Mixed berry naked layer cheesecake

I love cheesecake and I wanted to do something that represented the fun of being a kid. Cutting into a cake and exploring the different flavors hidden between the layers of cake, cream, and some sort of fruit-type of components, it’s a lot of fun. For my dessert, I wanted to take two kid-favorite desserts,…

Eternal memories: a plated concept

I was inspired to create this concept from a song by Crystal Kay of the same name. The chorus talks about finding yourself, despite how difficult that may be to do so. The song just reminded me of my own culinary journey so to speak, coming up from being a vegan cupcake baker to a…

Lapis Lazuli fruit tart

The inspiration behind this fruit tart came from the lapis lazuli gemstone. It is a naturally blue mineral studded with gold and white streaks. I wanted to also make this dessert an homage to my hometown of Palos Verdes, where wild fennel grows, and that’s where the inspiration to use fennel pollen came from. I…

Fruity ube layer cake with ube mini doughnuts

I’m too lazy to write a foreword for this, so I will keep it very short, sweet, and to the point. This cake was inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar, and I wanted to incorporate tropical ingredients, so that’s where the coconut, banana, and ube came from. I used blackberries as well, because they add a…

Prickly pear-blackberry sorbet

I love using cactus pear (also called prickly pear or xoconostle) in sorbets. One of the first ice creams I have ever made was actually a prickly pear-orange sorbet back in my sophomore year of college (where I didn’t even have an ice cream machine, just an immersion blender). For this recipe, I added in…

Toasted soy chiffon cake with lemon curd cream and blackberries

So I first came up with this concept because my parents needed me to prepare a dessert for their friend’s 4th of July party (that I wasn’t even invited to)….bastards. Since they were all old anyways, my parents told me specifically to use less sugar….I’m starting to feel less salty about not being invited. No…

Ube souffle pancakes

I love ube. Ube is a purple yam indigenous to Asia and it’s great for making many desserts with. Souffle pancakes, also called shiawase pancakes, are a very popular breakfast item or snack in Japan, known for their fluffy texture. Combine them together and theoretically, it should be a social media phenomenon. For my recipe,…