Food: Mumbai restaurants push the envelope with new summer desserts

From kidney beans to olive oil and goat cheese as core ingredients, Mumbai restaurants are pushing the envelope with their new summer desserts

White Chocolate Parfait with Goat's Cheese Ice Cream and Beetroot Sponge
The smoothness of white chocolate and the tartness of goat's cheese ice cream come together to work their magic in this bizarre sounding dessert. All this is ably aided by supporting acts like microwave beetroot sponge, raspberry coulis and some dehydrated raspberries finish off this culinary chimera.

Chef Speak: "Cheese and ice cream isn't the most common combination, but the flavour they create is unmatched."
-- Yogendra Adep

At Luna Gusta, The St Regis Mumbai, SBâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Marg, Lower Parel.
Call 61628422 Cost R 650

Manila Halo Halo Sundae
This red kidney bean-redolent iteration of Halo Halo is an ode to the popular dessert from The Philippines. Served in a champagne coupe, the dessert combines shaved ice with condensed milk and piles of sweetened kidney beans, jelly bits, and rice crisps. The Halo Halo is one of the many Southeast Asian desserts featuring savoury elements.

Chef Speak: "The best dessert thAt The Philippines has to offer is the Halo Halo. It's a complete dessert snack, a balance of sweet and savoury, and is the perfect coolant on a hot summer day."
- Paul Kinny

At Shizusan Shophouse & Bar, Lower Parel. Call 7045004138 Cost Rs 295

Wasabi Ice Cream Sandwich with Fried Nori Strips
Think of the trademark K Rustom ice cream sandwich. Now, imagine it with a Japanese twist. Voila, you've decoded this sinus-busting dessert thAt is composed of a thick slab of piquant wasabi ice cream ensconced by two malt shortbreads and served with crisp, fried nori seaweed strips. This bordering-on-savoury dessert has been such a hit with diners thAt the team is planning to add two more outré flavours: pan pasand and gulkand.

Chef Speak: "We wanted to make a modern dessert thAt drew inspiration from our childhood memories, and K Rustom's ice cream sandwich came to mind.

With my background in oriental food, [Gymkhana 91] owner Aditya and I conceived wasabi ice cream sandwich with nori strips."
-- Sandeep Moktan
At Gymkhana 91, SBâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Marg, Lower Parel. Call 65333535 Cost Rs 235

Basil Ice Cream with Olive Oil and Pine Nuts
This pesto-esque ice cream is, perhaps, the best innovative rendition of olive oil thAt we've seen in a long time. Interestingly, the genesis of this peculiar dessert is a result of a spin-off of their popular basil fondant with its gooey, herbaceous green core that has a legion of sweet-toothed fans.

Chef Speak: "I used olive oil because I was thinking along the lines of pesto and the ingredients thAt go into making a good one. I felt these flavours blended well, and the olive oil also gives a smooth texture, with the pine nuts adding a lovely bite to the ice cream."
-- Rachel Goenka
At The Sassy Spoon outlets in Nariman Point and Bandra. Call 61054556 Cost Rs 100 per scoop

Pink Peppercorn Mousse with Passion Fruit Curd
The idea behind this dessert was to create a combination of a sweet taste with a strong sharpness to the palate. Bordering on a spicy, yet sweet, summery dessert, this one is the quirky sum of its incongruous parts. 

This visually vibrant dessert is an infusion of 70 per cent dark cocoa with a bitter-sweet taste, mixed with pink peppercorns.
It is enhanced by the sweet-and-sour passion fruit curd and edible chocolate soil, which completes it.

Chef Speak: "The inspiration was the pink peppercorn. Being versatile, we wanted to experiment with it in a dessert. The combination of sharpness and sweetness gives this dessert thAt X factor."
-- Anil J

At Razzberry Rhinoceros, Juhu Hotel, Juhu.
Call 33126721 Cost Rs 375

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