Nguyen Huu Thien An was born in Ho Chi Minh City. Eight years ago, he began studying hot kitchen cuisine at the Saigontourist Hospitality and Tourism School.
During his studies, he developed a deep interest in the school’s bakery workshop and decided to pursue this career path. While learning to make cakes, he discovered and became passionate about fondant – a type of sugar paste used to decorate and sculpt cakes and pastries.
After a period of training and experimenting with simple fondant designs such as pets, flowers, and leaves, Thien An began to think outside the box.
He shared “Vietnamese culture is incredibly diverse and rich. I want to incorporate those familiar and beautiful cultural elements into fondant cake creations as a modern way to preserve and promote our national traditions.”
This unique inspiration stems from Thien An’s deep appreciation for his country’s cultural values, childhood memories, and family ties.
Having heard stories and witnessed unique customs and traditions, he felt a strong responsibility to preserve and promote them. From there, Thien An diligently crafted intricate cakes and entered both domestic and international competitions.
Vietnamese culture is incredibly diverse and rich. I want to incorporate those familiar and beautiful cultural elements into fondant cake creations as a modern way to preserve and promote our national traditions.
(Chef Nguyen Huu Thien An)
Among his most beloved culturally inspired creations is the cake “Memories”, which won a Silver Medal at the 2024 international culinary competition “Battle of The Chefs” in Malaysia. This work featured portraits of his grandmother and mother wearing conical hats on a fondant base, along with sculpted representations of familiar dishes like bitter melon soup and braised pork with eggs, conveying a meaningful message about family meals and the image of the Vietnamese mother.
Another piece, a Tet feast titled “Vietnamese Soul of Tet”, showcased traditional dishes such as banh chung, banh tet, braised pork, and a tray of candied fruits, all paired with iconic Dong Ho folk paintings. This won him the championship at the 2025 Vietnam Talented Pastry Chef contest, along with two additional awards: Best Showpiece and Best Dessert.
Earlier, his work “Cuisine of the Three Regions”, which featured signature cakes from the North, Central, and South of Viet Nam combined with pastoral landscape paintings, won the Best Artistic Work award at the 2021 Vietnam Talented Pastry Chef contest.
Thien An’s most successful creation is the wedding cake “The Joy of Hat Boi”. This piece earned him the Gold Medal in the Wedding Cake category at the prestigious Hong Kong International Culinary Classic in May.
As one of Asia’s top culinary competitions, the piece was inspired by hat boi – a traditional Vietnamese classical opera. The cake represented a blend of love and identity, tradition and modern creativity.
Speaking about the creation, Thien An explained: the wedding cake conveys a poetic message of love and culture. The base tier features a hat boi drum, symbolising the start of a performance and the beginning of a couple’s new chapter. Surrounding it are red echeveria flowers, representing resilient, enduring love – quiet but powerful, weathering the test of time.
The middle tier, in the shape of a hexagon, symbolises a bridge between past and present – a balance of traditional geometry and harmony in marital life. It whispers: marriage does not require choosing between old or new, but rather blending both and growing together in love and respect.
The top tier features a bride and groom transformed into hat boi characters – a valiant general and a clever noblewoman. Though adversaries on stage, in real life they are soulmates and life partners hand in hand through all trials.
This cake is a blessing, a promise, and a message of love – while also conveying a cultural and artistic narrative of Viet Nam. Winning the Gold Medal, Thien An helped bring the image of Vietnamese hat boi art to the world, inspiring both domestic and international audiences to explore the beauty of Vietnamese culture from a modern perspective.
With his skill, creativity, and love for Vietnamese culture, Nguyen Huu Thien An has won many other impressive awards, including: Best Media Award at the 2023 China Creativity Competition; Gold Medal and Best Team Spirit at the 2023 Asian Pastry Young Chefs competition; Gold Medal in Artistic Display Cakes and Silver Medal in Team Category for the theme “Heritage and Innovation” at the 2024 Asian Pastry Young Chefs in China; and Gold Medal in Modern-Style Wedding Cakes at the 2024 Battle of The Chefs competition.
In all his creations, Thien An aims to connect traditional cultural elements with modern cake artistry so that each cake tells a story that honours cultural values. For international competitions, he devotes much time and passion to crafting narratives about Vietnamese cuisine, people, and culture for the world to discover.
Thien An shared: “At international competitions, hearing judges and peers exclaim ‘This is Viet Nam!’ when they see my work makes me incredibly happy. It reaffirms that I’ve chosen the right path. The support and appreciation from viewers is the most valuable reward for me.”
Speaking of future plans, Thien An said he would continue taking his cakes to international competitions to promote Vietnamese cultural and culinary values. He is also launching fondant cake-making classes to share his passion with a wider audience.
