The Sweet Life with Elise Strachan is a new two-part special starring baking goddess and Elise Strachan.
Elise is a trained pastry chef who started as a home baker, with a passion for making sweet things for her family and friends. Five years ago, she started making videos on YouTube as a way to share her creations with sweet enthusiasts online - she now boasts a fan base of more than 10 million followers from all over the world.
For the new show, Elise has hand-picked a selection of talented Australian chefs from different cultures to learn from the array of sweet creations they’ve mastered.
For the new show, Elise has hand-picked a selection of talented Australian chefs from different cultures to learn from the array of sweet creations they’ve mastered.
Part one explores a variety of delights from the East - with rustic Indonesian street food, delicate and technical Japanese kakigori, Hare Krishna-inspired Mandala cheesecakes, and
exquisite Malaysian jelly art. Part two delves into the flavours of Europe and the Mediterranean - with sexy French chocolate spheres, exuberant giant Italian brioche, Greek doughnuts soaked in honey and a Middle Eastern Street snack made with some top-secret ingredients.
By joining Elise on this tantalising and flavour-filled exploration, your eyes, taste buds and techniques will be inspired like never before.
Trying out the chocolate cheese creation with Tasia and Gracia. Source: The Sweet Life with Elise Strachan
Episode 1
In episode one, Elise discovers an array of traditional, and not-so-traditional Asian-inspired desserts. To start off with, Indonesian sisters Tasia and Gracia Seger introduce Elise to the traditional Indonesian street food pisang bakar - made with banana, cheese and chocolate! Following that they whip up with their modern twist on the dessert, a banana and cheese brûlée.
Next up, Yasoda Welsh, a Kiwi-born Hare Krishna, teaches Elise the art of making mandala cheesecakes, with some seriously stunning results. After that, Phi Nguyen, a Japanese dessert chef born in Vietnam, creates a delicate Japanese shaved ice dish called kakigori using a fascinating signature ingredient - aged Japanese plum wine. Siew Heng Boon then brings the episode to a close, teaching Elise the secrets of her stunning Malaysian 3D jelly art.
RECIPES
Mandala cheesecake
What's the secret ingredient? You'll have to tune in and see. Source: The Sweet Life with Elise Strachan
Episode 2
Episode two introduces Elise to a variety of sweet delights from around Europe and the Mediterranean. The episode starts with the very French Vincent Gadan, who creates three types of spherical chocolate desserts - a beautiful pearl of love treasure box, a raspberry and mousse-filled ‘sexy sphere’ and a pile of lolly-filled disco balls - which he and Elise have great fun smashing.
Italian chef Paolo Gatto then brings some traditional Sicilian cuisine to the kitchen, with his giant brioche stuffed with homemade gelato. Elise is then joined by old friend and fellow YouTuber, Nick Makrides, who draws on his Greek heritage to create some delicious cupcakes topped with loukoumades (Greek doughnuts). The episode is brought to a close in style with guest Joey El-Issa of the Sydney-based Bearded Bakers. Together, Joey and Elise make some of the Bearded Bakers' famous knafeh, with Elise desperately trying to figure out the recipe's top-secret ingredient!
