Over the course of her emerging career, Ms Crawford initially qualified as a patisserie chef before learning breadmaking, and has spent the last year working as a chocolatier in Braddon.

She’s simultaneously studied at CIT over the past four years, furthering her knowledge, skills and qualifications.

“Every time I come in, everyone is willing to try my items and give me feedback and it’s just blown me away, it’s why I’ve kept going.

“It’s such a great environment and I’ve learnt so much.”

Ms Crawford said Canberra has been a fantastic place to further her career; with many smaller patisseries around town, she’s been able to learn a lot from each business where she has worked.

“Everywhere I go, there is something new to learn, which I really appreciate … they’re all doing something a little bit different.”

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