Food Friday | Into the world of Instagrammable desserts

Imagine this. You’re at a restaurant, just finished with dinner and have been served a drippingly-good molten chocolate creation. If your first reaction is not to pick up the spoon, but the phone and instantly click pictures, you’re not alone! For desserts have really been doing the talking, grabbing likes and hearts instantly, online. No wonder then, that the world of pretty Instagrammable desserts can rival a food menu in more ways than one! And cafes and patisserie makers are upping their game when it comes to creativity. Says Rachel Goenka, CEO and Founder of The Chocolate Spoon Company, “Desserts to me, are delicious, edible works of art in the world of food! They’re dishes you first consume visually and therefore they have to be pleasing to the eye. It’s all about textures and levels and layering and lots of colour - elements that automatically lend themselves to being as pretty as a picture. I always take pictures of desserts, especially when I travel, for instance on my recent trip to Madrid when I went on a dessert crawl with my sister. It’s great to see how the same dessert is plated in so many creative ways.” Here’s looking at more on this trend…

Freakshakes have an ‘I ate that' stamp appeal

People have liked to capture what they eat ever since they’ve had phones, but the credit to the resurgence of the trend on Instagram and other social media grew, thanks to those Dalgona coffees and freakshakes! The latter, especially, is a huge hit in restaurants and cafes and if indulgence had a metaphor, this would be it! Imagine a monstrous, messy build-up of cake, marshmallows, chocolate, cookies, pretzels, brownies, fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, waffles, syrup and more in front of you! It’s so unique that you simply cannot help taking a picture of it to shout out, ‘Hey, I ate that’! Ishaan Bahl, founder of 145 Cafe & Bar, talks about how freakshakes continue to be a big hit. He says, “These mashup milkshakes are out of this world in terms of both appearance and flavour. They’re more than just a drink; freakshakes are meticulously crafted and you can get as creative as you like with them! We’ve come up with 22 different types and so far, people are coming back for more rounds of these thick shakes with almost all of them taking countless photos and videos of it.”

OTT creations make for a delicious temptation

How often you may have heard someone say, 'Oh, that looks almost too pretty to eat!' Dessert maker and owner of House of Amel, Sanah Ahuja's creations are like that. From deep reds and burgundies to and carefully-composed shapes, they're alluring, alright! She states, “Today’s customers are well travelled and want that creative edge when they order desserts to gift. They believe in ‘you eat with your eyes first’. So, we treat each entremets like a canvas, which we then glaze on or spray on to create a dessert that’s mesmerising to look at. We’ve experimented with shades of colours, for instance, in our noisette and chocamel, they're perfect for the gram!” That's also the case with Wakai's Nama Chocolate - a pretty plate with Sao thome chocolate ganache, chocolate soil, chocolate sable and seasonal berries!

Clearly, gone are the days when just a single piece of cake or perhaps a scoop of ice cream on a waffle would suffice for a sweet bite. It’s gone way more decadent than that and today, drippy and flowy is the way to go! Brother duo Harsh Shah and Nisarg Shah, of Dessert Therapy Cafe have based their menu on this concept of indulgence. Says Nisarg, “Nowadays, people love the idea of a big, beautiful dessert. They want it to look dramatic and have taste. We came up with a Half-n-Half Cheesecake with duo combos of ingredients like Nutella and Lotus biscoff or berry coulis and biscoff, to please everyone. Even our pancakes, hotcakes and sundaes follow this mantra.”

And, to match these gorgeous desserts, patisseries and cafes are also embracing pretty pink, gold-edged and floral interiors to make for the right backdrop. Nisarg adds, “We wanted the aesthetics of our café to go with the menu, so people end up posting about the desserts in an ambience that matches.”

How truffles fit in

Small is powerful here, too and when it comes to the world of Instaworthy desserts, truffles seem to be perfect. Says chef Vidushi Sharma, who is the founder of Truffle & Co, “Truffles may look unassuming, but they’re one of the most Instagrammable bonbons out there! They’re luscious, velvety and pack in a punch of flavour even in their small size. And the flavours of these hand-rolled truffles decide their appearance – from what colour the ganache is, to what they’re tossed in - plain cocoa powder to mint and chocolate chips, matcha green, nuts or even the pairing of lush liqueurs with single origin dark chocolate… the variations here are just endless! It’s like a blank canvas you can fill with a plethora of flavours and textures. A flavour I’m soon launching is white chocolate infused with sichuan peppercorn for that zing.”

Rachel Goenka came up with a Aamras and Kaju Katli Truffles in her book Adventures with Mithai and says, “These desserts are versatile and can be customised to the creator’s imagination and palette. Gourmet truffles pairings and varieties are plenty, from coffee-based to berry-based, different percentages of chocolates to even fun flavours like basil, goat’s cheese, chilli caramel, etc. There’s also lot that can be done with truffles in terms of presentation. You can get innovative using nuts, coloured cocoa butter in various designs and effects, coloured chocolates, printed templates and so much more which makes them so visually appealing.”

Molecular gastronomy and other culinary tricks

Another attention-grabbing trend that fits right in, is about smoke, surprises and fun! We’re talking about molecular gastronomy, where science plays into food to transform its physical and chemical elements. From a brownie that hisses with syrup and smoke to a fondant ‘bomb’ that explodes with gooey chocolate rushing out, ice cream with halos of foam and caramel, deconstructed soufflés and more, these creations create a buzz, perhaps more than food itself! And restaurants are taking to it more than ever before. At the modernist restaurant Trèsind, Mumbai, led by chef Himanshu Saini, be prepared to bite into a neat khandvi sorbet and a milk-foam kaju katli. And this is just one example of this contemporary take on desserts.

At Masque, Mumbai, the menu thrives on such delicious surprises. Aditi Dugar, owner of the fine-dine says the cacao and berries-khari biscuit desserts are a hit. She elaborates, “Food is all about innovation and technique. There’s a certain element to deconstructed desserts that creates a sense of wonderment. It’s like a sudden burst of flavour or texture that you get. With our cacao dessert you have cacao fruit, mousse, ice-cream and crisps, served inside a cacao shell, it looks so stunning and you dig into every layer and till you reach the last, with each having different textures!

These almost-theatrical desserts are pure social media gold! Zorawar Kalra, founder and director - Massive Restaurants Pvt Ltd, who has come up with a 'Chocolate Ball on Fire' at Pa Pa Ya, Mumbai, says diners love clicking it. “This a creamy, chocolatey, and lit dessert, quite literally and figuratively,” he reveals, adding, “It's stuffed with vanilla ice cream, orange-flavoured walnut brownie, coffee cream, cookie crumbs and flambéed with orange liqueur. The ball melts right in front of you after being set on fire by the staff. It's not just a treat to watch but is also a treat for the tastebuds. Desserts are everyone’s favourite and there’s always room for transformation and reinvention.”

The next time you eat out, pay attention to the dessert menu and reach for the camera before the spoon, for the dessert may have more pizzazz than the food itself!

Ismat Tahseen is a Mumbai-based journalist who writes on food, trends, culture and lifestyle for over a decade now.

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