Dessert

You say pound, I say choux You say coulis, I say praline You say ganache, I say mousseline Pies were never my thing And I don’t like brioche All I wanna do is bicycle, bicycle, bicycle …. That’s how I imagine old Louis Durand nervously singing and whistling while strolling down the Maisons-Laffitte scenery after being inquired by Pierre Giffard to commemorate the “Paris-Brest-Paris” bicycle race he initiated back in 1891. The filling: The filling for the cake comes in 3 stages: Base of the filling is first cooked as a standard pastry cream, once chilled it’s enriched with softened…

Hey, can you give me a recipe for some easy tin cake I can prep ahead for an upcoming party? Uh, sorry I’m kind of busy right now, I’ll think of something later, but can’t you just make, like a carrot cake, spice it up with I don’t know turmeric, cardamom and spread over with mascarpone cream, anyways I’ll call you later and think of something. Wait….that actually sounds great and I’m totally going to make it. The carrot sponge: All though I’ve never been a fan of healthy desserts, simply because I see them either as fake or disgusting,…

Sometimes the best things come from not thinking things through, like for example, most of us. The initial idea behind this dessert was a garnish for an upcoming lemon & thyme risotto. I found the pear would complement the flavours perfectly and rolled my sleeves up only to find out midway through that it would look bland presentation wise. Therefor I decided to adjust my sails and with a few alterations transformed the initial garnish into an actual dessert. The base: Ice cream generally consists of 4 main ingredients: Milk fat, sweetener, emulsifiers and flavouring. Milk fat greatly contributes to…

Journeying out to bake a decent gluten free cake I tried my hands on this french classic, The Dacquoise. Searching for a gluten free cake, you’ll most certainly end up in a vertigo of raw cakes. While I do appeal to the raw cakes themself I find they lack complexity. In a nutshell a typical raw cake is made from your monthly income of cashew pre soaked overnight in your tears having seen your account balance post buying them. Dacquoise: Often called Nut Meringue, a dacquoise is basically a french meringue enriched with finely ground nuts of choice folded in…

A couple of days ago I was challenged to a “Tart-off” (yes, it sounds terrible). My mission was to bake a perfect Tiramisu tart. More than ashamed, I admit this was my first encounter making a tiramisu, let alone a tiramisu tart – which to my wonder is very uncommon. During my lifetime I ate plenty of this delightful dessert so I knew what I was looking for, I just didn’t know how to execute it. This fun little competition resulted in a rather astonishing dessert aved by all whom tried it making, me wonder once again how come are…

I didn’t really want to make a coconut & lime cream tart with mango. I wanted to make a mosaic tart. Being that it’s winter my choice of fresh fruit to decorate a tart with was poorer than a street performer during covid lockdown. Eventually I decided to use mango, as it’s got a beautifully rich bright golden color and won’t oxidize in the fridge before it’s eaten. Having chosen my topping, I had to think of a filling that would complement my mosaic taste wise. Since mango pairs so well with coconut and lime I didn’t have to think…

How often do you find yourself looking for the best recipe to a traditional Italian meal and you can’t find two recipes that match together. Most often leaving you thinking well, what the hell is the right recipe anyways. I love that about Italian food. The recipe just gives you a heads up and guidelines to what the finished result should look like, and all the rest is up to you to improvise. Of course, if you don’t post it online and be greeted with temperamental locals to whose food you’re replicating, but that’s all the beauty of it. Leave…