All of Roman Blas' inventions begin with the same question: “I wonder what that would taste like with this?”
Hence cupcakes like these: Chocolate-Covered Potato Chip. White Chocolate Kalamata Olive. Lemon Coriander. Maple Pancakes and Bacon. Fig Sweet Corn. Cilantro Lychee Coconut.
Sometimes inspiration hits at the grocery store. Other times it's found in the spice rack or on the breakfast plate.
“When you get a chance to work with unusual ingredients, that's when things get fun,” he said.
Blas is the pastry chef for Indian Ridge Country Club in Palm Desert, but he recently started a side business — Over the Rainbow Cupcakes — as another way to channel his creativity in the kitchen.
“It sounds really nerdy to say this, but I really want to make the Coachella Valley happy, one cupcake at a time,” he said.
After all, cupcakes are what make Blas happy.
“I am actually living the dream right now,” he said. “It's actually amazing for me to put this (chef outfit) on every day and go to work.”
After working more than a decade in radio marketing and promotion, Blas quit his job and signed up for culinary school.
He attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta, then worked in some of the highest- ranked restaurants in the country.
“I worked for free. I peeled carrots and spent all day peeling grapes for a dish. I did anything I could do, just to get in the kitchen,” he said.
Blas fell into the pastry field by accident, volunteering to fill in for a pastry chef who walked off the job.
His zeal for baking is apparent in the care he takes with each sweet morsel. The cupcakes are baked with high-quality ingredients, just a couple hours before delivery, ensuring a dessert that tastes as good as it looks.
Dietary restrictions? No problem. Blas' concoctions can be made dairy-free, sugar-free, gluten-free or vegan.
“I really feel like if you show the cupcake love, it'll love you back,” he said. “I put a lot of care into these.”
Blas leaned back and admired a vegan chocolate peppercorn cupcake.
“Just look at that. That cupcake right there is going to make somebody smile today,” he said. “Isn't that a wonderful thing?”
When he made carrot cake for Indian Ridge Country Club, where he is the pastry chef, Blas created a deconstructed version of the old favorite.
On the plate was a sweep of pineapple gastrique, dots of coconut foam, perfect squares of cake peppered with candied carrots, situated next to a marshmallow flavored with carrot juice and topped with dollops of cream cheese ice cream.
“At first people didn't know what to make of these desserts,” said Ralph Fernandez, executive chef at the club. “But it's all so thoughtful and unique, it really stands out. You don't see anything else like it here.”
