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Sweet treats to delight from Philippa Sibley.
ed peanut caramel and milk chocolate
mousse. Describing it as a “do not try this at
home” dessert, Sibley says that there has
been such high demand for it that it will never
be taken off the menu.
While the Snickers has become her signature
dish, more than anything Sibley loves
working with fruits, sorbets and ice creams.
Fresh fruit, cooked perfectly with freshly
churned ice cream is her dream dessert.
“Whether it be peach with lemon verbena
ice cream and golden raspberries, or pear
with chocolate fondant and vanilla bean ice
cream, freshly done,” she says.”It's so
clichéd but really just fresh fruit cooked
properly is wonderful.”
Now, more than ever, Sibley says she’s
noticing that up-and-coming chefs are aspiring
to specialise in pastry, something which
was almost unheard of five or ten years ago.
She's also noticed that desserts are not only
more sought after now, but are also of a
‘Then
there's the
throw back
of the head
and the eye
roll. I love
the demonstrative
reactions
of the
customers.’
higher standard. “We used to just get ice
cream with hot chocolate sauce or half a
peach from a tin with commercial ice cream
and raspberry jam, but now it's all deconstructed
and the raspberries will be dehydrated
or frozen and everything is really
thought out and ‘fancified’ and it's a lot
more fun,” she says.
Sibley’s also noticing a lot more chefs
growing their own produce and/or using
only organic ingredients. Not only are ingredients
fresher in today's kitchens, but they
are also being kept in their natural state,
used raw or cooked for less time.
People are also becoming more health
conscious and preferring less sugar in their
desserts,” says Sibley. but she doesn’t see this
as cause for concern for pastry chefs.
“It's just another reason for pastry chefs
to continue to experiment and work with
more modern equipment and appliances,”
she says. “I'm a huge advocate of the Paco-
16 hospitality | august 2010 hospitalitymagazine.com.au