After bringing us the classic icon on a dessert platter, Chef Miko Aspiras, who continiously searches for new ways to improve his craft, set another challenge for himself. Using the best ingredients, he decided to try and bring the luxury of the holidays – that wonderful time of the year when people all across the globe give in to the temptations – to the dessert table.
Miko got the idea of crafting luxurious desserts from his travels, most recently to Australia and Japan. “I learned that in most countries outside of the Philippines, they treat dessert as luxury,” he said, and also added:
“I want to slowly introduce desserts that are unconventional to Filipinos. I want the Philippines to be a dessert eating country.”
And he isn’t talking about your average halo-halo. He wants to level up the Filipino dessert scene, which he has already done by reintroducing a proper soufflé to modern Filipinos.
Miko made two desserts that embody the idea of luxury:
The first dessert is an Ikazumi (squid ink) ice cream with hints of charcoal. We know – squid ink and charcoal as an ice cream flavor? But trust us, it actually tastes like a creamy and extra rich vanilla ice cream with a little more zing. To further add some texture, he tops the soft-serve with charcoal-flavored mochi (don’t question it, just try it), a crunchy chocolate cone, and a Valrhona chocolate crumble drizzled on the plate, which, quite frankly, goes amazingly well with the thick yet soft ice cream. Needless to say, one plate is definitely not enough.
The second serving puts luxury on a plate. Its main focus is butter – namely, Echire butter, one of the richest, lightest, and most expensive butters in existence (it might even be the best butter in the world). He didn’t just use the butter though – simply replacing the butter in a recipe isn’t a challenge. Miko kept the butter in its truest form, as slivers and swirls of butter sandwiched in between two crispy puff pastries. He finishes off this luxurious mille-feuille with butter and vanilla crème Patissier, which further enhanced its pure flavor (it melts in your mouth like a cloud from the heavens).
Try this dessert at Le Petit Soufflé on the 3rd floor of Century City Mall from now until December.
Photos by Angela Gonzalvo
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