The pastry chef behind Longboys doughnuts and ice cream in London was the executive pastry chef for Hakkasan Group for six years before founding his own patisserie management company, Smart Patisserie Ltd.
Chef Graham joined us on Instagram Live to "make some cake and cheer everybody up a little bit." He demonstrated a rustic fruit tart with corn flour and a moist Madagascan vanilla from Zazou Emporium.
Chef Graham recommends layering flavor, mixing on low speeds to maintain the structure of your ingredients and adding citrus zest last so it's fresh. "The aroma of orange and strawberry is a fabulous combination," he says, and you can use your choice of citrus and seasonal fruit with this recipe.
Strawberry Citrus Tart
Ingredients
- 200 grams unsalted butter, soft
- 160 grams icing sugar, sifted
- 80 grams whole eggs
- 400 grams plain flour
- 2 grams fine sea salt
Directions
- Lightly cream together the butter and sugar.
- Slowly add the eggs to combine. Scrape down well.
- Add the flour and salt, mix to combine.
- Roll the dough to 3 mm, chill.
- Line tart shells and blind bake at 160 C.
Vanilla Genoise Sponge
Ingredients
- 100 grams whole eggs
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 50 grams cake flour
- 2 grams baking powder
Directions
- Sift together the flour and baking powder.
- Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on high speed 10 minutes, until a thick sabayon is formed.
- Lightly fold in the dry ingredients by hand, until just mixed.
- Gently spread the sponge into a lined baking tray, 5 mm high.
- Bake at 160 C, 5-8 minutes, or until lightly coloured.
Citrus Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 240 grams milk
- 1/2 orange, zest
- 1/2 lemon, zest
- 15 grams corn flour
- 15 grams flour
- 30 grams sugar
- 50 grams egg yolks
- 175 grams butter, softened
Directions
- Bring the milk to a boil. Add the zest and allow to infuse 15 minutes.
- Return the milk to a boil.
- Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour and corn flour.
- Pour the boiling milk over the egg mixture, whisk, return to the pot.
- Cook, stirring until it comes to the boil. Boil 1 minute, and taste to ensure the starches have cooked out. Pour into a shallow tray, then cover with clingfilm to touch and refrigerate until set.
- Blend the crème patisserie and butter in a Thermomix lightly until smooth. Don’t over mix or it will become runny.
Strawberry Compote
Ingredients
- 1 punnet strawberries
- 20 grams icing sugar
- 1 orange, juice and zest
Directions
- Hull and half the strawberries.
- Toss with the icing sugar, orange zest and juice.
- Allow to macerate for 1 hour.
Garnishes
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Lemon verbena
Meet more guest chefs like Graham at our Center for Advanced Pastry Studies (CAPS) classes and explore pursuing a Pastry & Baking Arts diploma at ICE.
