From an early age, Annabelle Asher-Solly loved the aroma of her grandmother’s kitchen. The odors brought a hunger she hadn’t known earlier. She realized that the golden domes of buttercream sponge she saw being frosted and glazed embodied bonding through baking.
“I’ve been a foodie all my life and my family is obsessed with food,” said Asher-Solly. “I have pictures of myself at 1 year old, sitting on top of a dining table while my grandmother was decorating a cake for my first birthday. She was an awesome cake decorator and chef that inspired me.”
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Discovery Bay, pastry chef Annabelle Asher-Solly inherited a lot of things from her grandmother. Like understanding that recipes are inspirations rather than a rule book, and that to bake is to nurture.
“Most of my family are Lebanese Jamaicans,” said Asher-Solly. “My grandmother was big on food. If I was having three friends over, she’d cook for 30 people.”
Despite coming from a culinary family, Asher-Solly went to medical school. However, she also studied the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University, where they accidentally put her in the baking and pastry program. “They were like, ‘Classes already started,’” said Asher-Solly. “‘You have to stay in this class for nine days.’”
During those nine days, she fell in love with baking and decided to stay. Asher-Solly, who has been featured in Fort Lauderdale Magazine’s DINE Fort Lauderdale series, loves making her favorite food, ice cream. But her specialty is cake decorating and sculpting sensual browns into chocolate showpieces. One of her most memorable was a giant chocolate treehouse made of different size Easter eggs, the biggest one about the size of a bathtub.
This led her to season eight of Spring Baking Championship, a Food Network cooking competition. The pastry chef traveled from Fort Lauderdale to the show’s set in New Orleans. Along with the other bakers on the show, she competed to win a cash prize of $25,000 and a spot in Food Network Magazine.
“That was a great experience,” said Asher-Solly. “Being with like-minded chefs and making really good friends.”
Even though her culinary love has filled many hungry bellies, family is what she lives for. Her son is 6 and her daughter is 3, and once a month, she indulges them with homemade, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. Her husband savors her chocolate cake with raspberry jam and chocolate mousse filling. “That cake is probably the reason we’re married,” said Asher-Solly. “When we were first together it was his birthday. I made him that cake and he was like, ‘Yep, this one’s a keeper.’”
Now Asher-Solly is the pastry chef at The Capital Grille. She makes all the desserts on the menu and designs the dessert specials on Fridays and Saturdays. Desserts change every week. “Not all Capital Grilles do that,” said Asher-Solly. “That’s something we’re proud of at the Fort Lauderdale location. Expressing creativity through those weekly dessert specials.”
Like her vertical chocolate mousse tarte with hazelnut gelato. Eventually, she’d like to own her own restaurant, and whether in her grandmother’s kitchen or The Capital Grille, she’s found sweet success.
The Dish: Milk Chocolate Cheesecake With Dark Chocolate Ganache & White Chocolate Mousse (Featured at DINE Fort Lauderdale)
Ingredients:
(Yield 1 nine-inch cheesecake – approx. 10 servings)
Crust
- 12 oz graham crackers
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Cheesecake Batter
- 1.5 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 13 oz milk chocolate, melted
- 1 cup heavy cream, heat to scalding
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, heat to scalding
White Chocolate Mousse
- 3/4 cup white chocolate, melted
- 1.5 cups heavy cream, divided
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1/2 tsp gelatin
- 1 tbsp water
Method:
Crust
Combine all ingredients and press into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 8–10 minutes. Cool fully before filling.
Cheesecake Batter
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine milk chocolate and heavy cream. Whisk together and set aside. Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar and salt on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl and mix for another minute. Scrape again and add chocolate mixture. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape and mix again for 30 seconds until fully incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. After adding the last egg, scrape the bowl and mix for another 30 seconds. Do not overmix or the cheesecake will crack.
Pour batter into the prepared crust. Cover the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent leaks. Bake in a 1-inch-deep water bath (use boiling water) for 60–70 minutes. Fully baked cheesecake should jiggle slightly, but should not be sticky to the touch. Turn the oven off and leave cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes, then cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before unmolding.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Pour hot heavy cream over chocolate. Allow to sit for 1 minute, then whisk to combine. Cool to room temperature, but still liquid. Pour ganache over chilled cheesecake, allowing it to drip over the sides. Refrigerate until ganache is set.
White Chocolate Mousse
Sprinkle gelatin over water and allow it to bloom (approx. 5 minutes). Whip 1 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks and set aside in the fridge. Heat 1/2 cup heavy cream and vanilla bean to a scald. Remove vanilla bean, remove from heat and add gelatin. Stir to dissolve. Pour over white chocolate and stir to combine. Cool to room temperature. Fold in whipped cream; refrigerate for 2 hours. Serve a dollop or piped rosette on top of each slice of cheesecake.
