Shangri-la Jakarta recently welcome several new members to their F&B team, one of whom, being the new Executive Pastry Chef, a position which is now being held by Chef Frederic Scailteur. Chef Frederic is an experienced Belgian dessert maestro with various prestigious international establishments (hotels, culinary schools) in the Philippines, Japan, Korea and now Indonesia. Not forgetting to mention the illustrious accolades that Chef Frederic collected over the decades since he became a pastry chef at the age of 15 years old.
Drawing one similarity between Chef Frederic and I: my affinity for cooking and the kitchen started when I was in primary school, and the first thing I learned to cook was, you guessed it: instant noodles. I would say that I'm a fair cook (I hardly burn things OK! haha), given the limited utensils at home, I could still cook up some decent meals by means of techniques improvisation.
My passion for food / cooking continues until this day, although i often find myself end up at the receiving end of the steaming kitchen at various places. An invitation to a cooking class is certainly a much welcomed change to my eat and sit routine, such as the dessert making class with Chef Frederic Scailteur at Shangri-la Jakarta recently.
The class began with an introduction about Chef Frederic, it was after all, our first time meeting him. From the exterior, Chef Frederic looked quite fierce with the calm composure and tattoed arms. But once he started taking over the mic, turns out he is one funny gentleman who liked to throw witty remarks that cracked our faces with smiles and giggles.
Without further ado, I'm going to share with you, on how to make 2 simple yet delicious and addictive desserts. No oven or other advanced appliances required, just stove as well as saucepans and other basic cooking utensils. When it comes to cooking, I'm not much of a by-the-book person, so the numbers on the recipe are purposely omitted, just follow your instinct and let's get cooking!
Desset #1: Verrine of pineapple/raspberry and cream cheese with coconut crumble
I didn't know what a verrine is, but a simple definition from LA Times finally enlightened me. "A verrine is an appetizer or dessert that consists of a number of components layered artfully in a small glass. The word verrine refers to the glass itself; literally it means "protective glass." by Betty Hallock, LA Times staff writer.
Ingredients:
Coconut Crumble (can be bought readily from specialty baking store), pineapple, raspberry (save half unprocessed, hal pureed), orange juice (can be replaced with mango, passionfruit, etc), cream cheese, mango puree, vanilla bean / essence, white sugar.
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| This is the verrine that our team made |
Desset #2: Rocher
'Rocher', the French word for rock is a very simple sweet snack that requires minimal cooking. This is not a Ferrero Rocher recipe though, Rocher here refers to nut & chocolate nuggets.
Ingredients
Coarsely chopped nuts (almond, pistachio, peanut, cashew, etc), dried fruits (optional), cooking chocolate (dark / milk / chocolate), sugar, vanilla bean / essence, butter / cocoa butter.
Special note: firstly, create sugar caramel by mixing sugar, water and vanilla. Firstly, stir the mixture until the sugar melts, after everything dissolves, stop stirring and let the mixture simmer slowly until it turns golden.
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| Our group's Rocher creation |
I regretted not taking videos when Chef Frederic demonstrated the steps, it would be so much easier to show than just showing photos. Coming home from the cooking class, now I've 2 new recipes up my sleeves, especially the rocher, which would make a lovely homemade Valentine's day present for our special ones.
Thank you Shangri-la for the fun cooking class! :)
Kota BNI, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav 1
Jakarta
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