Sweet treats

By Laila Nasry

Standing behind the counter, greeting his steady stream of customers is the 'sweet' tempter himself, S. Shahabdeen. In 31 years of working as a pastry chef, Mr. Shahabdeen has travelled the world mastering the art. And so to the Rolling Pin have come Arabic sweets like Omali, Backalawa, Mahalabe (in demand among his clientele), Kunafa (sweet) from the Middle East, Tiramisu from Rome, Banana Bread, a low calorie health food famous for breakfast in Europe and other delicacies from France, Greece and the Maldives. 

Work at The Rolling Pin starts as early as 4 in the morning going until 8-9 in the night. Making, baking, decorating and of course tasting before the platters hit the shelves. "I make with my whole heart," he says holding out to us a tray of freshly baked meringues straight from the oven awaiting decoration. "I will fill this meringue with a layer of sponge, creme, fruits..." 

"I don't want people to say it's good, I want them to say it's real good," says Mr. Shahabdeen. "When people tell me it's good it gives me this big thrill." The market being all the more competitive calls for added hard work. "It's a new business so I have to put my entire effort into it," but luckily he has his wife to help out and his children, when it comes to the tasting! 

"When you take short cuts in this trade it shows," says Mr. Shahabdeen for whom quality means everything. A stickler for the proper ingredients, he says, "it's very annoying to use bad products." Thus most of the ingredients are imported. "The good thing is people are willing to spend good money for quality stuff." 

However, prices at The Rolling Pin are far from exorbitant. A Chocolate Meringue Gateaux, a favourite among his clients is priced at Rs. 450, Swiss Blueberry Cheese Cake serving 12 slices for Rs. 700, Baked Alaska (6-8) portions Rs. 600, among others. 

Initially when the patisserie opened last August, Mr. Shahabdeen had to contend with sweet toothed Sri Lankans', the 'complaints' of his customers being that the stuff was not sweet enough. "Since then I have slightly increased the sugar content," he says, adding "when you eat sweets balance it out with exercise, or eat it occasionally." 

Now it's time for the grand finale, the moment I've been waiting for. Whoever said the proof of the pudding is in the eating - God bless him! 

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 kg fresh ripe bananas
12 pcs egg white
700 ml fresh corn oil
700 ml fresh milk
40 g baking powder
1 kg flour
5gms salt

Method

1. Beat the peeled bananas. Then add the oil and milk into the batter.

2. Keep mixing until batter is smoothly beaten, then add baking powder, flour, salt whilst still beating and continue to beat until all ingredients are properly mixed.

3. Beat the egg white separately to make it stiff.

4. Add the egg white into the batter and beat till properly mixed

5. Empty batter into 4 bread moulds until each is full.

6. Bake at 300 ºF for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Baked Alaska

2 Sponge cakes the size of the ice cream block (ready-made cakes can be used)
4-5 tbsp whiskey, brandy, rum or fruit juice
1 quart vanilla ice-cream
Meringue
4 egg whites
5-6 tbsp sugar
Garnish

Canned fruit such as peaches, apricots, pineapple, or thawed frozen berries such as raspberries, strawberries or black berries.

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 500°F. Soak the cakes in the alcohol or fruit juice and put one of them on a baking dish.

2. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the sugar and beat until the whites are very stiff.

3. Take the ice cream out of the freezer and place on top of the cake in the dish. Place the other cake on top of the ice cream.

4. Spread the meringue mixture over the ice cream ensuring that it's completely covered, including the edges.

5. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 5-minutes, until the meringue has turned light gold. Check that it is not browning too quickly. Garnish with fruit if you like and serve immediately.

(Serves 6)

Omahli 

1. Roll out the puff pastry to a 1/4 inch thick sheet. Bake it in a 200ºC oven for 10 minutes and once taken out of the oven, break it into small pieces.

2. Mix the baked puff pastry, dessicated coconut, pine seed, chopped cashew nuts and raisins together, in a silver or pyrex dish.

3. Boil the milk and sugar in a saucepan. Once it boils pour the mixture in the silver or pyrex dish.

4. Mix the fresh cream and confectioners sugar together, before topping the mixture once more.

5. Colour it for 10 min. in a hot oven until it turns a golden brown colour, and then serve it hot.