Puratos has opened an innovation center in Chicago, the company’s sixth innovation center in the U.S.

They’re wedding cake stand-ins, they’re topped with everything from sweet breakfast cereal to bacon, and they’re popping right off the breakfast plate and onto restaurant menus nationwide. It’s safe to say designer doughnuts are having a moment.

SF&WB visited the Europain & Intersuc, March 8-12 in Paris-Nord Villepinte, attended by nearly 77,000 baking industry professionals, to discover all of the new products showcased by 804 exhibitors and brands. Along with seminars given a special buzz by the most prestigious national and international competitions and a host of other events, the baking and pastry-making show was filled with both dynamic and innovative introductions.

Facing tighter competition for fast-food breakfast items from traditional and nontraditional competitors as well as a generational values shift, McDonald’s is testing new breakfast menu items.

From humble beginnings 40+ years ago in a small bakery near Boston to a 30,000-sq.-ft. plant today in Chelsea, Mass., outfitted with four production lines, Golden Cannoli Shells Inc. now generates more than 100,000 cannoli shells each day. The more spacious plant is also allowing the bakery to significantly increase its capacity.