The Dalmore Inn in Blairgowrie has appointed young Ukrainian pastry chef Oleksandra Huz Hva Vladimizovich, known as Sasha, to its kitchen brigade. Joining the business from Café Tabou in Perth, Sasha, who is about to turn 23 years of age in the next few weeks, lives in Blairgowrie and now considers Scotland his second home.

Having trained in the Ukraine, Sasha has brought a full repertoire of impressive Eastern European classic desserts to the Dalmore Inn, an all day fine dining style eatery which offers its customers a full choice of menus, including a light lunch menu, a steak menu, and a fantastic dessert menu.

One of the most skilful of Sasha’s desserts, the Napoleon cake, a delicious confection composed of many layers of puff pastry with a whipped pastry cream filling and encrusted with more pastry crumbs, has already been on the menu, proving very popular.

Originating in Russia, the Napoleon cake takes its inspiration from the French mille-feuille or Napoleon dessert, which is also traditionally made with layers of puff pastry and pastry cream, but is not quite the same dessert. While a Napoleon dessert has just a few thicker layers of pastry and cream, the Napoleon cake traditionally has at least eight very thin layers of pastry spread with cream—and sometimes as many as twelve!

It’s more similar to a crepe cake than it is to a traditional Napoleon dessert.

“The Napoleon cake is a personal favourite of mine, and I am very pleased it has gone down very well with the diners here,” said Sasha. “I like to put my own twist on these desserts which are based on classic recipes that I was taught at home. They’re a way of bringing a little bit of the Ukraine to Scotland. I like to try and be a very versatile pastry chef too,” said Sasha, “whether it’s a cold dessert, a dessert with fruit, or one created with chocolate. I have a lot of skills to show and hope that the customers here in the coming month will very much enjoy my desserts.”

Although specialising in pastry, Sasha says his Scottish friends love a savoury dish he makes—traditional Ukrainian Borsch. “My friend ate three portions at one sitting,” laughed Sasha.

Being in Scotland, Sasha would also like to create something with whisky: “I’d love to experiment and put whisky in a dessert. I have a few really good ideas to try out!”

Commenting on Sasha's appointment, Arnaud Merrouche, General Manager at the Dalmore Inn, said: “We wish to welcome Sasha to the team. In a short space of time, he’s already made a huge impression with his delicious desserts. We're all very impressed, and look forward to seeing what he comes up with in the coming months.

“We hope he’ll be very happy working here at the Dalmore Inn in the beautiful Vale of Strathmore.”

Further details www.dalmoreinn.com

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