Bocuse Fundraiser Dessert (Tropical Tart)

A good friend of mine was recently selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Bocuse d'Or. Megan has promised to write a little more about this competition, so I'll leave out the details here. Let's just say it's a pretty big deal.

With the beginning of his journey as a candidate, the fundraising has begun, and I was happy to suggest that the first venue for a dinner be in Mississauga. As someone who lives in the west end I am always a little disappointed with the lack of fine dining options available. To me, this was a great opportunity to bring some of the talent from Toronto kitchens out to Mississauga. It was nice to hear from our guests last Sunday that they really enjoyed this unique experience. I only wish that we would see a greater demand for these kind of events. Everyone that comes usually says this is great, we should do it more often. Personally, I'd love to see more options and events of this caliber in the city. Unfortunately, without a growing demand that's just not going to happen.

In addition to suggesting the venue, I was responsible for that evening's dessert (recipes below). I know these ingredients are not local, and I've been trying to use more local ingredients -- unfortunately the seabuckthorn berries that I bought for the farm haven't come in yet and it probably won't bear fruit (not enough for a 70+ person dinner anyway) for a couple of years. So this time I stuck with a few of my go-to flavours: passion fruit, mango and coconut. 

A Black Forest (Birthday) Cake

Not too long ago, Royce and I were talking with my mum about food (no kidding eh?) and mum "casually" mentioned that for a time she had really liked black forest cake.

Plum and Almond Tart

With a basket of Ontario plums left over from our recent cottage trip, we have decided to make a plum and almond tart. We used Pierre Herme's pate sucree recipe from our previous post as a base and added the ripened plums and an almond cream filling . 

The tart is first blind baked at 400˚F for approximately 20 minutes. The almond filling is then added with plum halves and sliced almonds. The tart is then baked at 375˚F for another 45 minutes or until golden brown. We served each slice with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream. 

Almond Cream Filling (Recipe from GBC)

112g butter
112g granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean

87.5g whole eggs

112g ground almond
37.5g cake flour

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla
2. Add eggs, scraping down bowl between each addition
3. Add ground almond and flour and mix until combined

Red fruit, Ispahan and Piña Colada

Having some extra days to play around, I have decided to make a couple of fruit tarts with what's available at the local farmer's market and supermarkets. 

This is just a simple fruit tart elevated by the shape of a half pipe. In this version of a fruit tart, we have strawberries, red currants, and raspberries sitting on top of a pastry cream. The fruits are then glazed and decorated with gold leaves. 

Pate Sucree

I'm currently in love with the shape of these tarts. I saw this idea some time ago on Chef Laiskonis's blog and just had to try it. 

Pate Sucree (Recipe from Pierre Herme)

150g unsalted butter

95g icing sugar

30g ground almonds

2 dashes of salt

1/4 vanilla bean

1 egg

250g all purpose flour

1. Cream the butter with sugar and salt

2. add egg and vanilla bean

3. Add sifted flour and mix until combined

4. Chill dough for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator

5. Bake tart at 350˚F until golden brown

Strawberries and Cream

This dessert has only a few ingredients. Strawberries are in season, so I have decided to show it in multiple forms (sous vide, gelee, as is). It is then paired with some homemade graham and a white chocolate chantilly. 

Strawberry Shortcake

This was a pre-dessert that I did for a supper club. It's a play-on of a strawberry shortcake. Ontario strawberries were in season at the time, so I'd figured it should be showcased. The strawberries were sous vide'd, compressed, and also made into a gelee with its juices. It was also paired with some of its familiar components: a white chocolate chantilly, a vanilla sponges and a crumble.

Rainbow Birthday Microwave Sponge

Birthday Cake Microwave Sponge (Recipe adapted from John Placko & Albert Adria)

4 eggs
80g sugar
40g flour
1 pinch of salt
2 N2O charges

1. Process all ingredients in a blender
2. Strain mixture into ISI
3. Close and charge with two N20 charges
4. Refrigerate for 12 hours




5. Dispense cake batter into different bowls and mix with one drop of food colouring.
6. Layer colours into a a prepared paper cup
7. Microwave for 40 seconds on high.

Coffee Toffee Crunch

I was first introduced to the concept of a chocolate sharing bar by chef Migoya of Hudsons Chocolate. The fun of having a larger, more elaborate chocolate candy bar for entertaining really appeals to me.

When Life Hands You Lemons (and White Chocolate)

 White Chocolate Lemon

This is a play on a classic tarte au citron: a white chocolate shell filled with all the components of a lemon tarte.

