Dessert

ROGER VAN DAMME

What you hold in your hands right now may be my greatest achievement ever.

You could call it my culinary biography, although I do hope to add many more chapters to my career in the years to come. Together with an entire team, I spent two years pouring my heart and soul into this book. As with cooking, a good book takes time. And the result is one of the best. I say that with humility, although there’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of professional pride, right?

I hope that you will feel the passion in these pages. Most of all, I hope that they will inspire you, the reader. The biggest compliment that I can think of is that you will try my recipes for yourself. Enjoy the result—a beautiful dish—but also enjoy the journey towards creating that dish. That is what I have done over the years.

In this cookbook, you will not only find recipes, but also a story. I will take you on a journey to meet the great chefs who have inspired me over the past quarter century. All of them have contributed in their own way to who I am today. The culinary signature I have developed is in large part thanks to the culinary giants who have crossed my path.

I wish you plenty of cooking pleasure and moreover, plenty of loving people around you with whom to share these culinary delights.

Bio

THE MENU

“Chef of the Year 2010,”

“Best Pastry Chef in the World 2017,” one Michelin star, a seventh book, a renowned business... the résumé of Roger van Damme (°1971, Sluis) reads like a never-ending success story, which it is. Over the course of 25 years, Roger has slowly, surely, and with careful deliberation combined all of the finest ingredients and brought them to a slow and steady simmer. In this book, he presents the exquisite product that is the end result of his hard work.

The main course is naturally Het Gebaar, the Antwerp lunch lounge that Roger established in 1994 and which caused his career to take off. But, there is also a first course. And there are plenty of appetizers.

He came across his first amuse-bouche when he was twelve years old and watched his father, who bakes cakes with an eye for perfection, with a receptive mind. “Thankfully, we clearly share the same genes,” Roger explains. From that moment onwards, he knew he wanted to train at the hotel school in Bruges, Ter Groene Poorte. On the weekends, Roger worked in a bakery in Sluis and learned the tricks of the traditional pastry trade. But, when he turned sixteen, he got fed up with the sacks of flour and spent a brief time deejaying in clubs. To his mother’s great relief, this career detour only lasted for a year before Roger returned to the world of pastry. He found work at the catering wholesaler ISPC, where he developed contacts with numerous restaurant owners. “At that time, pastry involved nothing more than basic crepes. Even slices of cake on a plate was relatively exclusive,” says Roger. He felt that he could bring new life to the pastry world and grabbed opportunity with both hands: travelling to numerous French and Spanish Michelin-starred restaurants, both to learn and to make a name for himself. Roger’s apprenticeships make a sumptuous first course.

The dessert, and the icing on the cake—both proverbially and literally—is this most recent book. He and his team spent two years working on it, and it shows. The long journey has paid off and made the book complete. Roger has been given the time to integrate all his seasonal products and to see himself evolve. This book has shown him that he has become, now more than ever, a coach for his team. A coach who keeps his team in shape, but not from the sidelines; he’s right there on the field with them.

SOLEIL

NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 4

PANNA COTTA

7,5 g gelatin powder

37 g cold water

56 g milk

28 g cream 1 vanilla bean

82 g cream

56 g sugar

28 g Greek yogurt

15 g lime juice

11 g yogurt powder (Yopols - Sosa)

210 g heavy or whipping cream (whipped)

EXTRA fine-mesh sieve piping bag silicone ring mold

MANGO VINEGAR GELÉE

- INTERIOR

40 g almond milk

30 g passion fruit puree

50 g mango vinegar

100 g sugar

5 g pectin NH

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

Heat the milk, cream and the split vanilla bean in a saucepan and infuse for 20 minutes.

Mix the cream, sugar, Greek yoghurt, lime juice and yogurt powder together thoroughly using a whisk. Strain the infusion and reheat the liquid. Dissolve the bloomed gelatin in the liquid and pour the infusion through a fine-mesh sieve onto the yogurt mixture. Whisk the mixture until smooth, then carefully fold the whipped cream into the mixture in 3 parts with a spatula.

Fill a piping bag with the panna cotta and fill the silicone mold. Pipe a thin layer of mango vinegar gelée into the panna cotta using a piping bag and level off. Allow the panna cotta to set overnight in the freezer. Place the frozen ring on a plate and serve once the panna cotta has defrosted.

In a saucepan, bring the almond milk, passion fruit puree and mango vinegar to a boil.

Mix the sugar together with the pectin. Add the sugar mixture to the boiling liquid and mix well with a whisk. Allow to simmer for 30 seconds. Leave the mixture to rest overnight in the refrigerator. Whisk the gelée until smooth. Fill a piping bag with the gelée and keep it in the refrigerator.

