Behind the Scenes of "Private Chefs of Beverly Hills:" Chef Sasha's Baklava and Grilled Watermelon and Halloumi Cheese Recipes

Tonight's episode of Private Chefs of Beverly Hills holds a special place in my heart for two very important reasons.

Reason Number One: the day we filming it, I discovered why our outstanding art department smokeshow, Trent, looked so familar to me. That's right, ya'll, he's Trent Ford of "How to Deal" fame.


You remember "How to Deal," don't you? It's from Mandy Moore's prime "Walk to Remember"-"Candy" days and it co-starred Tropical Trent. See! That's him on the DVD cover.

Reason Number Two: We filmed the episode the day before my birthday.

At the end of the shoot, totally oblivious to what they had in store, the producers and crew surprised me with a birthday cake that was a replica of the Tahitian Vanilla Cake from last season, probably the most contraversial item ever featured on the show (and, yes, I am still proud of it).

Carried out by Chef Stuart, who led everyone in a Happy Birthday serenade, I was so shocked and deeply touched, I turned fuschia and burst out laughing, which quickly moved to tears.

It was a moment I will never forget. I know I'm a loud, gregarious, roaring Leo, but the truth is, I'm tough like a cream puff and stuff like that means the world to me.

Grilled Watermelon and Halloumi Cheese “Croutons” with Herbs, Feta and Arugula

makes four servings
4 slices sweet seedless watermelon, with rind
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, preferably sheep’s milk
1/2 cup baby arugula
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons Italian parsley leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Zest of one lime
1/4 cup Halloumi cheese, cubed
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat a grill pan over high heat until very hot.

Sprinkle each slice of watermelon with salt and a pinch of sugar and grill quickly on each side, just until grill marks show and the fruit is lightly caramelized, about 1 minute per side. Arrange on serving plates and sprinkle with crumbled feta, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss fresh herbs and arugula with olive oil, vinegar, lime zest, salt and pepper. Place small mounds on top of grilled watermelon and feta. Just before serving, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and quickly sauté Halloumi until golden and crispy. Garnish each plate with Halloumi cheese croutons and serve immediately.

Rose Water and Orange Blossom Baklava
makes 16 servings

1 pound walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly ground in a food processor or blender
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 package phyllo pastry
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon Rose Water
1 teaspoon Orange Blossom Water

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine walnuts, cinnamon and sugar and set aside. In the bottom of a greased 9 by 13 pan, place one layer of phyllo and brush liberally with butter. Repeat six more times, buttering each delicate layer, until you have 7 layers of phyllo. Spoon 1/3 nut mixture over phyllo and top with 5 more individually buttered sheets of phyllo. Repeat the process two more times and finish with 7 layers of phyllo. Brush final layer with butter and bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown.

While baklava is baking, make syrup by boiling all ingredients together for 10 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and pour syrup over it. Cut into squares or diamonds and serve.

Private Chef Sasha's Tahitian Vanilla Cake Recipe

On this week's episode of Food Network's "Private Chefs of Beverly Hills," there was big drama surrounding my Tahitian Vanilla Cake.

What wasn't shown, that I wish made it to air, was me sticking cocktail umbrellas into my hair and stomping around the kitchen hollering, "Nobody tells me no!" before walking the cake out to guests who burst into applause when the saw what I'd made.

Regardless of how it looked, that cake was insanely delicious and exactly to the client's specifications for a White Chocolate Mousse-filled Tahitian Vanilla Cake with fresh Raspberries. But no one watching knew that.

After seeing the show, I got really nervous, wondering if I'd been made to look kind of incompetent. And then something crazy happened; I started getting fan mail. Well, actually, my cake started getting fan mail. For the first time since the show aired, people emailed me asking for the recipe of something I cooked. And it wasn't one or two people, it was almost a dozen! Therefore, may I present...

Sasha Perl-Raver's Tahitian Vanilla Cake Recipe

(If you like this cake, be sure to click here to check out my recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.)

Tahitian Vanilla Cake Batter:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon Tahitian vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease three round cake pans, graduating in size.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light.

Add the eggs one at a time.

Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract.

Divide batter among the cake pans.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Let cakes cool completely until ready to frost.

Meanwhile prepare mousse and frosting.

Tahitian Vanilla White Chocolate Mousse:
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 cups milk, scalded
2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, scraped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
9 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, melt the white chocolate and let it cool slightly.

In a separate bowl whisk together the yolks, the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the cornstarch and whisk well.

Add the scalded milk, vanilla and vanilla bean scrapings and transfer the mixture to a heavy saucepan.

Over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, heat mousse until it is thick and smooth, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, butter and slightly cooled melted white chocolate.

Place plastic wrap on the surface of the mousse and chill completely.

To complete, beat cream until it hold stiff peaks and fold into mousse. Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla extract

In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, melt the white chocolate and let it cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla and slightly cooled chocolate.

Set aside

To assemble cake:
Also needed: Two pints fresh raspberries, 1 pint sliced in half, 1 pint left whole
to decorate
edible gold (optional)
edible flowers (optional)
cocktail umbrellas

Slice cake rounds in half

Top each half with white chocolate mousse and sliced raspberries.

Top with other half and frost layer.

Chill lightly while frosting additional layer, repeating the process.

Stack layers on each other and decorate with whole raspberries and, if using, edible gold, edible flowers and umbrellas.

Slice cake and serve with raspberry coulis and unsweetened whipped cream.