Christmas with Sarah Barber at Cafe Royal
Our pastry chefs are getting ready for Christmas. Sarah Barber, the famous executive pastry chef from the Hotel Cafe Royal is already sharing her Christmas secrets with us.
What does Christmas mean to you personally and how did this inspire you to create the Christmas pastry collection for Cafe Royal?
Christmas is a time to celebrate with close family and friends; it always brings back great memories from my childhood. Christmas is magical especially for children and this always inspires my Christmas creations.
What have you prepared for this occasion this year?
I created the festive menu for the dessert restaurant which includes all my favourite flavours of Christmas done with a modern twist. The menu includes dishes such as:
"Santa's bauble" with snow
"Christmas present" mandarin jam
"Amaretto brûlée" tart with mulled wine and pain d’ épices (the lemon crumbs in this dessert are mixed with Cacao Barry Zephyr chocolate).
For the cafe we are creating a Christmas winter wonderland display all made of chocolate - it includes santa’s hat and is showcasing our retail items. We also have a Christmas retail collection which includes:
Cafe Royal Buche de Noel, made of orange & Cacao Barry Papouasie Milk chocolate mousse filled with dark chocolate croquant and covered in a 72% Venezuela dark chocolate glaze.
Chocolate tree hanging baubles
Stollen and Christmas puddings and of course our Christmas inspired patisserie. There is also Christmas pudding gateaux with lemon & brandy mousse with golden glaze. The golden glaze is made with Cacao Barry Zephyr and I used Pâte à Glacer Ivoire for the base of the Christmas pudding pain de gene sponge.
For afternoon tea in the Oscar Wilde we also have a special Christmas collection.
Where will these products be available and from which date?
Dessert restaurant festive menu is available from the 1st November to the 5th of January.
Cafe Christmas menu will be there from the 7th of November to the 31st of December and the Christmas afternoon tea in the Oscar Wilde from the14th of November to the 4th of January.
We are based on Regent Street so we will of course have the Christmas lights in the middle of November which will be a busy event for us and we are already embracing Christmas with our festive menu.
Which product from the Christmas collection is your favourite and why?
"The chocolate baubles" for the cafe - they look so decorative when hang on your Christmas tree and are filled with sweet surprises.
I love also the menu for the dessert restaurant which my sous chef and my team worked so hard on. For me it's so important that what we achieve at Hotel Cafe Royal is a team effort and I'm truly blessed to have such talented pastry chefs working along with me.
What would you drink with your dessert?
Mulled wine: it’s my ultimate Christmas drink.
Your advice for a perfect Christmas dessert would be?
Anything that celebrates the flavours of Christmas and looks beautiful will be perfect.
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