THE Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain commissioned its Executive Pastry Chef Jonathon Challenor to create a special National Day delight.
The British chef has unveiled a vanilla and cardamom mousse with an orange centre. It also features a red sponge biscuit and a white cream and chocolate glaze, decorated with pastillage flowers and a red chocolate spiral with gold leaf.
Jonathan’s culinary career has taken him to places such as Malaysia, Jamaica, Ireland, Austria, Slovakia and now Bahrain and he used all of his craft and experience to make sure the kingdom’s special day was celebrated in style.
“The idea was to create something light and fresh, while incorporating some spices from the region,” he said. “I took cardamom because it’s wildly used in cuisine here. I then mixed it with vanilla, which is basically the salt for patisseries!
“The design is based on using the colours of the cake, when you cut into it, to look like the Bahrain flag. I wanted to do something different than just the cliché sticking a flag on a toothpick in the top. It would kill it, so I chose to have a representation of the flag inside.”
Slices of the cake will be available in the Ritz Gourmet Lounge from Saturday, although Jonathon is not ruling out that if it’s a runaway success, it will become a permanent fixture.