Dessert Storm

NOT VERY LONG ago, a Black Forest Cake was regarded as the ultimate treat to come out of a pastry chef’s kitchen, a little more exciting than the creamy pineapple pastry that used to be mandatory in all birthday parties and school celebrations. That was till chefs, such as the Michelin-starred Vineet Bhatia and Manish Mehrotra, who turned Indian Accent into a temple of modern gastronomy, pushed the creative boundaries of a market frozen in the past. If Bhatia’s much-copied chocolate samosa inspired other chefs to look beyond the standard gulab jamun and rasmalai as their favoured dessert options, Mehrotra’s signature sign-off, the Doda Barfi Treacle Tart, was a wake-up call to the culinary community to get up and smell the hot chocolate. But like all great innovations, these deliciously inventive creations have started looking a tad jaded, for the Instagram generation of chefs— armed with an array of new ingredients, science-backed techniques and YouTube access to the ‘Picassos of Pastry’ around the world—are uplifting desserts from being mere indulgences to becoming multi-sensory experiences. An example of how desserts are being redefined is Chef Kevin Duthel’s Alphonso, which looks exactly like the famous mango, but is actually a trompe l’oeil dessert designed to “deceive the eye” (which, incidentally, is the exact English translation of the French name). A celebrated item on the menu of the L’Opera chain of pastry shops, of which Duthel is the executive chef, the Alphonso represents a combination of techniques and ingredients. A trompe l’oeil dessert typically incorporates, to quote an apt description thrown up by a Google search, “a mousse, fruit or other filling, and a chocolate or meringue coating, finished with airbrushing, flocking, or other methods to achieve hyper-realistic textures and colours”. The Alphonso is a physical representation of a definition offered by Parvinder Bali, a seasoned chef and trainer from The Oberoi who now leads the Gurgaon-based School of European Pastry and Culinary Arts. “Pastry,” says Bali, “now sits at the intersection of sensory science and hospitality: we think more about balance (acid, fat, texture) and less about uniform sweetness, and we use tools and laboratory-style equipment to refine textures and intensify flavours while keeping seasonal and regional identity.” With the world becoming their oyster, young pastry chefs such as Sumeet Lundwani of St Regis Goa are experimenting with new ingredients (plant-based cream and milk, alternative sugars, nut and grain flours), trending global flavours (yuzu, miso, matcha and black sesame), popular superfoods (chia seeds, flax seeds, turmeric, cacao nibs, edible flowers and herbs), and cutting-edge tools (dehydrators for crunch, spray guns for smooth finishes, auto spinners to create patterns and artistic finishes with precision, and airbrushes for fine art). To this list, well-known consultant chef Avijit Dutt, who was formerly the executive pastry chef at The Oberoi-New Delhi and The Leela Palace-Bangalore, adds his favourite “new-age ingredients”, namely, Biscoff spread, Kit Kat crunch, frozen fruit purees, IQF (individually quick frozen) berries and freeze-dried fruits, purple yam, activated charcoal, and kunafa (the now-ubiquitous Middle Eastern dessert consisting baked, crispy kataifi, or shredded pastry, layered with cheese or cream, and soaked in sugar syrup), apart from avocado, Greek yoghurt, and chickpea flour. Bali, meanwhile, is excited about the new cupboard full of gizmos and gadgets that give wings to a pastry chef’s imagination. These include the Pacojet for ultra-fine purees and frozen textures; the anti-griddle or ‘cryocook’ for ultra-smooth frozen creams; liquid nitrogen for dramatic service and rapid freezing of textures; and rotary evaporators as well as vacuum infusion to concentrate and clarify delicate aromas (tea, flower waters, fruit essences and even soil flavours). THE NEW TECHNIQUES could range from spherification, gels and foams, which are used sparingly to create textural contrasts, to freeze drying and dehydration for intensified fruit powders and crispy elements, low-temperature baking and extended retarder proofing for better crumb and shelf life, and 3D printing of chocolate/icing for intricate, repeatable garnishes in high-volume service. If this sounds like it is straight out of a science textbook, well, it is just that. The pastry chef’s craft is about precision in the search for perfection. Explaining the change in the positioning of the pastry chef, The Oberoi- New Delhi’s Culinary Director, Manish Sharma, says that the “boundaries keep getting pushed” every day. “From freezing ice-cream right in front of the guest using liquid nitrogen, to creating miniature frozen bites with unconventional flavours, pastry chefs today are not just cooks—they are performers, scientists, and storytellers.” Sharma also has his favourite new ingredient. “I am particularly excited about ruby chocolate at the moment,” he says. “It’s not just a new colour on the block —it carries subtle berry-like notes, almost reminiscent of raspberries, which makes it a natural fit for refreshing, modern desserts.” Astik Oberoi, Head Pastry Chef, The Leela Palace-New Delhi, says, “Global exposure, access to premium ingredients, and the rise of social media have pushed chefs to innovate constantly.” More importantly, changing guest expectations (more so in tier-II and tier-III cities and towns, as underlined by Sahil Mehta, a product of Le Notre, the “Harvard of pastry schools”) has made what Oberoi calls “mindful indulgence” the mantra of the consuming class, especially after Covid changed the way we view food. Oberoi points to the increasingly common practice among pastry chefs to include alternative flours such as millets, puffed grains, amaranth and quinoa. He says, “These ingredients not only bring unique flavours and textures but also align with the growing demand for mindful indulgence. By blending them with traditional pastry techniques, we are able to create desserts that feel both innovative and wholesome.” Mehta adds, “When I started my career in India 17 years ago, people hardly knew, let alone spoke, about the quality ingredients we find today in the country.” As a result of the pastry chef’s world changing dramatically, the outer limits of creativity are being reset daily. When Pablo Gicquel, Executive Pastry Chef at Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental, was