Desserts by Christine Manfield @ Eightysix

Earlier this month, and for two nights only, Eightysix let one of Australia’s culinary ambassador’s Christine Manfield take over its kitchen and provide diners with her wonderful desserts from her latest book Dessert Divas. Dessert is my favorite part of any meal so I immediately made a booking when I found out. Our table of four weren’t that hungry on the night and ordered light dishes for dinner. After all, the night was all about the dessert. The kitchen was full of chefs. I’ve never seen so many staff and the atmosphere was buzzing.
To start with, I ordered the smoked trout salad ($18) with asparagus, fennel, cabbage topped with a poached egg. The smoked trout was still warm and gave a hit of saltiness to the dish. I loved the crunchiness of the salad and the fact that it wasn’t drowning in dressing. A really fresh dish I would order again.
Mr STTA ordered the Penelope Rose ($16). Our waiter explained this was Eightysix’s take on an all-green salad filled with lettuce, mint, coriander and more green items. It literally is all green.
Dr L had the chicken parfait ($24) which came with small crunchy witlof – the perfect size and shape to use as edible dipping spoons into the pot of chicken parfait with strawberry jelly on top.
Now onto the desserts. These were all $20 and sounded amazing. As there were 4 desserts, we strategised and ordered a different one each to have a taste of every dessert. I ordered the ‘Madame Pompadour’ which I thought was the prettiest looking dessert of the night. The book states that the name comes from the pompadour beehive hairstyle found at French court in the time of King Louis XV, and the madame in question was one of the King’s favourite mistresses. The bottom layer is a strawberry jam, then a layer of peach curd with poached peaches, then a layer of strawberry cream, then the pink moscato jelly on top. This is then decorated with a quenelle of yoghurt sorbet in the middle with mini macarons filled with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries and raspberries scattered around it. Finally the Persian pink fairy floss on top to represent the hairstyle. A lovely sweet and creamy dessert with intricate flavours that cleverly used in-season peaches and fresh fruit. I loved the different textural elements to the dish. The tiny macarons are adorable! A tantalising balance of sweetness from the jam and sourness from the yoghurt in the curd.
V ordered the Gaytimes goes nuts with caramel ice cream, honeycomb nougat dust, salted hazelnut caramel and hazelnut chocolate mousse. I could not help but feel food envy as this was one of the favourite desserts of the night. Such perfect execution of all the ingredients that combine to pack a punch – the Gaytime reinvented.
Dr L ordered the Cheeky Devil – a chocolate sacher cake with almond praline, chocolate mousse and topped with cherries. This was another superb chocolate dessert with silky mousse layers.
Mr STTA ordered the Bite the Pillow – kaffir lime tapioca curd with toasted lemon marshmallow clouds, grapefruit granita, lychees and candied grapefruit zest. He didn’t like this dish much as it was too sour for him but he was glad he tried it. The ‘pillow’ was as fluffy as a cloud but I agree that the grapefruit granita was quite sour and just not to my taste. But then again, I’m not a fan of citrusy sour desserts.
Overall, the desserts on offer covered off most people’s tastes and preferences. The desserts were beautifully presented and I’m really glad I got to try them out. I love dessert! There needs to be more dessert degustations in Canberra methinks.