A pastry chef’s upcoming baking classes will teach you new techniques, the trick to plate and layer desserts, and whip up sweet classics
Sticky Toffee Pudding, Noisette, Caramelised Almond Cake, Honey and Pecan Loaf....chef and soon-to-be author Shaheen Peerbhai, 29, is certainly capable of creating a menu that will make you salivate. These dishes are part of Peerbhai’s upcoming Baking Tour, covering Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, from August 26 to September 11.
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Caramelised banana loaf with ginger and chocolate
The highlights
We can expect a fresh new set of recipes, techniques and flavours. "There are classics like Lemon Tart and Crème Brûlées and modern layered patisseries like Chocolat and Noisette," says Peerbhai.
Spiced cheddar, oregano, olive and walnut biscuits. Pics Courtesy/ Shaheen Peerbhai
As a baker who loves to experiment with flavours, there is much to take away from her classes. "I like to work with interesting flavours and textures, and layer them in unexpected ways, and to modernise the classics. For example, a nougatine is traditionally made with almonds, but I’m using pecans," she adds. The five-layer chocolate dessert Plaisir Sucre by Pierre Hermé inspired her to create a mash-up using one of her favourite Cordon Bleu recipes. The Noisette thus, is a marriage of chocolate and hazelnut with textures of dacquoise, crispy feuilletine, ganache and Chantilly.
Noisette
"I like to play with different ingredients but I need to make sure that people can go home, find the ingredients and replicate them," she says. As a treat, she has a new ingredient, tonka beans, to add in her crème brulees.
What you won’t learn is how to make TV show desserts — nice to watch but pointless because they can’t be recreated at home.
Chocolat
A different class
Peerbhai’s classes are divided into six parts — Teatime Treats, Posh Pastry, Plated Desserts, Creative Pastry, Breads & Savoury, and Sweet Bakes; the Plated Desserts and Breads & Savoury are eggless. The simpler classes are for those who keen to ease themselves into baking or learn different quick bakes and will cover recipes like Speculoos Cookies with cherry jam or moist chocolate cake with ganache.
Shaheen Peerbhai
The advanced class will be on French patisserie and is for those looking to learn about textures, flavours and the different techniques that combine to create one dessert.
For example, her Chocolat will have components such as cocoa and pecan dacquoise, chocolate mousse, a shiny mirror glaze, a caramel ganache and a pecan nougatine. "Making this recipe needs precision and planning. You can’t start baking immediately, and have something ready in an hour. Time and temperatures have to be respected to get the best set, and a delicate, beautifully created pastry," she says.
Her plated desserts class will focus on the proper assembly of desserts in plates and bowls — there will nine elements across two separate, intricate desserts. "I am a bit instinctive about plating. It’s what you do before plating that will determine how your plated dessert looks. You have to put thought into different components and have at least three to five components on a plate that work in harmony," she says.
The demo-based classes will be three hours long.
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