PASSION FRUIT CRÉMEUX

1.2 g gelatin powder

6 g cold water

60 g passion fruit puree

4 g almond milk

7 g mango puree

48 g eggs

56 g sugar

32 g butter (softened)

32 g mascarpone

EXTRA Thermomix silicone sphere mold, Ø 1 cm (3/8”) needle

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

Heat both the fruit purees together with the almond milk, sugar and eggs in the Thermomix to 84 °C (183 °F). Add the bloomed gelatin to the warm mixture and allow it to cool to 37 °C (98.6 °F).

Add the softened butter in three parts, mixing the butter in the Thermomix at medium speed. Finally, fold the mascarpone carefully into the mixture with a spatula. Use a piping bag to pipe the crémeux into the silicone sphere. Leave to set overnight in the freezer. Remove the mold and, using a needle, dip the frozen spheres in the yellow glaze. Leave the glazed crémeux to defrost in the refrigerator.

CALAMANSI CRÉMEUX

1.5 g gelatin powder

7.5 g water

100 g calamansi puree

40 g orange juice

1 vanilla bean 1 clove

1 sprig of mint

3 cilantro leaves

80 g egg

95 g sugar

80 g butter (softened)

EXTRA sieve

Thermomix

silicone sphere mold, Ø 1 cm (3/8”)

YELLOW GLAZE

4 g gelatin powder

20 g cold water

30 g sugar

50 g glucose

500 g neutral mirror glaze

75 g passion fruit puree

50 g mango puree

50 g orange puree

3 g Agar (Texturas)

55 g cold water

15 g mango vinegar

15 g lemon vinegar juice of 1 lemon

1 g yellow food coloring

EXTRA fine-mesh sieve hand blender

PASSION FRUIT-LIMEBANANA ICE CREAM

284 g milk

112 g sugar

2.8 g Cremodan (stabilizer)

zest of 1 lime

80 g passion fruit puree

28 g lime juice

32 g banana puree

32 g Prosorbet (Sosa)

EXTRA fine-mesh sieve

Thermomix ice cream maker

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

Heat the calamansi puree together with the orange juice in a saucepan and add the herbs and spices. Infuse for 20 minutes and drain the mixture through a sieve.

Weigh out 120 g of the liquid and heat this in the Thermomix together with the egg and sugar to 84 °C (183 °F). Add the bloomed gelatin to the warm mixture and allow it to cool to 35 °C (95 °F).

Add the softened butter and mix until smooth in the Thermomix. Using a piping bag, fill the 1-cm (3/8”) silicone sphere mold and chill in the freezer. Remove the spheres from the mold and allow to defrost in the refrigerator before using.

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan, bring the sugar, glucose, neutral mirror glaze and fruit purees to a boil.

Whisk the Agar together with the cold water and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Add the Agar mixture to the boiled puree and bring to a boil once again.

Add the gelatin mixture, followed by the mango and lemon vinegar and the lemon juice. Add the yellow food coloring, mix well with a whisk and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Allow to rest for 1 day and heat to 40 °C (104 °F) before use.

Bring the milk, sugar and Cremodan to a boil in a saucepan.

Add the lime zest and infuse. Let the mixture cool.

Blend the mixture together with the remaining ingredients until smooth in the Thermomix and sieve the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Vacuum seal the sieved mixture to remove all the air bubbles, then churn in an ice cream maker.

SOLEIL BONBON

42 g Progianduia blanca, white chocolate with hazelnut paste (Sosa)

42 g white chocolate

2 g yogurt powder (Yopols - Sosa)

10 g freeze-dried passion fruit Crispy (Sosa)

10 g freeze-dried banana Crispy (Sosa)

10 g freeze-dried yogurt Crispy (Sosa)

5 g popping sugar

2 g titanium dioxide

EXTRA

Thermomix

silicone sphere mold, Ø 1 cm (3/8”)

LEMON CRÉMEUX

5 g gelatin powder

25 g cold water

250 g water

71 g sugar

2.5 pcs lemongrass zest of 1 lime

80 g lime juice

186 g whole eggs

120 g sugar

200 g butter (softened)

75 g mascarpone

EXTRA sieve

Thermomix

silicone sphere mold, Ø 1 cm (3/8”)

ALMOND MOUSSE

2 g gelatin powder

10 g water

120 g almond milk

55 g lemon juice

210 g milk

18 g cream powder

105 g sugar

75 g egg yolk

75 g Mycryo powdered cocoa butter (Callebaut)

525 g heavy or whipping cream, whipped

EXTRA

Thermomix

piping bag

wire rack

silicone quenelle mold

Melt the white chocolate together with the Progianduia.

Briefly blend the three different Crispies into fine pieces in the Thermomix and then mix these together with the popping sugar, yogurt powder and titanium dioxide.

Add the Crispies to the melted chocolate and mix well with a spatula. Fill the 1-cm (3/8”) silicone sphere molds with the mixture and chill for at least 1 hour in the freezer. Serve frozen.

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

Heat the water together with the sugar in a saucepan and add the lime zest and lemongrass. Infuse for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture and weigh out 270 g.