And proudly presenting... our very first YouTube video :)

Waste Not, Want Not.

What do you do with left over components from a supper club, bonbons and mystery dough from the freezer?

This chocolate tart is lined with a layer of hazelnut praline. It is then filled with a Fleur de Cao ganache, topped with apricot gel, white chocolate lemon cream, and broken pieces of passion fruit bonbons. Garnished with candied hazelnuts, candied lemon peels, diced apricots and a hint of gold leaves. 

When life gives left over fluid gels and bonbons, you make a tart.    

Popcorn and Passion Fruit

Popcorn and passion fruit are a perfect pairing. On this plated dessert, there's a frozen popcorn parfait with a passion fruit ganache and fluid gel. It is accompanied by a banana caramel, roasted peanuts and some mock popcorn.

Galette Des Rois

Galette des rois, or King Cake, is a festive laminated pastry with almond/ pastry cream. This cake will usually pop up in windows and showcases of pastry shops in late December but only to last a week or two. I've had the privilege of trying this cake a few years back at a 3 Michelin star restaurant during a tasting menu. The cake was portioned out to individuals around the table, the recipient with a piece of porcelain inside the cake was said to have good luck or take a trip to the dentist. Happy New Year! 

More strawberries...

Pistachio ganache tart with compressed strawberries and chocolate garnishes

Strawberry Tart

This strawberry tart is composed with a sweet dough filled with a basil ganache, topped with a chantilly, compressed strawberries, strawberry crisp pearls, basil leaves and chocolate deco.

Sweet dough (yield 4)

562g pastry flour

170g icing sugar 

316g butter, cold

112g eggs

34g water

5.6g vanilla extract

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar and butter

2. Mix until a sandy texture

3. Mix with eggs, water and vanilla extract until combine

4. Refrigerate until use

Basil ganache

130g 35%

114g milk chocolate

21.5 dark chocolate

50.6g butter

6g basil

1. Bring 35% and basil to a boil

2. Pour 35% into a bowl with both chocolates

3. Wait a minute, stir

4. Add butter and stir 

5. Pour into cooled tart shells

Compressed strawberries

500g Ontario strawberries

50g strawberry liquor 

1. Combine strawberries and liquor in vacuum bag

2. Vacuum on high 

3. Refrigerate until use

Choux Religieuse

The Religieuse is a stacked pastry with a smaller choux on top of another. In this case, it is filled with a light chocolate and caramel chantilly. Both choux are topped with a craquelin, the smaller one is dipped in a mirror glaze and finished with some chocolate deco.

Pistachio and Raspberry Financier

Financiers are small, light and airy petit fours which often contain almond flour with a distinct flavour of beurre noisette (brown butter). The lightness comes from egg whites and baking powder as leavening agents. It's commonly baked in rectangular form but in this case, I have decided to baked them in rounds with the additional flavour of pistachio and raspberries.

Steps to a Better Souffle

Lemon Souffle (student work)

Like time, souffles wait for no one, so here are some helpful tricks to ensure that you get a nice rise:


For a higher rise:
- Preheat your oven for at least 30 minutes at 400F
- Set a pizza stone into the middle rack during the preheat stage
- Lightly torch the top of the souffles before putting them into the oven
- whip your meringue to stiff peaks



For a more stable foam:
- Use a clean bowl for your egg whites, any oil or grease will wreck an egg-white foam
- Use fresh egg whites will create a more stable foam
- Use a copper bowl or add 1/8 tsp cream of tartar per egg white
- Over-beaten egg white foams will not expand in a hot oven

Chocolate Souffle (student work)

Microwaved Pistachio Sponge

Microwaved Pistachio Sponge (Recipe Adapted from John Placko of MCA)

3 eggs

70g Pistachio paste

70g sugar

1g salt

20g flour

2 charges isi

1. In a stainless steel bowl. whisk all ingredients until combined

2. Transfer batter into an isi siphon and load with 2 charges

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before use

4. Dispense batter half way into a prepared paper cup 

5. Microwave for approximately 45 seconds

6. Remove from the microwave and immediately turn it upside down

7. Allow the cake to cool before use

The Sunken Treasure

Chocolate Coral

150g dark chocolate (Ocoa)
10g freeze dried pineapple powder
10g freeze dried passion fruit powder
10g dessicated coconut

Temper/ crystallize chocolate and transfer into cornet.
Pipe chocolate into icy water.
Strain and coat frozen chocolate with freeze dried pineapple powder.
Repeat with passion fruit and coconut.