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Desserts are often an afterthought at restaurants. Casual eateries especially tend to offer a menu of tired classics, led by crème brûlée.
But at Sydney's Baroque Bistro ─ a relative newcomer to the city's scene, having opened 18 months ago ─ the setting is casual but the desserts are hardly simple. Yes, crème brûlée is on offer, but thanks to Baroque Bistro's sharing an owner with La Renaissance, a French bakery that's been pushing out top pastries and cakes for more than three decades, it's just the start of an extensive sweet menu.
One such intricate treat is described on the menu as 'a salad of winter and preserved fruits, violet crumble, elderflower granite.' The floral and fruity dish may look simple on the plate, but it requires liquid nitrogen, dehydrated fruit powders and floral essences.
Peter Robertson, Baroque's 29-year-old chef de cuisine, explains how the dish, which he describes as a bit like 'rubble on a plate,' comes together.
Elderflower granité and peach sorbet: There are two iced treats in this dessert. The bottom layer is an elderflower granité ─ ice flavored with elderflower syrup ─ that adds a base floral note to complement the intense violet flavors of the crumble (see below). The peach sorbet ─ a sorbet differs from a granité in that it includes gelatin and fruit purée ─ adds sweetness to the dish and is served atop the granité.
Blueberry meringue: While a regular meringue is made from egg white and sugar, here the chef creates a purple blueberry-infused version by rehydrating egg-white powder with blueberry juice. He then adds blueberry powder to turn up the flavor. 'I'm a big fan of this,' says Mr. Robertson. 'It's a nice way to create a creamy texture without the cream. Add the blueberry powder and you get an intensely flavored meringue.' The meringue is broken into chunks and scattered about the plate.
Violet crumble: The most dramatic touch is the chef's play on Violet Crumble, the Australian candy bar. Mr. Robertson's version skips the outer chocolate layer and instead focuses on remaking the honeycomb-like inner part, which he does with blueberry purée, egg whites, sugar and cream, with a dash of violet essence. Like potatoes going into a deep fryer, the mixture is submerged in liquid nitrogen for 10 to 20 seconds. 'A nitrogen bath is quite similar to a deep fryer: The end result is something crunchy, crispy,' says Mr. Robertson. The crumble is sprinkled atop the dessert.
More fruit: The chef also tosses in other fruit ─ recently he used poached pear, blueberries, raspberries and freeze-dried lychees ('hollow and incredibly sweet, like candy,' the chef says). He then adds whatever fresh herbs he can get his hands on, from violet flower to chocolate mint and lemon verbena. 'A lot of things in this dish have subtlety,' he says. 'There aren't any big flavors.'
Liquid nitrogen: For a dramatic finish, Mr. Robertson drizzles liquid nitrogen on the dessert just before serving, creating a dry-ice effect with vapors rising from the plate.
参考译文：
对于饭馆来说，供应什么甜点，往往是放在后面考虑的事情。尤其是简陋的小餐馆，通常就是给出一个以焦糖布丁为主打的囊括最常见经典甜点的甜点菜单。
但是，在悉尼的Baroque Bistro──开张不算久的一家新餐厅（18个月之前开张）──虽然内部设计很随意，但是餐厅推出的甜点却一点也不随意。是的，他们也提供焦糖布丁，但由于他的一个股东来自La Renaissance──一家经营点心和蛋糕达三十多年的法国烘烤食品店，焦糖布丁仅仅是其品种多样的甜点菜单上的一道甜点而已。
菜单上对一道精细复杂的甜点的描述是这样的：“一道低温沙拉，由冬季鲜果、果脯、violet crumble巧克力棒、接骨木花冰糕（elderflower granite）做成。”这道由花和水果组成的沙拉看上去很简单，但它需要加入液态氮、脱水水果粉和花精。
Baroque餐厅29岁的大厨彼得•罗伯逊（Peter Robertson）讲解了这道放在盘中有点像是“一小堆碎石”的甜点的做法。
接骨木花冰糕和桃泥雪糕：这道甜点里有两种冰镇美食。底层是接骨木花冰糕──用接骨木花糖浆制作而成的冰块──为巧克力糖块浓郁的紫罗兰香味加了一点花香的基调。桃泥雪糕──雪糕跟冰糕不一样，雪糕中含有凝胶和水果泥──增加了沙拉的甜味，放在冰糕的上头。
蓝莓酥皮：普通酥皮是用蛋白加糖做成的，而这位大厨用蓝莓汁来搅拌蛋白粉，独创出一种紫色的具有蓝莓味道的酥皮。然后，再加入蓝莓粉进一步强化了蓝莓的味道。罗伯逊说，“我很喜欢这种方法，这个办法很棒，不用奶油就可以营造出一种奶油的味道。加上一点蓝莓粉，就可以做出蓝莓味道很浓的酥皮。”他将酥皮切成几大块，散放在盘子里。
Violet Crumble：最具戏剧性的手笔是这位大厨对澳洲Violet Crumble巧克力棒的处理。他跳过对外层巧克力的处理，而是将主要精力放在蜂窝般糖块内部的精心改造上。他添加了蓝莓泥、蛋白、糖、奶油，最后掺入少许紫罗兰花精。然后将混合物放入液态氮中静置10-20秒钟，就像是将土豆条放入锅里油炸一样。罗伯逊说，“放在液态氮中静置和放在锅里油炸的效果有些类似：最后的结果都是让东西变得又酥又脆。”他将这种巧克力糖块散放在这道甜点的最上面。
其他水果：这位大厨还要在这道沙拉上添加其他水果──最近，他添加的是水煮过的梨块、蓝莓、覆盆子和经过冰冻干燥处理的荔枝（“去核处理之后，荔枝甜得很，就像是糖块一般。”）。接下来，他又随手加上少许新鲜的香草──从紫罗兰花到巧克力薄荷、柠檬马鞭草。他说，“这道沙拉中很多材料的味道都很清淡，一点也不浓烈。”
液态氮：为了获得新颍独特的最终效果，在沙拉上桌之前，罗伯逊往盘中洒入少许液态氮，让盘中徐徐升腾而起的蒸汽创造出一种干冰烟雾效果。
