Dessert Trail

If you’re planning to skip dessert,think again. With an interesting array of options,there’s something that caters to everyone,traditional chocoholics,the calorie-concious,or just the plain indulgent. Even though new names have cropped up in menus,Chef Sabyasachi of Olive Bar,Qutub,insists that everyone is going back to the basics.

“If you look at the dessert cuisines in abroad,” says Chef Saby,as he is fondly called,“everyone is focusing on classic winter desserts.” Taking a cue from world trends,Olive will be serving a traditionalskillet cake this winter,made on Chef Saby’s signature wood fire oven. The oven is also used at Olive Beach,AI and Lap,which are also under his supervision. “The point is to make something classic,yet unique,” he adds. The skillet cake combines vanilla beans,wine-soaked prunes and poached apricots. The batter is then inserted into the wood fire oven,and 20 minutes later,it is ready to be devoured. At AI,Chef Vikram Khatri also speaks of their a la minute winter dessert menu,which includes several flavours of the wood fire oven cakes.”Once the cake is closer to completion,” says Chef Khatri,“we throw in a few chips of cherry blossom wood into the fire. This adds to the zest of the cakes”. The cakes are available in vanilla,green tea,or with apricots and plums for going a Christmas route. For the daring,try one of their quirky ice cream flavors: black sesame seeds,green tea and red soya bean. Come January,AI will launch their new menu,with a cold cure to sore throats— layers of hazelnut,chocolate and gari (pickled ginger) terrine. With a strong essence of ginger,this Japanese seasonal dessert will be a delectable way to remove the frog in your throat.

For chocoholics,there is the chocolate mah jong at Kylin at Vasant Lok. This Chinese dessert has to be made three days in advance in bulk. Kylin Chef Amit Gurung,uses one kilo of solid dark chocolate,which is melted into a mixture of cream,biscuits and crushed nuts. And if you head towards Shiro at Hotel Samrat,you can have a miniature chocolate volcano for yourself. “A lot of people were doing soufflés and fondants,but we wanted to give our chocolate a nice spongy bite,” says Chef Rahul Hajarnavis. Made with only 70 per cent dark Belgian bitter chocolate,it has a sponge cake covering and is served steaming hot.

And the timing could not be more perfect — “New Years is around the corner,and everyone is experimenting with their desserts,” says Chef Narayan Rao of Aman Resorts,New Delhi.

For weight watchers,Chef Rao has found a way to enjoy desserts without worrying about waistlines: “the dessert only looks big,thanks to molecular gastronomy,but is actually very light and low-cal.”

The Aman is also one of the few places that have kept Indian desserts in their international menu. The chironji kheer,often neglected because it has ‘homemade’ tag,is one of Rao’s favourites.

There are also some interesting sorbets and ice-creams like the banana,red wine and caramel sorbet and the coffee and jaggery ice cream. “It seems bizarre at first,” says Rao,“but they’re popular with our guests.” The jaggery adds an Indian touch and a rustic flavour to the coffee ice cream,and the sticky caramel compliments the smooth red wine.