Pooja Dhingra shares her love for cakes and their perfect recipes
She took a French ‘loaf' into the 15th Quarter and found love in the form of delightful cakes and pastries... and the rest is delectable history!
Bangalore: She was born into a family of food lovers and gastronomical travellers. Their’s is pretty much the case of —‘the family that bakes together stays together’. At 27, Pooja Dhingra’s, French confectionery store, Le 15 in Mumbai, has got her a mention in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and she is now coming to the city to launch her first book, The Big Book of Treats which promises to make baking a breeze, even for the beginners (at Foodhall on June 14).
Though she had been baking for a while, the idea of turning her hobby into a career began taking shape while she was ‘trying’ to study law. “Books were not my cup of tea,” says the pâtissiere who regularly caters to the bigwigs of Bollywood like Salman Khan, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone and many more who are fans of her cakes, tarts, cupcakes and pastries. She studied hospitality at the Cesar-Ritz in Switzerland for four years and in the pastry kitchen there, she discovered the simple pleasures of baking. The next stop was Paris for a nine-month diploma from Le Cordon Bleu. Once done, she headed back to India to start Le 15 Patisserie. “Paris is where I first dug my teeth into the macaroons and got addicted. I had had everything but this, and the light concoction of almond powder and meringue filled up my senses,” recalls Pooja, for whom that was the turning point. She wanted to bring Paris back to India. That explains the name Le 15 and the Eiffel Tower logo on her pastry boxes. “Paris is divided into quarters and Le 15 is where I lived,” says Pooja reminiscing of her time there. Apart from baking, she also conducts regular baking classes that are quite a hit across the country.
While the French use buttercream filling in their macaroons, Pooja prefers chocolate ganache, as it doesn’t succumb to the Indian weather like butter does. She twisted the European recipes a bit and interchanged a few ingredients here and there to produce delectable that would suit the Indian palate and survive its tropical climate. The red velvet cake and the passion fruit macaroon sell like hot cakes. Actress Sonam Kapoor, the fitness freak, doesn’t mind loading up on the calories with Pooja’s Hazel Crunch, a cake with layers of chocolate and hazelnut filling. The texture and flavour of the filling resembles that of the typical French biscuit. Meanwhile, her desserts are drizzled with innovative combinations of flavours. Imagine a green chilly or a masala chai macaroon. It takes a while to register, but a split second to fall in love with the burst of unexpected flavours in the mouth.
Red Velvet BrownieIngredients for approximately 20 pieces
l Butter 70 gm l Castor sugar 160 gm l Dark chocolate 45 gm l Eggs 2 l Vanilla essence 1 tsp l Red food colour 11/2 tsp l Flour 105 gm l Baking powder ½ tsp
In a bowl, beat eggs, castor sugar and vanilla essence till light and fluffy. Melt butter and dark chocolate in a microwave and add mixture. Add food colour and mix. In a bowl, sift the floor and baking powder. Add it to the chocolate mixture and mix with a spatula till blended. Bake at 180 C for 18 to 20 minutes in a lined 8 inch tin. Once cool, cut into squares and serve.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients: l Cream cheese, cold 125 gm l Butter at room temperature, 50 gm l Lemon zest 1 tsp l Sifted icing sugar, 300 gm
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter till smooth. Add lemon zest and whisk. Gradually, add icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate the frosting for two to three hours.
Tip of the trade:
l Don’t keep opening the oven door! Opening it for 30 seconds can drop temperatures.
l Adding flavour to fat helps distribute it. If a recipe has vanilla, add it to butter for flavour.
l Roasting enhances flavours of nuts.
l Use a clean bowl to beat egg whites. Any traces of yolk and you won’t be able to whisk them stiff.
l Wrapping the tart or cookie dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerating it for a minimum of two hours is advisable. It helps in moisture distribution.
l Store baking powder or soda in an airtight container in a dry place to keep it potent.
l Chocolate needs a lot of love and has to be stored correctly. If kept in hot temperature, it blooms-fat and cocoa butter floats to the top.
l Stir chocolate constantly while melting to keep temperature even.
l Measure your ingredients and lay them out before you.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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