A member of the Italian team that won the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie 2004, author of the best-seller “Tradition in Evolution” and creator of Pastry Concept (Treviso, 2015), Leonardo Di Carlo is today one of pastry’s leading voices at the crossroads of technique, research and education.
Praised by the trade press as a “versatile professional in constant pursuit of knowledge,” Di Carlo has built his craft on two pillars: applied science and purity of flavour. After more than twenty years of consulting and teaching worldwide, he opened the Treviso training centre Pastry Concept in 2015, where he shares a rational, codified and replicable pastry approach.
He works like a true “ingredient engineer”: analysing raw materials through technical charts that balance sugars, fats and water to make every recipe more stable, lighter and sustainable. This method is distilled in his 800-page reference volume “Tradition in Evolution. Art and Science in Pastry” (Italian Gourmet 2012, revised 2021), now standard reading in culinary schools and professional labs.
Nicknamed the “Alchemist of Pastry,” he translates chemical complexity into clear gestures: in more than 150 masterclasses each year across Europe, Asia and the Americas he explains free-water control in doughs, enzymatic management in leavened products and how to cut sugars without losing structure.
Career highlights:
Gold at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie (Lyon, 2004) with Team Italy, launching him onto the international stage.
Consultancy work for dairy giants (Debic) and flour mills, developing clean-label mixes.
Publication of a second book, “Evolution in Revolution” (2019), focused on health-driven and plant-based pastry.
His motto—“Science should mean simplicity, not complexity”—captures a philosophy in which technical mastery serves emotion: Sachertorte, brioche and pralines remain his icons, re-engineered with modern balances and efficient processes.
