Pastry Chef Seth Caro Shares His Secret 'Melba' Recipe

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — "Top Chef: Just Desserts" alum Seth Caro stopped by KCAL9 Tuesday to spill a secret recipe and talk about the opening of his new restaurant!

The Strand House (from the same owners that brought you Rock'N Fish, Mucho, Shade Hotel, etc.) is a contemporary new American restaurant located just steps from the Manhattan Beach pier with stunning ocean views.

The menu changes weekly and will include such staple items as wood-fired artisan pizzas, fresh handmade pastas, and house-made breads. The kitchen includes a wood-fired spit where meats will be slow-roasted, and a wood burning pizza oven. Desserts will include cube shaped butterscotch donuts with powdered bacon and burnt peach jelly, rhubarb bubble tea with blackberry caviar, frozen cheesecake and melba.

Caro's Famous Melba:

Raspberry Jam

3 pints raspberries
375 ml white wine
½ c acacia honey
¼ c sugar
4 sprigs thyme
1 pinch salt
1 Tbsp water
1 ½ tsp arrowroot starch
1 pint raspberries

1) Cook the raspberries, wine, honey, sugar, salt and thyme over medium heat, until the raspberries have completely broken down.
2) Strain the raspberry sauce to remove seeds and solids.
3) Return the strained raspberry sauce to the heat. Make a slurry of the water and cornstarch, and whisk it into the raspberry sauce. Stir until the sauce simmers and begins to thicken.
4) Strain the finished sauce and immediately pour over the second addition of raspberries in a bowl.

Poached Plums

4 pcs black plums
¾ c sugar
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 Tbsp water
125 ml ruby port wine
375 ml red wine
1 pinch salt
½ pod vanilla bean
1 stick cinnamon
2 pods clove
½ tsp orange zest

1) Halve, pit and thinly slice the plums. Arrange the slices in a shallow pan.
2) Combine the sugar and cream of tartar in a saucepan and moisten with the water. Cook over medium heat until the sugar begins to caramelize.
3) Warm the port wine, red wine, vanilla, cinnamon, clove and salt to a simmer.
4) When the sugar reaches an amber caramel, carefully deglaze the pan with the hot wine mixture. Stir until all the sugar in dissolved.
5) Pour the hot caramel over them plum slices, wrap the pan and allow to cool to room temperature.

Buttered Corn Sorbet

1 Qt corn juice
1 Tbsp salted butter
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt

1) Cut fresh yellow corn from the cob, and feed through a juice until 1 Qt is obtained.
2) Strain the corn juice and cook it over medium heat, continuously scraping the bottom of the pot. Allow the corn juice to boil for 1 minute.
3) Remove the corn juice from the heat and stir in the butter, until completely emulsified.
4) Cook the water, corn syrup and salt to a boil.
5) Combine the corn juice and sugar syrup and cool.
6) Process in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturers instructions

To Assemble:

1) Spoon a Tbsp of the raspberry jam around the center of the plate.
2) Arrange the poached plums over the raspberry jam.
3) Place a scoop of buttered corn sorbet in the center of the plums.
4) Garnish with fresh ricotta and cilantro leaves.
5) Serve and enjoy!

For more information, visit The Strand House.