Cooking was a calling for Reynold Poernomo.
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As a child he would watch his parents hard at work at their Sydney restaurant, Bali Sunrise, and during his high school years, while his friends were playing sport, Poernomo perfected his chocolate tempering skills.
His parents had other plans for their son, and encouraged him to study at university. He managed one year of a nutrition course before dropping out to help his mother at her home-based "pastry kitchen".
In 2015 his life changed. Poernomo cooked his way to the top 24 on MasterChef Australia, finishing the series in fourth place. He then went on to open KOI Dessert Bar at Chippendale with his mother and brothers, was a finalist in the Gault & Millau Pastry Chef of the Year awards in 2017 and was listed in Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30 that same year.
Poernomo returned to our television screens for MasterChef Australia: Back to Win and stunned viewers with his creations. One imaginative dish offered a culinary interpretation of an idea from Alice in Wonderland, which featured cloud-soft dulce diplomat cream, vanilla caramel, pistachio sponge and lime yogurt foam. When the warm caramel sauce was poured over the dish as the final touch, the base of the dessert melted to reveal a rabbit hole, resembling the concept from the classic story.
Now he has a book to his name. The Dessert Game.
"It's for everyone," he said. "It's not too much information where it can be quite overwhelming, it's a book where I can show readers that it's not impossible to achieve and master intricate desserts."
The book is designed for all levels of cooks, from the home bakers to the professional chefs or even to those who are new to pastry.
"My favourite recipes are the creme caramel and basque cheesecake; they're just a classic and I can't get bored of them," Poernomo said. "My favourite flavour combination in the book would have to be Moss - it's caramel, pistachio, apple and yogurt with matcha."
Poernomo's love of food was soon refined to desserts.
"Desserts were known as something where 'everything has to be perfect or the recipe will fail' but I wanted to treat the recipes with flexibility and freedom," he said.
"This allowed me to expand my creativity in such an intricate field of food."
Poernomo is busy working on the flagship store for KOI and new venture, Monkey's Corner.
Passion berry cheesecake slice
- Serves 10
- Here's a cheesecake recipe that will surely impress. It combines a cheesecake mousse with a lime ganache, blueberry jelly and passionfruit curd. It's a lengthy recipe and time-consuming process, but the results are stunning.
Wheat biscuit base
- 125 g (41/2 oz) wheat biscuits, crushed
- 40 g (11/2 oz) unsalted butter, melted
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place a 36 x 16 cm (141/4 x 61/4 inch) rectangular stainless steel pastry frame on the tray.
- Combine the crushed biscuits and melted butter in a bowl. Tip the mixture into the pastry frame and then press down firmly with an offset palette knife to make it completely flat. Place in the freezer to set.
Lime ganache
- 150 ml (5 fl oz) single (pure) cream
- 150 g (51/2 oz) white chocolate
- 35 ml (1 fl oz) lime juice
- 20 g (3/4 oz) unsalted butter
- Pour the cream into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until simmering. Add the white chocolate, lime juice and butter and whisk until well combined.
- Pour a thin layer of ganache into the pastry frame over the wheat biscuit base. Transfer to the freezer until needed.
Cheesecake mousse
- 1 gelatine sheet (titanium grade)
- 230 g (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 60 g (21/4 oz) white (granulated) sugar
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 140 ml (41/2 fl oz) thickened (whipping) cream
- Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften.
- Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until combined. Whisk in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine, add it to the cream cheese mixture and whisk until dissolved and well combined. Fold in the cream.
- Spread half of the mousse over the lime ganache in an even layer. Put the remaining mousse in the fridge until needed. Return the cheesecake to the freezer while you prepare the blueberry jelly.
Blueberry jelly
- 1 gelatine sheet (titanium grade)
- 75 g (21/2 oz) blueberry purée
- 15 g (1/2 oz) white (granulated) sugar
- 45 ml (11/2 fl oz) water
- Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften.
- Combine the blueberry purée, sugar and water in a saucepan. Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine and add it to the pan. Cook over low heat until the gelatine has just dissolved.
- Pour the jelly on top of the cheesecake mousse in an even layer, then return it to the freezer to set, ensuring it is level.
- Once the jelly is frozen, spread the remaining cheesecake mousse on top of the jelly, ensuring it is level, then transfer to the freezer to set.
Passionfruit curd
- 100 ml (31/2 fl oz) strained fresh passionfruit juice
- 65 g (21/4 oz) butter
- 1 gelatine sheet (titanium grade)
- 4 eggs
- 100 g (31/2 oz) white (granulated) sugar
- Combine the passionfruit juice and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until simmering.
- Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in cold water to soften.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl until fluffy, then whisk in the hot passionfruit mixture. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, whisking continually, until the mixture is thick. Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine, add it to the passionfruit mixture and whisk until dissolved and well combined.
- Strain the hot passionfruit curd mixture into a jug and blend with an immersion blender. Set aside until cool.
- Spoon small amounts of the passionfruit curd evenly over the cheesecake mousse and spread it out to make a thin layer of curd. There should be 5 mm (1/4 inch) of space left at the top of the pastry frame. Return the cheesecake to the freezer.
- Transfer any excess passionfruit curd into a piping bag.
- Note: Any left-over passionfruit curd can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 weeks, or frozen for a few months.
Lime jelly
- 2 gelatine sheets (titanium grade)
- 100 ml (31/2 fl oz) water
- 75 ml (21/4 fl oz) lime juice
- 50 g (13/4 oz) white (granulated) sugar
- Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften.
- Meanwhile, combine the water, lime juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine, add it to the pan and whisk until dissolved and well combined. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Pour the jelly over the frozen passionfruit curd to create a thin layer, approximately 1.5-2.mm (about 116 inch) thick. Return the cheesecake to the freezer one last time until frozen solid.
Chantilly cream
- 100 ml (31/2 fl oz) thickened (whipping) cream
- 25 g (1 oz) white (granulated) sugar
- Combine the cream and sugar in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer the chantilly cream to a piping bag and store it in the fridge until needed.
Assembly
- Liquid glucose
- Edible flowers, to garnish
- Micro mint, to garnish
- Blueberries or raspberries, to garnish
- Gently warm the outside of the pastry frame with a blowtorch to help release it. Warm a long sharp knife in hot water, then wipe the knife and trim the edges of the cheesecake. Cut the cheesecake into 3 x 12 cm (1 1/4 x 4 1/2 inch) slices, heating and wiping the knife after each cut. Transfer to the fridge to thaw before serving.
- Spread a little liquid glucose on each serving plate to secure the cheesecake slice.
- Pipe dollops of passionfruit curd and chantilly cream on top of the lime jelly and garnish with the flowers, mint and halved berries.
- Serve immediately or store in airtight container in fridge for 3-5 days.
