Junior Mark den Hollander proved pastry baking should be approachable during his cooking masterclass demonstration hosted by the Student Activities Board Saturday.
Den Hollander hosted two sessions and walked attendees through a step-by-step process of making three foundational pastry elements — mousse, caramel, and ganache — and constructing dishes around them.
“They’re all things I learned early on, basic things you should know,” den Hollander said. “It’s things the average person can know and make in their home quite easily.”
Den Hollander is a pastry chef-turned Hillsdale College student who studied at the London branch of Le Cordon Bleu, a Paris-based culinary school, and worked at Le Bernardin, a 3-star Michelin restaurant in New York City.
Den Hollander said he did not want to just recreate things people had already seen. He said he wanted to show people the creative liberty of making pastries.
“I want to show people who are in this class that we can take basic, ordinary things like a caramel and do very interesting things, make them fun and interesting,” den Hollander said.
Den Hollander made a spiced chai-flavored mousse, rather than more popular flavors like chocolate or vanilla. He also made a balsamic caramel to add a savory flavor to the normally-sugary element.
Knowing den Hollaner’s history in culinary school, members of SAB approached him and asked about instructing a class.
“We’re college students and don’t cook a lot,” SAB Creative Team Member Gray Turner said. “One day we will be cooking. It’ll be a good opportunity for lots of different people to come together to learn something new outside the classroom.”
Den Hollander said he wanted attendees to walk away from his presentation motivated.
“I want it to be somewhat motivational, inspiring, but also educational so that people can walk away from this event and know what it takes to make a pastry and serve someone in your home,” Den Hollander said.
Senior Harrison Layman said he was glad to have attended the event.
“I definitely don’t consider myself as particularly knowledgeable in pastries. I thought I could learn a lot, and there’s always the chance that you could try a lot of different pastries,” Layman said. “I think at this point, I could replicate it pretty well because he went through it and talked about it.”
Den Hollander did not just talk about the recipes, but he also talked about general pastry principles such as knowing how to balance a dish’s flavor and texture. When he finished, he let the attendees sample the dishes he had assembled using all the individual recipes he had shown them.
“I think I felt just awe when sampling these caramel and chocolate chips and they’re nothing like you’ve had before,” junior Benjamin Cook said. “Suddenly, caramel is just so good. It’s something so much processed food just misses.”
