By Leigh O’Connor.
Transforming the traditional building blocks of baking by using natural, plant-based ingredients, Philip Khoury reinvents and reimagines cakes, bakes and desserts in his latest cookbook A New Way to Bake.
Head Pastry Chef at Harrods, Australian-born Philip uses his deep knowledge of patisserie to make desserts that are ‘cleaner’ and present finer flavours and textures with more than 80 recipes for the home cook.
With a background that includes working at Sydney fine diner, Chef-hatted Quay restaurant and alongside Adriano Zumbo, Philip has established himself as a trusted and innovative force in the world of patisserie.
He is known for pioneering plant-based pastry and captivating customers with his remarkable creations, such as the acclaimed dish Dawn of a New Day – pears poached in Harrods No.42 Earl Grey tea with velvety milk chocolate cream, Earl Grey sponge, milk chocolate Chantilly and biscuit crunch.
A New Way to Bake uncovers a brief history of baking before setting out the ‘Plantry’ – where the main ingredients and their functionality are explained.
Full of delicious bakes from apple pie to banana bread, lamingtons and tiramisu, there are sweet treats for any occasion. The recipes are broken down into simple, digestible steps and tips, along with QR codes on each page linking to videos, so you can bake along with Philip and achieve showstopping results.
What is more enticing than the smell of freshly baked buns wafting from the kitchen? These butterscotch-glazed sticky date-laced knots are punctuated with the unmistakable, warm and lingering aroma of cardamom.
Roll the chilled dough out quite thin, spread the date and cardamom seed paste, then load up the video tutorial to see a very cool knotting technique!
A soft and tender crostata pastry is the base for Philip’s baked cinnamon and citrus cheesecake, which is somewhere between a tender cake and shortbread, also the perfect wrap-around pastry for this version of a baked cheesecake.
Inspired by Pasticceria Papa’s ricotta cheesecake from Sydney, Philip has added some additional candied fruit peel which he says can be left out if it is not to your taste. If this is a dessert you want to eat on the same day, omit the top, but for a truly decadent eat, prepare the day before and ‘age’ in the fridge overnight.
This will soften the pastry, allowing for some moisture migration from the filling to the crust; to finish, dust with icing sugar and extra cinnamon.
Who doesn’t love ice cream? Philip’s plant-based no-churn chocolate ice cream is sure to become a family favourite and can’t be easier to make. A no-churn recipe is super handy as ice cream machines are specialist and sometimes expensive pieces of equipment.
According to purists, this would technically be an iced confection but who cares when it tastes this good? Prepare the base cream and leave it to chill in the fridge, then whip to a soft peak and freeze – scoop as usual.
When we received this book in the AGFG office – where a number of us are dietary specific – there was considerable excitement; it is written in an informative, yet approachable style making it a comprehensive guide that arms readers with a new outlook and tools to bake a better future!