at The Oberoi-New Delhi some time ago to recreate the afternoon tea platters served at the Authors’ Lounge of his iconic hotel, among the favourites was his Apricot and Curry Tartlet, where one of the ingredients was the old colonial invention, Madras Curry Powder. A classical French chef would have viewed it as an act of sacrilege; pastry chefs, however, are constantly reimagining the final frontier of creativity. In his Masala Chai Brulee, for instance, Oberoi of The Leela Palace delicately infuses the custard with traditional chai spices —cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and clove—beneath a caramelised sugar crust and serves it with a spiced biscotti “that evokes the nostalgic comfort of ‘chai with biscuit’.” At Monique, Chef Maxime Montay’s L’entremet Ispahan, which borrows its name from the vibrant Iranian city of Isfahan, stands out for the subtle harmony of its three flavours. “On top of the crunchy French sable base, the sweetness of rose blends perfectly with the floral notes of lychees, and both of them get magnified by the freshness of raspberry,” explains the chef. Having teamed up with Shivan Gupta, whose maternal grandfather owns Delhi’s famous Wenger’s bakery and pastry shop, Montay is deep-diving into the new worlds of flavour opened up by spices commonly used across India. He loves to showcase his Cardamom Crème Brulee, or his macarons that marry the flavours of saffron and apricot, or dark chocolate and red chilli. “The ingredients you use define 70 per cent of the dessert you serve,” says the Frenchman whose bakery is named after his maternal grandmother. At Roseate House, New Delhi Aerocity, Executive Pastry Chef Anand Panwar’s signature creation is Milk Cake Tart, where he takes a French almond cream tart, tops it with milk cake (the decadent delicacy from Alwar, Rajasthan), saffron and pistachio, and serves the combination with maple syrup and Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Of course, Panwar is better known for his re-imagined mithais, from the mango-passion fruit and raspberry laddus to the lotus Biscoff burfi, pedas in matcha, hazelnut and caramel-walnut flavours, and fudge mithai. Bali of the School of European Pastry and Culinary Arts, when asked about his signature dessert, the Monsoon Mango- Smoke & Soil, says it features ripe Alphonso mango gelée (vacuum-concentrated for pure flavour), jaggery caramel (smoky, reduced), toasted millet praline for crunch, cardamom-infused kulfi cremeux frozen with an anti-griddle for a silky cold bite, tamarind mango gastrique (the sweet and sour French sauce base) for acid balance, and chocolate ‘soil’ with roasted cumin and coconut flakes. The dessert is finished on the table with a light lapsang souchong tea smoke and a scattering of dehydrated mango powder. Here’s a dish that balances new-generation ingredients and flavours, even rewrites the recipe of the gastrique (replacing caramelised sugar and vinegar with tamarind and mango), and introduces some table-side drama to elevate the experience. Not all desserts, though, are as ambitious in scale as Bali’s creation. Rachel Andrade of Mumbai’s increasingly popular TwentySeven Bakehouse, for instance, highlights the bakery’s signature Croissant Cube, whose dough is baked in a 3-inch-by-3-inch tin and packed with fillings of the season. “We have brought back our Tiramisu Cube from the first menu,” she adds with evident pride. This is an example of a dessert that is more about technique than drama. Lundwani, too, has his own creations that he loves to talk about, the most exciting among them being his Adzuki Bean, Chocolate and Hazelnut Hummus served with a crispy waffle—as he puts it, the dish is a “mix of sweet, nutty and chocolate flavours in a fun way”. He also loves making the Filter Coffee Crème Brulee, which is served in a traditional brass ‘dabra’, “combining French style with local charm”. And his Chhena Poda Basque Cheesecake marries Odisha’s unique baked chhena dessert and the famous Spanish cheesecake. Talking about cheesecakes, Chef Kathiresan Kathirvel of the Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort and Spa loves to talk about how he fused “the Middle Eastern baklava with the European cheesecake for a rich, syrupy dessert”. Says the young pastry chef, “Consumers seeking unique artisanal dessert experiences are driving pastry chefs to innovate and refine their craft. They are continually experimenting with new ingredients, techniques and presentation styles to push the boundaries of dessert-making.” Monique Gupta views the demanding customer as his bakery and pastry shop’s biggest quality driver. “With the customer getting better-informed every day because of social media, we wake up figuring out how to manage the new demands,” Gupta says. To Mehta, this is a positive for his bottom line. “I see a big change in customers willing to pay much more for a dessert today than before,” says the chef, rooted in classical French pastry-making, and he goes on to explain the reasons for the attitudinal shift. He points out that the more people travel overseas, the more convinced they are that pastry across Europe, or anywhere in the globe, is considered a luxury product, especially now because of the sharp recent spikes in the prices of chocolate and other ingredients. “People have also started understanding that the last course of the meal is the one that leaves you with fond or bad memories of the experience. It just cannot be compromised,” he says. The reward at the end of the day is the increasing visibility of pastry chefs and the recognition of their craft as a daily pursuit of precision and perfection. To quote Oberoi, “The pastry chef’s art has moved beyond simply being about indulgence and presentation. The big shift has been the integration of science, art and storytelling into the craft.” And there’s serious money to be made on this investment of imagination and innovation. Mehta recounts how a bakery and pastry shop he consults with in Patiala rakes in Rs 2.5 lakh a day, which is the kind of revenue that the owner of a fashionable restaurant would give his right arm to earn. By upping the quality of their products and enriching the experience of their customers, pastry chefs are not only becoming more visible and much sought after, but also getting richer. The reinvention of the dessert experience is a sweet win-win for all.

Dessert Storm

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