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Dessert First: Constance Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau

Dessert First: Constance Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau

by | Apr 5, 2017 | 0 comments

It’s not every day an email pops into your inbox inviting you to a week filled with desserts! And when that sentence ends with ‘in Mauritius’, then well that’s hardly even a question! If you were following my Instagram and Twitter feeds last week, you’ll know that I was whisked off to the Contance Belle Mare Plage hotel in Mauritius for what has to be, one of the most incredible food experiences I’ve ever had (and that’s saying a lot, ‘cos I eat a lot!). While my French is pretty rusty, I’m pretty sure that the Constance Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau means ‘festival of ridiculously delicious food’ 😉 Jokes aside, it’s a competition that brings Michelin-starred chefs from around the world to Mauritius where each chef is paired up with a local chef from the various Constance island hotels (Mauritius, Madagascar, Maldives and the Seychelles) and while they share ideas and prepare for a culinary showdown against each other, us journalists get to enjoy the food. Tough job, right?

Forced to use local Mauritian ingredients like palm heart, sea urchin and local fish, the teams presented what can only be described as inspiring creations. But no meal is complete without dessert and boy, were they good! Not to be outdone by the savoury chefs, the Constance Hotel pastry chefs battled it out over two days for the Pierre Herme Trophy. Yes, the macaron master himself was there!

Day 1 of the pastry challenge saw chefs whipping up a petit four plate inspired by Nespresso coffees. On day 2, they were tasked with creating 4 desserts; a plated dessert, a gateau (cake), 3 different filled chocolate pralines and a chocolate showpiece. While watching the plates come swooping out the kitchen to thunderous applause from the journalists was fun, I managed to sneak my way into where the real action was happening! Watching these experts whip, pipe and fold through the glass window that divided us was  the best cooking show in the world!

Contending with the heat and humidity of Mauritius and all working in kitchens that weren’t their own, these were the masterpieces created by the Constance hotel pastry chefs: Warning: these images WILL make you hungry!

 

I loved the elegant, refined look of Aurélie Jugoo’s (Constance Belle Mare Plage) pastries – the eclair gave me pastry goals and the triangular ‘Bel Ombre’ was probably the best thing I tasted the entire day! Her chocolates were filled with praline, raspberry and manjari (a special Mauritian lime).

Priyantha Madagodage (Constance Moofushi Maldives) was clearly inspired by the fresh island flavours! His coriander-scented pineapple and passion mousse with it’s blonde chocolate shards got my camera very happy!

Dessert First: Constance Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau

Paulina Kotowska of Constance Halaveli Maldives created a chocolate hazelnut bar that tasted like a giant ferrero rocher, followed by a moist raspberry cake drizzled with milk chocolate. Her showpiece was an upturned chocolate pot and white chocolate rolling pin that cleverly displaying her pralines.

Godfrey Lawler of Constance Lémuria Seychelles got many ‘Oooh’s’ and ‘Aaaah’s’ with his stunning Coconut, Lime and Papaya Cake.

While Tyrie Philoe from Constance Ephelia Seychelles simply calls her decadent chocolate creation ‘Brownies’, I prefer to call it ‘Life-Changing’!

So you want to know who the winner was? Of course you do! I had my eye on Stéphane Labastide from Constance Le Prince Maurice from day 1 and his incredible skill and attention to detail won him both the petit four challenge and the Pierre Herme Trophy proving that he’s the pastry king of Constance! These were his incredible creations:

The next Constance Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau takes place at Belle Mare Plage in March 2018 – you can experience the festival (and all the amazing dinners prepared by Michelin chefs) by simply being a guest at the hotel.

Dessert First: The Oyster Box High Tea

Dessert First: The Oyster Box High Tea

by | Oct 18, 2016 | 0 comments

This is the view that knocks the breath right out of you when you walk through the doors of The Oysterbox Hotel in Durban. And it’s a good thing too, because let me tell you, you’re going to need that extra room for all the dessert you’re going to eat! I probably don’t need to tell you that The Oysterbox Hotel is a South African icon. The Durban beach front just wouldn’t be the same without it’s red umbrellas and white facade inspired by the equally iconic Umhlanga Rocks lighthouse.

Afternoon high tea at The Oysterbox Hotel

Another icon of the hotel you probably would have walked straight past when entering the hotel; curled up on his favourite chair in the lobby is Skabenga, the infamous Oysterbox cat, who, naturally, has his own Facebook page (but then again, nowadays, who doesn’t?!). I tried to snap a few pictures of him – but like any celeb, he had no time for me. Something about calling his agent. Pfft. Skabenga spends most of his days napping and once in a while will get up to check that everything is running according to his liking – and judging by the size of his belly he does regular kitchen inspections!

