Our first event saw Graham Hornigold, Executive Pastry Chef of the Hakkasan Group work together with Daniel Pearse, Head Pastry Chef of Hakkasan London, and Juan Pablo Colubri, Pastry Sous Chef at Hakkasan Group to create four amazing desserts and pass on some unique hints and tips to the group.
After a few drinks and nibbles it was on with the aprons to watch Graham make the first dessert of the night – Spiced Asian Mango. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of freshly cut mango, as Graham and his team explained some of the thought processes behind the dish and many served at the Michelin starred Yauatcha. The idea was to surprise the diner with textures and flavours not normally associated with mangoes, but ones that complement them perfectly.
We saw that hints of chilli and coriander can work perfectly with this sweet fruit. Coriander croutons added bite and crunch to the layers of light mango mousse, icy mango sorbet and delicate mango crisps.
Most of the kitchen had foam gun envy as Juan expertly showed how to top off the desserts with a swirl of mango mousse. Even if you don’t have the time or skill to plate as well as the chefs from Hakkasan, the gun means you can quickly add an attractive flourish to the desserts.
Next up was Lemon and Sesame Tart and all of our cooks were able to make this dish under the watchful eye of Graham and his team.
We saw some expert egg cracking in preparation for the Italian meringue and creamy lemon tart mix. The sesame sable dough for the tart base had to be rolled thinly between two sheets of baking paper to create the desired texture. Graham’s expert tip to avoid shrinkage, was to part cook the dough before cutting into shapes half way through baking.
Once again Graham and his team showed two ways of plating up this dessert, and our guests picked up tips in expertly browning the mini meringues with a blow torch along the way.
