A way to anyone's heart, is through their stomach.. well we'd like to believe that! Why not whip up a storm together in the kitchen, as you and your partner try your hands out on these recipes courtesy Himanshu Taneja, Culinary Director, South Asia, Marriott International.
Hazelnut and Coffee Cream Tart
Ingredients:
Chocolate sable:
- Butter (360gm)
- Flour (680gm)
- Cocoa Powder (40gm)
- Icing Sugar (280gm)
- Salt (5gm)
- Almond Powder (100gm)
- Egg (150gm)
Baked chocolate mix:
- Amul cream (480gm)
- Milk (200gm)
- Dark chocolate (480gm)
- Egg (100gm)
- Butter (5gm)
- Hazelnut Paste (100gm)
- Espresso (30gm)
Method:
- For the chocolate sable, cream butter and sugar and add eggs to it.
- Add all the dry ingredients and mix. Rest them for six hours after lining the tart mould with a 2 mm thickness.
- Half-bake the tart for 12 minutes at 180 degrees. Take out and allow to cool.
- For the baked mix, heat up milk and cream and add chocolate, hazelnut, and espresso. Add the eggs at the end.
- Pour the mix into a tart shell. Bake in the oven at 100 degrees for 15 minutes.
Fromage Blanc and Framboise parfait on Brown Butter Cake
Ingredients:
Yoghurt Mousse:
- Elle and vire cream (300gm)
- Yoghurt (240ml)
- Caster Sugar (75 nos)
- Vanilla bean (5gm)
- Gelatin (10gm)
Pistachio Cake:
- Pistachio Paste (90gm)
- Butter unsalted browned (70gm)
- Caster sugar (100gm)
- Egg Yolk (35gm)
- Refine flour (150gm)
- Sea salt (2gm)
- Pistachio powder (130gm)
Raspberry cream:
- Raspberry puree (250gm)
- Icing Sugar (60gm)
- Gelatin sheets (10gm)
- E&V cream (250gm)
Method:
- For pistachio brown butter cake, mix all the dry ingredients and keep them aside. Take the butter, heat it in a pan and make it golden brown. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolk and add all the dry ingredients. Last, add the brown butter and bake in a tray for 10 min. Take it out of the oven and keep it in the refrigerator.
- For the yoghurt mousse, soak the gelatin in cold water. Mix yoghurt and sugar, add cream and add gelatin, and set in the freezer.
- For raspberry cream, boil puree, add icing sugar, and add gelatin. Fold in whipped cream and pipe inside the yoghurt mousse and freeze.
- Place it in the deep freezer for a day, then serve it on top of the pistachio cake the next day.
Balsamic Braised Strawberry Cheesecake with Greek feta
Ingredients:
- Cheese mix:
- Philadelphia Cheese (400gm)
- Eggs (250gm)
- Sugar (100gm)
- Corn flour (15gm)
Sable base:
- Flour (250gm)
- Sugar (250gm)
- Butter (400gm)
- Egg White (40gm)
For Garnish:
- Balsamic (50gm)
- Fresh strawberry (200gm)
- Blueberry (50gm)
Method:
- For the sable base, cream the butter and sugar together and add the egg white gradually. Last, fold in the flour.
- Take one cake ring and wrap it with foil. Place it on an aluminised tray.
- Spread the sable mixture evenly at a thickness of about 2 cm. Bake it for 10 minutes at 180 degrees and remove it from the heat.
- For the cheesecake mix, put cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer and mix at slow speed. Add eggs and lastly, cornflour. Put the cheese mix on a stable base and bake in a double boiler for 40 minutes at 140 degrees. When finished, remove from the heat. Keep it chilled for one day.
- The next day, take out the cake from the ring.
- Garnish with a fresh strawberry if desired.