Many Durbanites will tell you that their childhood highlights are visiting the Oysterbox for special occasions which almost always  include the legendary high tea – and since I’m not from around here, I had lots of time (and treats) to make up for! In the centre of the hotel’s luscious Palm Court, underneath ceramic chandeliers brought in from the Savoy Hotel in London, a large sturdy table is laid every afternoon – it needs to be sturdy what with the amount of pastries, cakes and desserts that executive pastry chef Joanita Venter and her team put out each day; macarons, delicate fruit tarts, cake in every flavour imaginable, cookies, marshmallows, scones, eclairs, cupcakes, sandwiches – everything you would ever want and need is laid out on the finest porcelain plates and cake stands.

Afternoon high tea at The Oysterbox Hotel

But that’s not even the best part! You know how I live my life with the mantra: Life is short, eat dessert first? Here at the Oysterbox, they welcome it, nay they encourage it! Every night, between 6pm and 9pm, the high tea turns into ‘Evening Indulgence’ where you can pop in, at any time to feast on treats. No one will judge you whether that may be before dinner or after – have I mentioned how much I love this place?!

Afternoon high tea at The Oysterbox Hotel

My absolute favourite is and always will be owner Mrs Bea Tollman’s legendary triple-baked cheesecake. I once had the fortune of sitting next to the great Mrs Tollman at a media dinner (who is definitely the most graceful woman I have ever met) and I remember falling in love with her love for her hotels (or ‘children’ as she called them). Along with her husband, Mrs Tollman has spent six decades building an award-winning collection of 17 five and four star boutique hotels around the world. While I had the chance, I tried my luck and asked if she would share her famous cheesecake recipe with me, and without blinking she reached into her handbag and handed me a copy of her cookbook. It is this generosity that pours over into her beautiful hotels and it’s with that same generosity in mind that I shared her recipe below (I think she’d approve!).

Mrs Bea Tollman’s Legendary Triple Baked Cheesecake

This recipe has been called’ the best cheesecake in the world’ and was created by the lauded hotelier, Bea Tollman, the founder and president of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection.

(Makes 2 cakes)

 

250g digestive biscuits, finely ground

415g white sugar

120g butter, melted

1t round cinnamon (optional)

1.35kg full fat cream cheese

6 free-range eggs, separated

1vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 ¾ cups sour cream

 

For the topping

1 ¾ cups sour cream

50g sugar

 

Preheat the oven to 190°C. To make the crust, mix the biscuit crumbs, 65 g sugar, melted butter and cinnamon, if using, until well blended. Press the mixture into two x 24-cm springform cake tin, making a thin, even, layer and bake for 7 minutes. Allow to cool, then chill for an hour. Reduce the oven’s temperature to 180°C. To make the filling, beat the cream cheese with 175 g sugar. Add the egg yolks, vanilla seeds, vanilla extract, salt and sour cream and beat thoroughly, scraping the bowl. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar. Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture and very gently pour into the prepared cake tin. Wrap the bottom of the tin in tinfoil, place in a water bath and bake for 1 hour, then turn off the heat and leave in the oven for another hour. Remove, cool on a rack, then chill for 12 hours. To make the topping, preheat the oven to 100°C. Mix the sour cream and sugar, spread over the chilled cheesecake and bake for 20 minutes. Finally, chill for 24 hours before serving.

Note: This makes 2 x 24cm cheesecakes so half the recipe for 1, or just go with it and eat both 😉

 

TIPS You’re going to want to splurge and stay the night (as if you need reasons!):

1) Look at the view from our room?!

2) The breakfast buffet is AMAZING – four words: bottomless bubbly and oysters. It will change your life.

3) Executive Chef Kevin Joseph is the curry king of South Africa and you need to know why – book for the curry buffet. Just do it.

4) Maitre d’, Hendry is equally legendary for his Crêpe Suzette’s in The Grill Room – done old-school, at your table. Run, don’t walk people!

Dessert First: Unframed Ice Cream

Dessert First: Unframed Ice Cream

by | Sep 13, 2016 | 0 comments

You can’t buy happiness but you can buy ice cream and that’s the same thing. One of my FAVOURITE sayings of all time. After ‘Forget Love, I’d rather fall in chocolate’, which makes it my second favourite saying of all time but let’s not get technical here. Can you remember a time when you went out for ice cream and were sad about it?! NEVER. Ice cream = happiness. And although I love making my own happiness, nothing quite beats going out for a scoop of ice cream in a sugary waffle cone on a warm summer’s Sunday with the sun beating on your face.

My ice cream moments are pretty sacred – I have one or two spots where I get my favourite scoop and I am loyal to them because there is nothing worse than trying a new spot and getting disappointed. I’ve dubbed it: calorie regret. When you want to call the manager over and demand that someone give you back the calories you just wasted on that sub-par chocolate brownie! And so I stick to the places I can trust. Except a few Wednesdays ago when I threw caution to the wind and allowed someone new to scoop my ice cream (that sounds a lot dirtier than I intended!).

