Old favourites make a comeback to the dessert menu and are proving popular fixes for a sweet tooth
Tracey Furniss
With pastry chefs creating delicious new desserts on menus, it is great news that some old favourites have made a comeback and have proven popular fixes for that sweet tooth.
We love our retro desserts and some chefs decided "if it's not broken, don't fix it", while others added their twist on classic recipes.
Pastry chef Lily Lau at Fish & Meat puts her signature twist on the classic pavlova - the dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in the 1920s. The classic pavlova is a meringue cake with a crispy crust and is topped with fruit and often whipped cream. Lau's version has a few modifications.
"I have tried not to stray too far from the original," she says. "I have used high-quality ingredients with a small twist such as adding Tahitian vanilla to the Chantilly cream nestled atop the meringue. I have also incorporated a refreshing basil and yoghurt sorbet for that signature Fish & Meat twist. To round it off are a few spoonfuls of a passion fruit coulis and of course, plenty of fresh seasonal fruit and berries.
"Pavlova is a colourful dessert, so having plenty of rich colours blended together will certainly make you smile especially with its sweet and delicious taste," Lau adds. "The great thing about a pavlova is that the toppings and extra garnishes can change along with the seasons, so in colder months, winter berries may be more appropriate and in the summer months, a variety of tropical fruits."
Over at the recently opened Ivy, group executive chef at Gaia Group, Paolo Monti, keeps his soufflé classic.
"This is definitely a classic soufflé from a classic recipe," Monti says. "It is a nice idea to bring back the soufflé. This one is not the usual soufflé size, we made it big, enough for two or three people. Every time it is brought out to the dining room, people's heads turn and they say, 'I want that'."
Ivy serves a vanilla Grand Marnier soufflé and the only way Monti has changed this classic recipe is in the way he prepares it to save time as it takes 30 minutes to cook. But he adds: "In the past, many things could go wrong when making a soufflé but nowadays there are so many good things in the kitchen that help, such as ways to control the humidity and speed of the fan. In the past, we mainly had simple oven that did not cook evenly. Now this is all resolved.
"Ivy has brought back something of the French Riviera food and those classic dishes are evergreen - I would say soufflé is evergreen."
