If you have a sweet tooth, then you have a reason to bite into your favourite chocolate pastry, tiramisu, cup cake, or irresistible Belgium waffle tomorrow – cause October 14 is World Dessert Day. And what better way to celebrate it than by baking your cake and eating it too! There are so many to choose from that you will be spoilt for choice – cakes, pies, dough nuts, chocolate, tarts, candy, jellied desserts, and pastries. Hence, we spoke to these top chefs, who shared their sweet secrets so that you could get your dessert fix.
CHOCOLATE POT DE CREME
INGRIDENTS
Heavy cream 240gms
Dark Chocolate 140gms
Caster sugar 40gms
Vanilla extract 5ml
Whipped cream for serving
METHOD OF PREPARATION
In a saucepan, add heavy cream, castor sugar and vanilla extract and bring it to a warm temperature.
Slowly pour the chocolate in to the cream mixture and let it sit for 1 minute.
Whisk together until the chocolate has melted and mixed in the mixture. The mixture should be thick and silky smooth.
Pour the mixture in to martini glasses or small ramekins.
Put the glasses or ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2 - 4 hours until it’s properly set. Before serving, garnish it with some whipped cream and serve chilled.
By Chef Gaurav Malhotra, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre
APPLE TARTE TATIN
For Puff pastry
Flour 250gms
Salt 5gms
Butter 60gms
Cold water 120ml
Butter for lamination 225gms
For The Filling
Granny Smith apple 6 pieces (peeled and cube)
Lemon 1 no
Sugar 110gms
Butter 80gms
Double cream to serve
METHOD OF PREPARATION
Puff pastry
In the stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, and 60gms of butter and knead on low speed until the butter is completely mixed into the flour.
Add the water and continue to mix on low speed until the dough comes together.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and shape it into about 12 cm square.
Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, cover it and refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.
Remove from the refrigerator and make a rectangle shape. Keep the semi soft buttery centre of the dough and fold both sides.
Sheet the dough again in a rectangular shape and fold it both ways. Keep doing the process three times and keep the dough in the fridge.
For the filling
Preheat oven to 230 degree Celsius.
Heat the butter in a sauce pan, add sugar and lemon juice.
Allow the sugar to caramelise, add and coat the apple evenly in the syrup. Then, remove it from the heat and drain them of any excess caramel syrup.
Arrange the apple pieces in the bottom of the pan and roll out the puff pastry to cover the apples.
Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until puff pastry is cooked.
Remove from the oven to. Turn over the pastry carefully onto the serving plate.
Serve warm with double cream.
Tiramisu cake
Recipe for-12 portions
INGREDIENTS
Tiramisu mixture:-
Mascarpone cheese (zenetti)- 500 gms
Elle & vire cream (UHT)- 200 ml + 200 ml
For sabayon- 9 egg yolks + 125 gm castor sugar
For meringue- 9 egg whites + 125 gm castor sugar
Lady finger sponge :
Sabayon- 5 egg yolks + 100 gm sugar
Meringue- 5 egg whites + 50 gm sugar
Flour-150 gms
Icing sugar- 50 gms
Procedure
Start with lady finger
Make sabayon of egg yolk & sugar,
And meringue with egg white & sugar ,
Fold the meringue by cut & fold method, also fold in flour to the mixture.
Pipe out on greased baking tray, dust icing sugar & bake in the oven at 190* c.
To make tiramisu cheese mixture.
Mix mascarpone cheese with heavy cream.
Also whip half the cream for folding in mixture
Make sabayon with egg yolk and cooked sugar water syrup cooked at 121 degree Celsius.
Fold this sabayon with mascarpone cheese.
Then make meringue by whisking, egg whites & cooked sugar water syrup at 121 degrees
Fold the meringue in the sabayon mixture
Soak the lady finger cookie with expresso coffee and make layers in a bowl with mascarpone mixture
Dust with coco powder and serve chilled
PastryChef Akram Ali, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel & Lakeside Chalet, Marriott
No Fat Honey Chocolate Christmas Cake
Ingredients:
2 ea Whole Eggs
7.5 gms Water
150 gms Demerara Sugar
30 gms Honey
5 gms Dark Rum
1.5 gms Clove Powder
2 gms Cinnamon Powder
1.5 gms Ginger Powder
35 gms Dark Chopped Chocolate
150 gms Flour Refined
75 gms Coarsely Chopped Almond
30 gms Soaked Fruits
1.5 gms Baking Powder
1.5 gms Baking Soda
Method:
1. Whip together whole eggs, water, sugar and honey.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients and the soaked fruits together.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the whipped egg mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.
5. Bake it in a preheated oven at 160 C for 30 minutes.
6. Soak it with dark rum once it comes out of the Oven.
BELGIUM WAFFLE
INGREDIENTS
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup milk
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large egg separated
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oven to 200°F and heat up the waffle iron.
Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Measure the buttermilk, milk, and vegetable oil in a measuring cup and stir in the egg yolk. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in the sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are firm and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.
Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Drop the whipped egg white onto the batter in dollops and fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.
Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (My Belgian waffle maker takes 2 1/2 ice cream scoops of batter, but your mileage may vary) and cook until the waffle is crisp and brown.
