TortaPistocchi Chocolate Week at Hilton Singapore

In collaboration with TortaPistochhi founder and producer Chef Claudio Pistocchi, il Cielo restaurant chef Omar Bernardi and Hilton Singapore pastry team will serve an array of chocolate sweets and savouries. From Sunday 31 March 2013 to Saturday 6 April 2013, Chef Claudio will be in Singapore to promote his chocolates. We were honoured to be invited for the prelude in January.


Torta Pistocchi made its debut 22 years ago in the city centre of Florence and knowing that most will feel guilty of eating desserts, he decided to create something chocolate with minimal calories with no additional ingredients. According to him, the best way to enjoy chocolates is to temper and blend them and since there is no intention of baking it in an oven, flour and eggs are not required.


Said to be a chocolate cake and not a cake with chocolate, 60 kinds of chocolates are used in the classic Torta Pistocchi as chocolates with different regions are said to have different level of bitterness, acidity and cocoa butter. By blending many types of chocolates, the cake is able to bring out the different characteristics of the chocolates and provide a sophistication of taste. To distinguish himself with major players in France, Belgium and America, the cake only contains chocolate with 100% cocoa butter. In addition, it contains neither eggs, nor butter or flour, no sugar, preservatives, just the finest dark chocolate, bitter chocolate powder and a little cream. Hence it is technically not a cake but chocolate in a cake form.

One of the more amazing things to hear from Chef Claudio is no change has been made to the recipe and since the original recipe is meant for 100 cakes, they strictly adhere to making 100 cakes at a time, purely hand-crafted apart from using an electric pump to dispense the cake. For those who missed the cake after this Easter period, this cake has more than 400 sellers, mainly in Milan, Rome and Florence.


Sounds divine isn't it? Well, this cake, together with Chef Claudio's other chocolate products are available for sale at Checkers Deli from now till April 2013 so chocolate purists, do take note. This chocolate cake is also available in different flavours and intensity to bring chocolate out in dark, milk, white, spicy and tangy manner.

His latest creation dedicated to his daughter Lisa pairs Yuzu, candied pineapple, orange and pear with 9 different spices ranging from ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, etc. The resulting flavour is exotic and oriental, making it very unique from most of the chocolates available in the market.

In addition, beginning 15 March 2013, Easter Sweets made of TortaPistocchi chocolates will take centre stage at Checkers Deli. A collaboration between Chef Claudio and Hilton pastry team presents the Pistocchi Cheesecake which combines the hotel's famous cheesecake with the luscious yet crispy dark chocolate with rice pops by Torta Pistocchi. Other highlights include the Pistocchi Sacher cake and Pistocchi Chocolate Macarons.

Apart from the sweets, Hilton's Executive Chef Sandro, il cielo Chef Omar and Chef Claudio have worked together to create a 4-course Pistocchi Cioccolato Dinner to enjoy TortaPistocchi chocolate in different intensity and flavours where it can be enjoyed sweet, savoury, dark and white. Here is a snapshot of the dinner offered at a one-night only dinner at il Cielo (priced at $88++ per person) on Thursday, 4 April 2013.

 

Savoury with chocolate, sounds impossible but in this special dinner, one can expect fresh vegetables to be paired with chocolate and spice. To strike a balance between savoury and chocolate, Mesclun, Wasabi, Goat cheese, Pistocchi-coated Pecan, Cherry Truffle Vinaigrette are added to the antipasto.

 
Assorted Vegetables dipped in various Pistocchi Chocolates (foreground) Mesclun, Wasabi, Goat Cheese, Pistocchi-coated Pecan, Cherry Truffle Vinaigrette (background)
Pistocchi Cacao Tagliatelle with Wild Game was something that left an impression.

Pistocchi Cacao Tagllatelle with Wild Game Using dark chocolate to make the tagliatelle and replacing parmesan cheese with dark chocolate shavings, the sweet and and bitter contrast to savoury does leave an impression.

 
Pistocchi Cacao Tagllatelle with Wild Game Serving beef with 99% chocolate and vinaigrette vinegar, surprisingly brings out the natural sweetness of the meat and it took us a while to register that the sauce that goes with the beef is actually made of chocolate.

Wagyu Tagliata, Goose liver, Coffee Pistocchi Chocolate Aromas
Apart from the Easter selection at Checkers Deli and the Pistocchi Cioccolato Dinner at il Cielo, Hilton is also presenting Pistocchi Cioccolato Workshop. This is available on Monday, 1 April 2013 to Wednesday, 3 April 2013 from 10am to 12:30pm, followed by Pistocchi cioccolato Lunch menu. In this workshop, Chef Claudio will share about his passion for chocolates and share tips on making a basic ganache and chocolate desserts. Following the workshop, attendees will enjoy a special Pistocchi Cioccalto lunch designed by il Cielo Chef Omar.

Before signing off, we would like to take the opportunity to thank Marketing Communications Manager, Ms. Joyce Moo for the invitation to the TortaPistocchi Chocolate Media Tasting.

For the purchase of TortaPistocchi chocolate treats and Easter selection,
Checkers Deli, Lobby
Opening Hours: 11am-9pm (daily)
Tel:  6730 3392
Email: sinhi.checkers@hilton.com

Pistocchi Cioccolato Workshop and Pistocchi Cioccolato Dinner will be held at
il Cielo, Level 24 
Opening hours:
Lunch 12noon - 2:30pm (Mon to Fri)
Dinner 7pm - 10:30pm (Mon to Sun)
Tel: 6730 3395
Email: ilcielo@hilton.com

P..S. This will also be our last entry for sgdessert.com and we thank all our readers for the support.