Dessert Divas

Welcome to the pleasure dome! Desserts are all about pleasure - and what's life if there isn't pleasure?

Acclaimed chef Christine Manfield believes that desserts should appeal to all the senses. They should be utterly seductive, ethereal and delicious, with aesthetics that capture your imagination. Desserts must also be big on personality, which is why she has christened this collection Dessert Divas - they are dramatic showgirls!

In a sumptuously illustrated tribute to the desserts created at her Sydney restaurant Universal, Christine unveils the mystery, elegance, whimsy and fantasy behind such iconic desserts as Gaytime Goes Nuts, which stepped into the limelight in the finale of the 2012 season of MasterChef Australia. Her 'dessert divas' are designed to capture the four seasons, and to celebrate cheese and chocolate, ingredients people eternally lust after.

A good dessert takes you on a taste journey. Let Christine Manfield be your guide as she shares the techniques, craft and precision that go into her signature creations. Be inspired and let the seduction begin, then taste with pleasure.

About the Author

Christine Manfield is one of Australia's most celebrated chefs - a curious cook, a perfectionist inspired by the culinary melting pot of evocative flavours and textural nuance, and a writer whose successful books, Tasting India, Fire & Spice, Stir, Spice, Paramaount Desserts and Paramount Cooking have spiced up the lives of keen cooks everywhere. Her professional culinary life shas culminated in three ground-breaking, award-winning restaurants: Paramount in Sydney from 1993 to 2000, East@West in London from 2003 to 2005, and Universal in Sydney from 2007 tp 2013.

An inveterate traveller, Christine continues to broaden her global food interests, working alongside respected chefs around the world and hosting gastronomic tours to exotic destinations including India, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Bhutan and France.