Mix the infusion with the lime juice, eggs and sugar and heat in the Thermomix to 84 °C (183 °F). Add the bloomed gelatin to the warm mixture and allow it to cool to 35 °C (95 °F).

Add the softened butter together with the mascarpone and mix thoroughly in the Thermomix.

Using a piping bag, fill the 1-cm (3/8”) silicone sphere molds and chill in the freezer. Remove from the mold and defrost before use.

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

Heat the almond milk together with the lemon juice, milk, cream powder, sugar and egg yolk in the Thermomix to 84 °C (183 °F). Dissolve the bloomed gelatin together with the Mycryo into the mixture and allow it to cool to 28 °C (82 °F).

Fold the mixture into the whipped cream and pipe into the silicone quenelle molds using a piping bag. Freeze, remove from the mold, place on a wire rack and pour the yellow glaze over the quenelle. Defrost in the refrigerator before use.

MANGO COULIS

100 g mango puree

50 g passion fruit puree

25 g sugar

25 g water

4 g mango vinegar

4 g almond milk

5 g lime juice

0.25 g Xantana xanthan gum (Sosa)

EXTRA hand blender

WHITE CHOCOLATE CRISP

300 g Ivoire white chocolate (Valrhona) 100 g cocoa butter

EXTRA hand blender whipping siphon with 3 chargers vacuum-seal container vacuum pump

SUGAR RING

250 g isomalt

2 g yellow powdered food coloring

EXTRA sugar thermometer silicone mat sugar lamp heat resistant gloves

Mix all the ingredients and add the Xantana. Blend until smooth with a hand blender. Let the coulis rest overnight in the refrigerator before use.

Melt the chocolate and the cocoa butter to 45 °C (113 °F) and blend to a smooth mixture with a hand blender.

Pour the mixture into a whipping siphon and charge the siphon with 3 cartridges. Shake the shipping siphon and spray the mixture into a vacuum-seal container. Draw the mixture up using a vacuum pump and allow it to set in the freezer. Defrost the crisp to room temperature and break into pieces.

Heat the isomalt to 165 °C (329 °F) in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the yellow food coloring when the isomalt is almost at temperature and stir until smooth with a wooden spatula.

Turn the isomalt out onto a baking sheet with a silicone mat and place it under a heat lamp. Wear heat resistant gloves to pull the sugar apart. Knead the melted sugar until it starts to glisten. Pull away a small piece of sugar and wrap it completely around a cylinder. Allow to cool and repeat the process. Store in a tightly sealed container.

Roll into a cylinder.

SUGAR RING

Knead the sugar.

Roll out into equal cylinders under the heat lamp.

Place the cylinders flush next to each other.

Place around a metal ring and gently pull until the sugar has a sparkly sheen.

Cut the ribbons into pieces and place them next to each other.

Gently pull the ends of the cylinders to form a ribbon.

Roll the sugar completely around the ring.

You now have a sugar ring.

SUNNY SIDE UP

NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 4

112 g milk

57 g cream 1 vanilla bean

165 g cream (cold)

112 g sugar

57 g yogurt

30 g lime juice

22 g yogurt powder (Yopols - Sosa)

415 g heavy or whipping cream, whipped

EXTRA fine-mesh sieve

silicone mold (in the shape of a fried egg) piping bag

Mix the gelatin powder with the cold water and bloom for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer together with the cream and the vanilla bean. Dissolve the gelatin into the mixture and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Whisk the cold cream together with the sugar, Greek yoghurt, lime juice and yogurt powder and add to the warm creamy milk.

Finally, fold the whipped cream carefully into the mixture with a spatula.

Use a piping bag to pipe the panna cotta into the silicone mold (shaped like a fried egg) and chill in the freezer. Unmold the panna cotta, place the still frozen ‘egg white’ on a plate and allow to defrost.

MANGO COULIS

100 g mango puree

50 g passion fruit puree

55 g sugar water (1 part water, 1 part sugar)

4 g mango vinegar

4 g almond milk

4 g lime juice

0.25 g Xantana xanthan gum (Sosa)

EXTRA hand blender

silicone dome mold, Ø 4 cm (1-1/2”) piping bag

VEGETARIAN GELÉE

250 g water

50 g dessert wine

5 g Gelatina Vegetal vegetarian gelatin (Sosa)

EXTRA needle hand blender

Blend all the ingredients thoroughly with a hand blender. Leave the mixture to rest overnight.

Pipe the coulis into a 4-centimeter (1-1/2-inch) silicone dome mold and freeze.

In a pan, whisk the water together with the dessert wine and the Gelatina Vegetal and bring to a simmer. Use a needle to dip the frozen (dome-shaped) mango coulis in the gelée. Repeat this step so that two thin layers of gelée form around the mango coulis. Place the mango egg yolk in the middle of the panna cotta and allow to defrost.