This one’s more than the sum of its parts. The attempt by UDS Group of Hotels to enter the Asia Book of Records with a display of more than 150 varieties of ‘heart-shaped desserts’ at Uday Suites, Shanghumugham, on Valentine’s Day easily took the cake.
From Sugar Hearts to Tinted Angel Cake to Valentine’s Day Chocolate Bark to Grilled Choco Raspberry Yummy Quesadilla to the ubiquitous Black Current Souffle to the very Indian Kaju Katli, there was a breathtaking range of sweetmeats – cakes, pastries, muffins, sweets, mousses, soufflés – for one to behold. As arrangements for the record-making display went on, MetroPlus caught up with Harikumar Nair, corporate pastry chef with the UDS Group of Hotels, who has had his hands full in the past few weeks.
A heart-shaped gateau
“What’s happening here [Hearts Together as One] is the result of painstaking preparations that had been afoot for about a month. It’s the joint effort of a team of about 15 staff members, all well-trained in pastry-making and baking, who deserve kudos for making the dream come true,” said Harikumar. The display was all arranged in alphabetical order for easy cataloguing for the Asia Book of Records adjudicators.
Harikumar said he was not daunted when the CEO Raja Gopala Iyer pitched the idea. “It was all about teamwork. I was just leading the team, which has been very efficient,” said the 52-year-old, who has previously worked with hotel chains in Abu Dhabi and Oman.
Apple Crumble hearts
Once the project was green-signalled, the process commenced with purchasing of ingredients for the garnishing and fillings. “These were made first as they needed to be stored or kept frozen. The different varieties of creams were prepared next, followed by bases and fruit mixes. All these items were then mixed with the respective flavours before the finishing touches such as piping and icing were done,” said Harikumar. Some of the flavours predominantly used were vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pista, kiwi and mango. After baking and conditioning, the mousses were kept frozen, while most of the other items were stored at room temperature.
For such a massive project, it's not just the labour that counts but the ingredients too. “Over all, approximately, 100 kg of maida, 150 kg of sugar and about 30 kg of butter was used. We also imported some berries for fillings, such as blueberry, strawberry and raspberry,” said Harikumar.
The display included savouries from multiple cuisines such as Indian, Arabic and French. Heart-shaped casts of various sizes were used during preparation. Around 20 items were sugar-free. Individual pastries weighed about 150 grams and several of the same variety were made. Apart from the inventoried items prepared exclusively for the record, the display showcased around 10 gateaux of one-kg each, all heart-shaped and some with multiple layers, for decoration. The Three-layer Chocolate Cake and Red Velvet Brownie were probably the toughest of the lot owing to their longer preparation methods, said Harikumar. Buoyed by the success of the venture, the hotel group plans to submit the accomplishment to the Guinness World Records too.
A variety of desserts on display.
So, since there was no sale as the one-of-a-kind endeavour was only for display, what did they do with all the pastries? “Most of it were eventually given away as compliments to the visitors and the rest was distributed among families of senior members of the hotel group. Some were served as part of dinners hosted by us,” said a spokesperson of the group.
