A Moment For: The Pebble and Sebastian Kaya Custard Mango Collab Kakigori

Few things scream summer like mango and ice-cold desserts. Now two of the city’s most exciting chefs, former Amaru head chef Cam Tay-Yap (who now runs West Melbourne pop-up Pebble) and Hiroshi Kawamata of Sebastian Kakigori, have teamed up for a perfectly timed limited-edition dessert. 

The mango kakigori is a riff on Pebble’s Hong Kong-inspired mango mochi and peach dessert, with some added influence from Tay-Yap’s Malaysian background. Collaborating with Japanese dessert chef Kawamata “was an interesting experience,” Tay-Yap says. “Because Kawamata doesn’t speak any English, and we just communicate with hand signals and body language.”

Unlike the dome-shaped kakigori many will be familiar with, the special “just gets built up with lots and lots of layers, like frozen lasagne,” Tay-Yap says. Shaved ice is layered with mango sorbet, gula melaka (a type of palm sugar) coconut syrup and coconut pandan kaya custard made using fresh pandan leaves. Aside from the ice-cream – which is sourced from Hareruya Pantry – all the components are made in-house at Pebble.

The kaya custard and mango kakigori is available for two weeks starting Friday January 9 from 3pm at Sebastian Kakigori.

What: Kaya custard mango kakigori
Where: Sebastian Kakigori on Queen Street
When: From 3pm Friday January 9 until Friday January 23
Price: $35