Regulars at The Leela Palace in Bengaluru will kno
w who the chef behind their sinful pastries that come out from their kitchen is. Chef Avijit Ghosh, the Corporate Pastry Chef, brings two decades of experience in pastry making, giving his creations an edge over others. For Avijit, pastry making is more than a profession. “As a child, I was more of an artist.
I used to sketch, draw and use water colours. So when I grew up, I realised that pastry making gave me this freedom to use my creativity,” says the chef, who is one of the judges in the final round of the IIHM Young Chef Olympiad 2017. He gives us his Strawberry Champagne Parfait and Raspberry Rose
Petal Marmalade recipe, for the Valentine’s season.
Strawberry Champagne Parfait/Raspberry Rose Petal Marmalade
Ingredients QTY
For Strawberry Champagne Parfait
Champagne 85 gms
Strawberry Purée 40 gms
Sugar 160 gms
Water 50 ml
Egg yolk 100 gms (2 eggs)
Gelatin 10 gms
Whipped cream 500 gms
For Raspberry Rose Petal Marmalade
Raspberry Purée 200 gms
Rose Petal Compote 170 gms
Sugar 105 gms
Pectin 5 gms
Method
■ To make the strawberry parfait, cook sugar, egg and water at 118°C and prepare a bombe paste
■ Melt gelatin by softening in water
■ Incorporate into the bombe paste
■Then incorporate the whipped cream.
■ To make the raspberry rose petal marmalade, cook raspberry purée with sugar
■ Then add the rose petal compote with pectin and set.
■ To assemble, set the parfait in the mould, fill centre with raspberry rose petal marmalade.
■ Demould and finish with pink white chocolate glaze.
Tips
■ While guidelines are to be followed, it’s important to listen to your instinct, if you think adding any ingredient (like a pinch of cinnamon) will up the taste, go ahead and experiment.
■ Be patient, don’t keep opening the oven or the refrigerator to check. Desserts and pastries need the required time to set.