NEW YORK, Aug 7 — Beetroot. That’s the secret ingredient responsible for the pink hue of the Barbie pasta that’s blowing up on right now, emulating the pink universe of Greta Gerwig’s film. Viewed over 43 million times on TikTok, the recipe looks to beets for its pretty colouring but other foods can also provide a pink hue, such as red cabbage. And in the realm of desserts and pastries, there seem to be a whole host of options for going pink in a natural way, as demonstrated by these French chefs. Here are some sweet creations in the favourite colour of the Mattel doll.
Raspberries
There are a plethora of ways to create a dessert that is pink, without relying on artificial food colouring. The obvious choice is seasonal fruit — an obvious one is raspberries. Just take a peek at chef Cédric Grolet’s latest sculpted fruit, if you need convincing. While the pink tone of the berries itself is rather dark, combining it with cream for instance to create a charlotte-style cake or mixed into custard. In the superstar pastry chef’s boutique, the tartness of the raspberry confit is countered by a thyme-infused creaminess.
But he’s not the only French chef using raspberries in desserts for a pretty pink tone. In Saulieu, the Relais Bernard Loiseau pays tribute to its late great chef with a tribute menu that isn’t lacking in varied flavours or rosy hues. In this example a raspberry puff pastry sits atop a homemade tarragon sorbet in the centre of the plate.
Redcurrant
Another red fruit that can be used to create pink desserts is redcurrant. Feast your eyes on one of the latest desserts presented by Michelin three-star chef Anne-Sophie Pic on her Instagram account. Based on white peach, redcurrant, verbena and laksa leaves, a variety of plant used in Vietnam for its peppery taste, this sweet composition from the Pic house in Valence presents an aesthetic range of various shades of pink.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb has a short growing season, but it’s another option for getting a more powdery pink colour in a dessert. It’s easy to see how to achieve such a result when you look at the stalks of this plant, known for its distinctive taste mixing tart and fruity flavours. Pastry chefs often poach the fruit in syrup to get a pretty hue. Then all you need to do is let the sugar-imbued stalks drip to obtain a deliciously pink juice that resembles the iconic Barbie hue. Three-starred chef Frédéric Anton, at Paris’s Pré Catelan, uses confit rhubarb in a sublime dessert featuring lemon shortbread and vanilla-flavoured ice cream to accentuate rhubarb’s pretty, powdery pink shades.
Meanwhile pastry chef Jessica Prealpato, who is working on the opening of her first boutique and is a consultant for London’s Carlton Tower Jumeirah, didn’t miss a beat when rhubarb was in season in April. Prealpato, who was the world’s best pastry chef in 2019, paired it with fennel and ginger, another alternative for tinting dishes a subtle pink... Last spring, Aymeric Pinard, the chef of Les Airelles at the Château de Versailles, also used pink in his cute rhubarb tartlets flavoured with chestnut honey.
In your home kitchen, the easiest way to add a touch of pink, with rhubarb, when you’re not a culinary virtuoso, is undoubtedly to dip into the candied fruit on offer from Aurélien Rivoire, who manages to create 100 per cent natural confections without using a gram of sugar. The Lyon-born chef, who heads pastry for Yannick Alléno, uses a ripening process to achieve a stunning result, a world away from the sugary candied fruits that are so sweet when bitten into. After grapefruit, mango and orange, Aurélien Rivoire has added rhubarb to his collection.
Roses
This colourful tour would obviously not be complete without a mention of Pierre Hermé’s rose-infused desserts. The rose flavour has become such a signature that his Ispahan dessert, built around a macaron, has taken the world by storm. Although the recipe also uses another pink ingredient, that of lychee, it is the rose that is at the heart of the creation. The pastry maestro uses floral notes in other desserts, from his Christmas Yule log cake to his Aurora pastry creation, featuring a bergamot-soaked biscuit and a rose-flavoured mascarpone cream.
Poppies
Finally another alternative for reproducing a pink dessert at home is to dip into pink candied creations. Since the aim is to avoid artificial options, one place to look is the variety of French artisanal specialties. And that’s what the world’s only Michelin-starred pastry chef, Sébastien Vauxion, has done. In Courchevel, the chef of the Sarkara restaurant, which serves only desserts, used Nemours poppies to create a pink religieuse that would likely delight Barbie. Other sweet French treats that are also a rosy hue include the famous pink cookie from Reims, which can be used in a tiramisu or a raspberry charlotte cake. — ETX Studio
