The head chef and co-owner of a Minneapolis bakery captained the U.S. team that earned the bronze medal at a pastry-making competition that's been described as the Olympics of the food world.

John Kraus of Patisserie 46 led the Americans at the 2015 Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie. Kraus' co-owner at Patisserie 46, Jason Curry, tells the Business Journal it's an honor to even compete at the event in Lyon, France.

Each of the 21 teams invited to the competition consisted of a pastry chef, a chocolate specialist, and an ice cream maker, the event's website explains. They had 10 hours to work on their creations and were watched by 2,700 enthusiastic supporters, organizers say. The Italian team won this year's gold medal with Japan taking silver.

The Heavy Table provides the specifics of what the teams were required to make: three chocolate desserts, three frozen fruit desserts, 12 plated desserts, a sugar sculpture (half spun and half blown), a chocolate sculpture (a block of Valrhona to be included in the composition), and an ice sculpture.

The sculptures were particularly striking, as the U.S. team went with a Wild West theme. The sugar sculpture depicted a cow's skull, with the chocolate one featuring a wagon wheel, cowboy hat, and a Wells Fargo trunk.

The photo below was posted to Facebook by D Bar Restaurant.