Years ago, when executive chef S. Ashok Kumar was working in the Maldives, a gentleman on his honeymoon came by to tell him he loved his honey almond tart. And then disclosed he was an award-winning chef. By the time the guest was ready to fly back home, Ashok and he had bonded over baking and traded recipes. One of them is the delightfully light papaya cold bavarois that is part of The Residency’s dessert fest, Sugar Rush. And somewhere in the U.K., a chef must be turning out crumbly, gooey tarts.
The fest, a part of the hotel’s regular lunch and dinner buffet at Pavilion, features close to 20 desserts (Continental and Indian), a range of ice-creams and a selection of cut fruits.
The idea behind the fest, says Ashok, is that people should feel less guilty about digging into these sweet pleasures. All the desserts have been made using soy cream, which lends them a wonderful airiness. There’s a nice treat for those with diabetes too — there’s at least one sugar-free dessert every day (we were served pineapple delight), and even the regular ones feature diabetes-friendly fruits such as papaya. As for those who don’t like egg in their desserts, there’s a chance to choose. Instead of settling for just one teeny-weeny dessert tucked away in a corner, eggless desserts sport their green dot with pride at the centre of the dessert table.
Berry merry
The fest also celebrates berries of every kind. There’s strawberry panna cotta, blueberry royal mousse and a summer fruit gateaux with a profusion of berries and other fruits (all eggless). For lovers of caramel custard, there’s tangy, silky smooth orange cream caramel. There’s also a warm walnut fudge pudding. Fresh crepes filled with cherries and peach are served with warm fruit sauces.
One of Ashok’s specialties is the ice cream dosa — a lovely scoop of cold ice cream inside a crispy golden dosa. Do ask for it. The chef also plans to have a live counter for baked Alaska, where it will be flambéed before being served.
The fest features about 200 desserts in all, served in rotation. Mention must be made of the honey almond tart. The wonderfully crispy tart with a filling of almonds and honey is enough to leave you high on sugar!
If you dig tarts, there’s a pie and tart festival at Baker’s Corner. Among the pies are pumpkin sweet pie, apple and raisin pie, lemon meringue pie, banana crumble (Rs. 125 a piece, plus taxes). The tarts include bakewell tart, black currant and mascarpone cream tart, chocolate banana toffee tart and fresh strawberry custard tart (Rs. 45 a piece, plus taxes).
As for the papaya cold bavarois, what can we say? It is a lovely concoction of papaya cream and soy cream layered with more papaya cream. You just can’t help asking: “Can I have more please?”
Sugar Rush is on at Pavilion, The Residency, till July 29. It is open for lunch and dinner. The buffet is priced at Rs. 720 for adults and Rs. 400 for children (inclusive of taxes). For details, call 0422-2241414 or 98430-71777.
