Not Just a Piece of Cake

Standing 62 floors above ground, 1-Altitude is the world’s highest al fresco bar – also probably the closest you’ll get to gastronomic heaven in Singapore. If the sky-high view’s already impressed you, Chef Jasmin’s desserts at Stellar@1-Altitude takes the cake with her intricate artwork and creative textures and flavours.

I’ve always been a huge fan of desserts. There is always room for dessert, right?

But when it comes to making it, that’s a different story. Chef Jasmin started the workshop by teaching us how to make a simple Yoghurt Crème Brulée. “This should be simple,” I thought to myself, as I watched her flip her crème brulées effortlessly onto the plates.

My ego shattered along with my crème brulée as it spattered pathetically onto my plate. Laughing, Chef Jasmin offered me another one. As it turned out, dessert art is not a piece of cake.

Taking out a jet-black dessert glass platter, with broad brush strokes, Chef Jasmin decorated it with liquid gold (I asked her if it was actually real gold, and yes it was!) and dollops of passion fruit and raspberry sauce.

Next up was a meringue filled with peach and soaked with passion fruit sauce at its base, topped with a beautiful almond croquant lattice and decorated with purple flowers (yes, they are edible too!).

Along the way, we were introduced to molecular gastronomy techniques such as reverse spherification. For the dessert art hardcores, this is a gel-like substance that is made by submerging a liquid in sodium alginate. When the liquid drops into the bath, a thin coat of gel forms around the droplet as the calcium reacts with the sodium alginate. What you get is this little bubble of jelly which explodes in your mouth upon pressure – somewhat like your bubble tea pearls, only less chewy and more explosive.

We made apple-flavoured gelée (little bright green pearls), were used to decorate the dessert platter. Little did I know that so much finesse is needed even for decorations!

Meet the Cherry Alaska: a flambé-ed meringue filled with the best cherry sorbet I’d ever tasted. I would imagine it to be the perfect ending to a hearty meal. Standing there in its pyramidal glory, I could not help but think it was truly one of the seven wonders of the dessert world.

That is, until the famous Fire Ball stole the show with its appearance.

The Fire Ball is a sexy chocolate dome with a beautiful chocolate core topped with berries, apple flowers and bits of dessert stardust, and the sides of the chocolate dome are flambé-ed till it melts, strips and oozes in your mouth like warm, chocolate gold.

For the month of July, head down to Stellar at 1-Altitude on Monday – Friday, 12 pm to 2 pm to enjoy “A Month in Paris”, featuring Stellar’s signature patisserie desserts.