Two Indiana Chefs Win at 2025 World Food Championships
INDIANAPOLIS — The 2025 World Food Championships wrapped up this past weekend at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and Indiana chefs had reason to celebrate. Two Hoosiers walked away with world titles out of 10 competitive categories, beating rivals from more than 35 states and 14 countries.
Cindy Hawkins, pastry chef and owner of Circle City Sweets in Indianapolis, took home the Dessert category title for Team Indiana, wowing judges with her French-inspired creations. Daniel McDonald from Franklin won the World Bacon Championship, also representing Team Indiana. Both earned $10,000.
“It’s sort of like the Olympics of cooking , or baking, in my case,” Hawkins told the Tony Katz Show. “There are 10 different categories, plus tons of side competitions. You just hope to make it to the finals — and if you win your category like we did, you go on to the Final Table in the spring to compete for the grand prize.”
Hawkins got to the finals with her French-style “train cake,” a layered chocolate and hazelnut dessert with candied hazelnuts and orange cream. In the final round, all dessert competitors had to feature black pepper and cream cheese. Hawkins combined black pepper with bourbon in a fall apple and pear tart, adding black pepper salted caramel, a whipped cream with pepper and cream cheese, and a bourbon-snack cookie for crunch.
“It was a beautiful dish,” she said. “I don’t even remember everything that was on it — there were so many components. But it worked.”
Her win puts her in the running at the Final Table in spring 2026, facing the other nine category champions for the overall World Food Champion title.
Hawkins said she’s still learning the chef side of things.
“I don’t cook. I bake,” she said. “Now I have six months to learn how to cook because at the Final Table, you’re going up against serious chefs. My husband is an amazing cook, so he’s been helping me. Last night was my first real cooking lesson — I learned how to properly cut onions, carrots, and celery. We made beef bourguignon!”
