Up close and personal with the legendary Master Chef Toba Garrett

I first heard of Chef Toba Garrett when I interviewed the Philippines’ Cake Queen, Avelina Florendo, for a food magazine years ago. I was in awe of Mrs. Florendo who taught award-winning Filipino pastry chefs, the likes of Penk Ching, Reggie Aspiras, Jill Sandique and more. But there she was, singing praises about another pastry chef in New York named Toba Garrett. 

 

She admired Master Chef Toba with good reason. For it is said that a New York wedding should have three things: a gown for the bride by Vera Wang, jewelry by Tiffany’s, and a wedding cake by Toba Garrett. Her wedding cakes are so exquisite and executed with such refinement and elegance, they are worth thousands of dollars. 

 

As a cake artist, Chef Toba’s achievements are almost unrivalled. In 2010, Dessert Professional magazine chose her as one of the Top 10 Cake Artists in America. She is perhaps, one of the few with both a culinary degree (from Le Cordon Bleu France) and a fine arts diploma from Fordham University and Parsons School of Design.

 

She is also a renowned educator in cake decorating and confectionary art at New York’s Institute of Culinary Education where she started her department 14 years ago. Her classes are sold out way in advance. And a serious pastry chef worth her weight in gumpaste must have at least one of the five cake books she has authored. 

Meeting the legendary cake artist

 

As her work is indeed, the stuff legends are made of, I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet her in person on her third visit to Manila as part of the Master Chef series of the American Hospitality Academy (AHA) Philippines. This year, she was to teach the art of Upscale Cupcake Design, a current trend din New York, to a limited group of students for three days (Oct. 2-4, 2012). But the members of the media were first to get a shot at a lesson on cupcake design from her. I felt privileged.

 

She greeted everyone with a big smile. The chef was warm and friendly. She spoke slowly with a Southern drawl that was authoritative yet comforting. Any qualms I had about the lesson were quelled as the chef assured us that the activity required no special skill at all. 

 

Creating upscale cupcakes

 

Chef Toba says, “An upscale cupcake is something that has lots of texture. Something that is more three-dimensional and that contains one or more elements to it.” Of course, they are also more expensive than something with just a plain swirl. While these cupcakes are all the rage in New York, they turned out to be easy to make. 

 

The chef first showed us how to create roses from flattened chocolate fondant that was cut into half-inch strips. The only skill required was to twirl the strip from one end to the other and voila, you have a chocolate rose! 

 

Leaves are done by cutting oval shapes from the flat fondant and then putting these between a leaf press. Just apply some icing on top of your cupcake and then arrange these 3D chocolate roses and leaves above that. 

 

But our hands-on activity involved making tiny, three-dimensional fruits made of marzipan (almond paste). With our hands and a few tools, we shaped colored marzipan into little oranges, apples, lemons, strawberries, and raspberries. 

 

We rolled pieces of marzipan into a ball and then formed them to resemble fruits via different hand strokes. These were then rolled over the rough side of a cheese grater for texture after which, indentations on the “fruits” were made with a dogbone or cone tool and a tiny clove was attached to the end. 

 

To make the fruits glisten, we brushed glaze on each one. These fruits were then arranged on top of the almond- and chocolate-flavored cupcakes that were given to us.

 

Chef Toba was right. The task was fun and, yes, even a child can do it! And most of us turned out pretty cupcakes. One of the participants was even as bold as to do a miniature banana! 

 

While my fruit basket cupcake didn’t make it to the Top Five that afternoon, the experience of finally meeting—and getting a warm hug—from Chef Toba was priceless. For her reputation for making elegant wedding cakes and beautiful confections is truly legendary. –KG, GMA News