Dessert Fit for a Queen

Dessert Fit for a Queen

Culinary faculty recalls making a special dessert for Queen Elizabeth II.

Chef Roland Hofner, coordinator of Fanshawe’s Baking and Pastry Arts Management program, has cooked for some high-profile guests over his 40 - plus year career in the kitchens of five-star hotels, exclusive cruise ships and catering companies in Canada and abroad, but one experience rises above the others like a perfectly baked soufflé.

Chef Hofner prepared dessert for Queen Elizabeth II during her 1984 royal tour of Canada while working as a pastry chef and baker at what was then called the Toronto Hilton Harbour Castle.

He recalls it was “quite an exciting” and “nerve -wracking” experience with 2,000 guests dining on a menu that took six months of preparation and testing by officials to make sure it was “suited” for the Queen.

“Everybody felt very special and happy to cook and bake for her, but there was tremendous tension among the staff in the hotel that everything would go according to plan,” he says.

He managed to catch a glimpse of the Queen eating with Prince Philip by peeking through a door. “They enjoyed it very thoroughly,” he said. “She wrote a thank-you letter to all of us and we all got a little commemorative coin given to us by her.”

While Chef Hofner didn’t get to meet her in person he says, “just cooking for her was all a chef can dream of.”

Chef Hofner teaching students in the Baking Lab at Fanshawe College

Here’s your chance to eat like royalty!

Try your hand at recreating the frozen peach parfait that Chef Hofner prepared for the Queen. If you’re hungry for more, Fanshawe’s School of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts offers many continuing education courses, including Let’s Bake Pies, Tarts & Pastry.

Follow the link to get the recipe Chef Hofner prepared for the Queen: https://www.fanshawec.ca/blog/easy-recipe-ice-cream-crown-peach-niagara-parfait