Alexey Grebenshchikov Chestnut Desserts with honey Plated Desserts Recipes so good #24

Rosemary, pineapple, soy sauce, chestnut honey, pine nut plated dessert by Alexey Grebenshchikov

Sumptuous and majestic, the city of Saint Petersburg treasures a splendid past as the capital of the tsars of the Russian Empire. In tune with that sumptuousness, the city’s haute cuisine has so far been characterized by luxury on and off the plate. However, and following the path of world gastronomy, things are also changing in the Russian city. Today, luxury is understood in another way, moving away from palatial exuberance to focus on other values such as the personality of the gastronomic experience or the exaltation of the product. This path has already been taken by new restaurants of great interest such as Bourgeois Bohemians, opened in 2018 and run by the Grebenshchikov brothers, Artem and Alexey, the first dedicated to the savory part of the
menu and the second successfully leading the desserts station.

“I believe that the future will be reserved for easy and healthy desserts. We’ve already noticed this in the preferences of our guests, and I think that the tendency will continue”

The desserts that Alexey Grebenshchikov bets on are fresh, light, healthy and far from superfluous, but at the same time, and as we can appreciate in so good # 24, they reveal themselves as elegant and complex in terms of flavors and textures. Alexei himself points out: ‘we always are looking for a balance between lightness and taste, because taste is a priority for us. We also pay great attention to creativity and the aesthetic part of desserts.’ In fact, the pastry chef is positive that ‘more and more people are attracted by a healthy lifestyle, and they have become more conscious about nutrition. I believe that the future will be reserved for easy and healthy desserts. We’ve already noticed this in the preferences of our guests, and I think that the tendency will continue.’

Regarding one of the creations he showcases in the magazine and that we bring you here today, he introduces it:

‘I’d highlight the use of chestnut honey, since it took the most time and effort to create it. Since my childhood, I’ve liked honey and always wanted to make a creative dessert with this product, although with low sweetness. We developed it for a very long time, constantly tried many options, always without rest. As a result, we got a balanced, multi-component dessert with an interesting combination of tastes and textures. Also, for this dessert, we came up with a honeycomb decor that is made from dehydrated lime jelly. It adds an extra crispy texture and a great visual effect to the dessert, but it also balances the sweetness with its acidity.’

Rosemary, pineapple, soy sauce, chestnut honey, pine nut

Pear sorbet

1120 g pear purée
112 g water
40 g lime juice
20 g trimoline
8 g carob bean gum

Heat the water and Trimoline to 40ºC, pour in the gum and bring to 85ºC. Combine with the pear purée and lime juice and process with a blender. Cool to 4ºC, pour into a Pakojet container and freeze to -18ºC. Before use, punch in the Pakojet.

Almond crumble

50 g almond flour
50 g butter
50 g cane sugar
50 g flour

Combine all the ingredients in a mixer. Cool, grate using a medium grater and bake for 10 minutes at 160ºC.

Rosemary ice cream

150 g cream, 33% fat
150 g milk
4 g rosemary
30 g trimoline
10 g dextrose
1 g locust bean gum
1 g Sosa Natur Emul

Bring the cream to a boil. Add the rosemary and let it brew for 4 hours. Strain. Heat the cream, milk and Trimoline to 40ºC. Add the dextrose, locust bean gum and Natur Emul and bring to 85ºC. Cool to 4ºC. Pour into a Pacojet container and leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Freeze at -18ºC. Churn in the Pacojet before use.

Soy sauce ganache

100 g Zephyr white chocolate
200 g cream, 33% fat
2 g gelatin sheet
30 g Kikkoman soy sauce

Soak the gelatin. Bring the cream to a boil. Add the gelatin, stir into the chocolate and beat with a blender. Leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then beat to a dense consistency and mix in the soy sauce.

Honeycombs made from dehydrated lime jelly

100 g lime juice
100 g water
20 g dry glucose
2 g pectin NH
0,1 g natural yellow coloring

Mix the glucose, pectin and coloring. Heat the lime juice and water to 40ºC and add the pectin, glucose and dye. Bring to a boil. Cool. Smudge honeycombs in a silicone mold. Dry in a dehydrator for 1 hour at 70ºC. Then remove the jelly from the mold, cut into circles with a diameter of 7 cm and continue to dry for 12 hours at 70ºC.

Other ingredients

q/s pine nuts
q/s chestnut honey
1 u pineapple
q/s edible flowers

Montage

Put 4 g of pear sorbet on the bottom of the plate. Put 3 g of almond crumble and 2 g of pine nuts over the sorbet. Pour 1 g of chestnut honey on top with a thin strip. Then put 10 g of ganache with soy sauce. Cut a fresh pineapple into 7×7 mm cubes and put them on the ganache with honey (8 g). On the side of the pineapple, place rosemary ice cream. Garnish with petals of edible flowers. Cover the dessert with circle of dehydrated lime jelly honeycombs.