Formerly training to be a concert pianist, Julia Taylor finished runner-up on MasterChef 2012 and has gone on to be the only finalist of the hit television show to complete a pastry apprenticeship. A scholarship student in Superior Patisserie at Sydney’s prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary academy, Julia worked at Zumbo Patisserie and then completed her apprenticeship under acclaimed pastry chef Jean-Michel Raynaud at La Renaissance Patisserie, where she continues to work. She regularly hosts cooking schools and demonstrations at food and wine events across the country, working with major brands Lurpak and Breville. With plans underway to open her own patisserie here in Sydney in the near future, Julia certainly hasn’t looked back after those fateful few months on our television screens.