Dec 2019/ Jan 2020 - JHB West

While he is a master at creating and
baking delicious desserts, he also
has a knack for making them look
almost too good to eat. He prides
himself on being creative and
having an eye for detail. He loves to
play around with the plating and
presentation of his desserts.
At 30, he is not only an
accomplished pastry chef but a
family man as well ...
'I have a lovely wife and three very
cute daughters. Our twins are
four years old and the youngest is
nine months old. I spend my free
time with my family or watching
soccer. I've been a part of the
Diepsloot community for three
years and by now, everyone in my
neighbourhood asks me for desserts
or cakes because of my job.'
He appears to be a very reserved
person but he gets very enthusiastic
when he talks about his job – that's
when he gets just as vibrant as the
buzzing café he works at.
'Being a pastry chef is my dream job
and I would tell anyone who wants
to follow this career path to do it.
It's best to do it professionally and
get the qualifications, even if it takes
time. A pastry chef should have a
lot of patience because it takes a lot
of trial and error before a recipe is
perfect, but it is worth it in the end.'
Phillimon says that his culinary
journey is far from over.
'I'm qualified but that doesn't mean
that I know everything. I'm always
learning from other chefs. I'm always
trying to learn and create more.'
Try these sweet delights made by Phillimon:
Cream cheese apple coffee cake
Cake ingredients:
125ml butter, softened; 125ml brown
sugar; 60ml white sugar; 1 egg; 60ml
vegetable oil; 2,5ml vanilla; 375ml flour;
2,5ml bicarbonate of soda; 2,5ml baking
powder; 1,25ml salt; 5ml cinnamon;
375ml finely chopped apples.
Cream cheese layer ingredients:
230g cream cheese; 5ml vanilla; 45ml
white sugar.
Streusel ingredients:
180ml white sugar; 60ml brown sugar;
125ml flour; 5ml cinnamon; 2,5ml
baking powder; 0,5ml salt; 90ml
cold butter.
To make:
Preheat oven to 180 °C/ 350 °F and
grease a 20 x 20cm square pan.
Combine the butter and sugars for the
cake and mix until fluffy. Add the egg,
oil and vanilla, and mix until combined.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda,
baking powder, salt and cinnamon
and stir into the butter mixture until
combined. Stir in the apples and spread
into the square pan.
For the cream cheese layer, mix the
cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and
spread over the cake batter in the pan.
Combine all the streusel ingredients
using your hands or a pastry blender
until well combined. Sprinkle over the
cream cheese mixture.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the
topping is browned.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream.
Amarula crème brûlée
Ingredients:
10 egg yolks; 250g sugar; 1 litre fresh cream; 1 shot Amarula.
To make:
Heat the cream in a medium saucepan just until bubbles
form around the edge.
In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks, Amarula and sugar
by hand until pale in colour. Very gradually, lightly whisk in
the hot cream. Skim off any surface bubbles.
Strain into small heatproof dishes, wider than they are
deep. Place in a roasting pan or baking dish with enough
hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.
Bake at 160°C for 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the
centre comes out clean. Cool, then chill well.
Before serving, sift about a tablespoon of castor sugar over
each custard. Place in a roasting pan filled with ice, then
slide under a hot grill until the sugar melts and caramelises.
Alternatively, use a blowtorch to melt and brown the sugar.
DEC/JAN 2019 - 2020 Get It Joburg West 25