Evanston champion baker Jory Downer is out to help the United States defend its master title in the 2008 World Cup of Baking in Paris, and he’s starting in Chicago. The 49-year-old owner of Bennison’s Bakery, 1000 Davis St., will take the backseat this year.

Instead of competing, he will train Chicago chef Peter Yuen, who is one of the three bakers chosen to represent the U.S. in next year’s World Cup. Yuen, the 36-year-old owner of La Patisserie P in Chicago, will be the first Asian American to represent the U.S. in the baking category.

Downer said Yuen needs to finish in the top three so the U.S. gets an automatic bid back for the next competition, which occurs every three years. The U.S. has never finished below the top four.

At the World Cup of Baking, each of the 12 international teams has eight hours to make different types of baked goods.

Croissants, pastries, baguettes and bread sculptures have all been baked in past competitions.

Downer said his student has “terrific flavor understanding and hand skills, but one thing (Yuen) needs to work on is timing.”

“He was late by 10 minutes at nationals,” Downer said. “You cannot be late in Paris. You have eight hours and when they blow the whistle, your stuff has to be displayed.”

When Downer prepared for the competition in 2005, he said he practiced five days a month for more than a year with his two other team members, coach and manager. Before that, Downer spent nine years trying out for the team.

“From the time the team was chosen to the time we competed, it’s all I thought about for 16 months,” he said. “You have two other teammates riding on you, and the American Baker’s Association is riding on you.”

But though he will no longer compete, Downer said the competition is a great experience and that he wishes every baker could go through it.

“You become a much better baker because of it,” Downer said, “but it is really brutal.”

Meanwhile, Yuen said he is living his dream.

“There’s no better way to prove oneself,” Yuen said. “As a baker, this is the closest thing to being in an Olympic event, so I’m very proud.”

A second-generation baker who grew up among ovens and breads – thanks to his father, a baker – Yuen said he was inspired to compete by Downer and is trying to follow in his footsteps.

Originally from Hong Kong, Yuen came to the U.S. when he was 10 years old, but he said he considers himself a Chicagoan.

“Once you’re adopted in a new country, you’re proud that you have a change to represent that country,” he said. “And that’s the feeling I’m having right now.” Downer is proud to serve as a mentor for Yuen. A World Cup veteran, Downer said he would not compete again because he had to be away from his bakery and family for 16 months practicing.

“Nobody would ever (compete) twice, it’s brutal, it’s murder,” Downer said. “It was hard on my family, hard on my wife, who had to run the bakery while I was gone.”

And running Bennison’s is no easy feat. According to Downer, the bakery delivers about 10 cakes a week to the Northwestern campus.

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