Which is how I met Yann Rey at Unframed Ice Cream in Kloof Street. Yann is one of those effortlessly cool people who you immediately want to be friends with (I promise it wasn’t because he owns an ice cream shop although that briefly crossed my mind to be a convenient factor). In typical Capetonian style, he greeted me wearing slip slops and his cap on backwards like he’d just come from a surf – he’s a laid-back kinda guy. But when he starts talking about ice cream, he gets as excited as I do about baking. Waxing lyrical about ice crystal structure, flavour balance and his fancy gelato machine from Italy; I could’ve stood listening to him talk about ice cream for days (provided my ice cream cone was topped up sporadically, of course).

I would cross my heart and hope to die that this is THE best ice cream in Cape Town, if not South Africa. Forget the normal flavours everyone else is doing, Unframed is all about pushing boundaries (hence the name) so expect to have to choose between flavours like Grapefruit and Black Pepper, NuttiKrust, Dirty Sea Salt Caramel, Matcha Green, Burnt White Chocolate and my personal favourite, Jasmine and Lemongrass. Yann’s ice cream recipes were developed by his partner, ice cream master Stephane Auge, who’s won the Meilleur Ouvrier De France for ice cream (basically, like a Michelin star) so expect delicately-flavoured, uber creamy ice cream with the perfect balance.

Vegans and vegetarians, you’re also welcome here! None of the ice creams are made from heavy egg-based custard – coconut milk and nut milks are used in many of the flavours, meaning everyone gets a scoop of happiness. And by scoop I mean tasting platter – don’t even try and choose a single flavour on your first visit. Just go ahead and order the tasting platter for R75 and have all 5. That’s what I did when I visited Unframed twice in one week. Jip, it was so good, that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The toppings! I almost forgot about the toppings! No sprinkles here people, this is serious ice cream business. Choose from toppings like dried white mulberries, mini coconut macaroons, biscotti, raw date caramel, dirty sea salt caramel (which I assume got the name from the dirty thoughts it gives you) and caramelised nuts. What are you still hanging around for? Go get your scoop on!

TIP Unframed is open in Kloof street from 11am to 11pm, every day. Prices: R32 for one scoop, R54 for two, R65 for three, or R75 for a tasting flight (recommended!). They also sell 1L tubs (yay for eating ice cream in bed) – find out where you can get your hands on it here.

Dessert First: Chocolate Fondue

Dessert First: Chocolate Fondue

by | Aug 8, 2016 | 0 comments

Okay, be honest, who of you look at the dessert menu before you order anything? All of you? *Phew* thank goodness, you do it too!  I don’t need to tell you that dessert is the best part of any meal – not only because, well, duh. But also because it’s the last thing you eat, it can make or break a good meal, right? There are way too many restaurants in South Africa that just don’t get this! So, because I believe that life is too short NOT to order dessert (my biggest fear in life is being hit by a bus and thinking, damn I should’ve had that extra scoop of ice cream!) I’m starting a brand new series on the blog. Introducing… Dessert First! This is where I will be featuring all the places that get pudding right – the places that you can go to for a sweet fix because, although I’m obsessed with baking, something the quickest way to sort out a craving is by getting in your car and driving to it!

Dipping things in chocolate is a favourite past-time of mine – you could say I’m an expert in it. So much so that my 13th birthday party was a chocolate fondue midnight feast (which I think my mother still has nightmares about) – good times, good times. Anyway, so when I found out the One & Only Hotel is offering chocolate fondues in winter I just new I had to go and show off my skills – I’m an overachiever like that. Their new pastry chef, Kyle Hickman has put his spin on the chocolate fondue by mixing dark and milk chocolate (two chocolate’s are always better than one, I say!) and adding a dash of orange zest which ramps up the flavour, cuts the richness and basically means you can eat more than you normally would! Yay! Obviously, there are all sorts of delicious things to dunk in it – there’s cranberry nougat, biscotti, the cutest little marshmallow knots, brownie bites and hot churros rolled in cinnamon sugar and when you’re finished with the dunking, you can just grab a spoon. The staff were very good at hiding their outrage when I did this.  At R155 for two people including two (very generous *hic* glasses of Amarula, I think that’s pretty good value for a chocolate coma that should last the rest of the week!

For those of you who like a dessert challenge, they also have INSANE hot chocolate’s – you know, just incase all that other chocolate wasn’t enough – there’s Spiced Dark or Caramel White hot chocolate served with those epic cinnamon churros (R60) and you can also add a tot or two of local brandy, if your heart desires. Which mine always does.

Got any places you want me to feature or try out? Sharing is caring, people so let me know in the comments below!

 

 

Disclaimer: This isn’t a sponsored post, however I was invited to indulge in as much chocolate as I like, free of charge. Yes, I have the best job ever!