You might remember my blogging and posting about Hector's Heavenly Rose Mango Cake last summer for the 2nd Annual Mango Fest.
This past Saturday, Hector again wowed the crowds with a Savory Avocado - Sweet Potato (7 tier) Tower at the 5th Annual Avocado Fest!
As mentioned in the previous post about the mango cake, Hector's idol and mentor is Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Cake Bible and other cookie, chocolate and cake related books and he honors her by somewhere, somehow making a traditional rose design on his creations.
His inspiration for this recipe came from a traditional Peruvian molded mashed potato and avocado salad. Hector, of 100% Chinese descent, just happens to have been born in Peru.
Hector used the local purple Okinawan sweet potato as well as white sweet potato. In Cuba the white sweet potato was known as 'boniato' or tropical sweet potato. They have a lighter and more delicate flavor than a regular sweet potato and it will whip fluffier.
For the 'tower', a total of 20 pounds of avocado, 20 pounds of purple sweet potato and 20 pounds of white sweet potato were used.
You can find the recipe in my article about the festival for the Hamakua Times newspaper published pre-festival time titled More than just Guacamole!
Hector was helped by the students of the Konawaena Culinary program under the direction of Chef instructor Patti Kimball and students of the University of Hawaii Community College Culinary arts program
The Avocado Festival has been a free to the public event held for several years at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, in Captain Cook on the West side of Hawai'i Island (aka the Big Island) - always in February!
Hector's Heavenly Rose Mango Cake at Gather
