Baking grad places among top five in Canada

Vancouver Island University baking student Kristina Dyrblom, 26, placed fifth in Canada in the national post-secondary Skills Canada competition held recently in Waterloo, Ontario.

“The national competition was tough, intense and exciting,” said Dyrblom.

Dyrblom earned the right to compete nationally after winning gold in the provincial Skills Canada competition last April. It was her first competition.

On the national stage, Dyrblom competed for six hours a day for two days. She crafted new versions of her award-winning provincial creations with some embellishments.

“I created a much more elaborate chocolate showpiece in the shape of a swan, a hand-dipped chocolate, a molded chocolate, an eight inch occasion cake, three French pastries, and a mousse cake,” she said.

Originally from Prince George, Dyrblom graduated from VIU’s 10-month Professional Baking program in 2008, then completed the second year of her apprenticeship program at Vancouver Community College. She returned to VIU to finish the apprenticeship and works as a pastry cook at Mon Petit Choux, a bakery café on Commercial Street in downtown Nanaimo where she’s rapidly building hours toward her Red Seal certification.

To prepare for the national competition, Dyrblom practised a minimum of eight to 10 hours a day for three weeks at Mon Petit Choux and in the VIU Food lab under the watchful eye of Chef Ken Harper. “This was while working full-time,” she said. “There wasn’t much time to sleep.”

“My bosses Linda Allen and Geatan Brousseau at Mon Petit Choux allowed me go into the bakery late at night to practise and use their equipment before the bakers arrived at 4 am,” said Dyrblom.

“I enjoy working with experienced and knowledgeable people like Linda, Geatan, and Chef Harper at VIU and Sarah Wallbank, former pastry chef at Mon Petit Choux, and Martin Barnett of VIU’s Professional Baking program. They are excellent mentors and I have learned so much from them.”

Dryblom recently accepted a job offer at Joe Fortes, a high-end restaurant on Thurlow Street off Robson in Vancouver. She will work full-time while completing a Culinary Arts apprenticeship at Vancouver Community College.

“Gaining a double red seal – one in Baking and one in Culinary Arts - will open up a lot more opportunities for me, and fulfil a longtime goal that I have set for myself,” she said. “It will be a great achievement and something to be very proud of.”


Chef Ken Harper said everyone at VIU is proud of Dryblom’s accomplishments.

“Some of the benefits for our students participating in provincial and national competitions are that they really have the opportunity to work under pressure, practise organizational skills, develop critical thinking habits in order to solve problems, and experience the great sense of satisfaction of accomplishing and completing a plan in a very stressful situation,” he said.

“Kristina has received excellent grounding at VIU, and we wish her every success for the future.”