What's your favorite dessert?

[sucrechef]

Some time next week (date not yet set) I will be doing a cooking demo as part of the job interview process and would like to hear from all of you what desserts you would most like to see on the menu.
I have a list of about 30 which I am trying to narrow down and will be producing the top five ideas along with an assortment of breads.
The restaurant type is "American Bistro" and will be upscale.

I will take photos and give you all the results after it's all done.

[momoreg]

Why not tell us what's on your list, so you can narrow it down from there?

[sucrechef]

This is the list I am working from so far ... any changes or suggestions are welcome. Note -- I must do at least one each: cake, mousse, and tart.
1. Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tart
2. White Chocolate Mousse in Handmade chocolate cups
3. Lemon poppyseed cake layered with lemon curd topped with lemon scented whipped cream OR Lemon Tart (my version is VERY tart)
4. Molten Lava Chocolate Cake
5. Creme Brulee
6. Tic-tac-toe -- board to be drawn on square plate with chocolate sauce, "playing pieces" to consist of two different flavored/colored petit fours
7. Double layer pumpkin cheesecake (bottom plain, top pumpkin) individual sized round cheesecake wrapped with a chocolate ribbon
8. Fresh fruit crisp -- haven't decided what fruit yet
9. Apple tart with honey lavender ice cream
10. Souffle -- pick a flavor, any flavor
11. Rustic peach tart
12. Bread pudding -- probably chocolate banana walnut
13. PBJ -- Peanut butter mousse, fresh strawberry coulis on chocolate "bread"
14. Napolean -- classic
15. Fig tart
16. Trio of Ice creams or sorbets with mini-sized "cones"

[momoreg]

I vote for the pumpkin cheesecake, the PBJ, and theice cream cones. They all have American flair, but sound more sohisticated than their origins.

Some of them, like the brulee, the bread pudding, the crisp, and the molten choc cake, I think are much too common to impress anyone.

the tic tac toe sounds like it's nice for a photo shoot, but may not have enough substance.

Souffle sounds too French, but maybe if you did some quitessentially American flavor, like apple crisp....mmmm...with crisp topping...

the lemon one sounds good, but maybe too much lemon for a demo. Nice on a menu, nevertheles.

I'm curious to hear other opinions...

Good luck!!

[momoreg]

Do the cones qualify as a tart?

[ducky]

I love white chocolate mousse in chocolate cups. You can show so many variations on the chocolate cups like molding a bag, a box, a cup, using colored white chocolate for adding a splash of color and a bit of "wow" effect. Creme brulee is my standard and bread pudding is my friend's standard for any new restaurant we check out. It's our diving off point for any dessert menu to see if we want to pursue it further. They are so basic and pretty much any restaurant has that and cheesecake of some sort. Something working with seasonal fruit is always good. No matter what, do what you do best and follow your gut. Whatever you narrow it down to, remember something chocolate, something fruit, something light and something comforting.
(Can I just add that the sound of that chocolate banana walnut bread pudding is just soooo totally calling my name right now? Mmmmmm.)

[Zukerig]

The accompaniments are very important – for me, they show that the pastry cook has gone the necessary “extra mile” in conceptualization.

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tart & Kahlúa Whipped Cream.

White Chocolate Mousse – That would be splendid in a napoléon! Serve with an orange-liqueur-spiked fruit coulis. Perhaps some white pepper in the mousse.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake – Elinor Klivans offered a very good recipe for satiny lemon curd in Fine Cooking #26, pp.52-54. Crème Fraîche & Raspberry sorbet would shine admirably with the cake.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake – Bananas Foster is a hedonistic pairing. Coffee-&-Toffee Ice Cream is superlative, too.

Crème Brûlée – Which flavor? Ginger. Matcha is rather “in” these days, as well.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Frangelico-whipped cream. Or garnished with Candied Cranberries.

Fresh-Fruit Crisp – Apple-Fennel with Pine-Nut Topping.

Soufflé – I admire Alice Medrich’s suggestion to serve with chocolate soufflés, where she boils heavy cream with chopped cocoa nibs; then steeps, strains, chills, and whips. See Bittersweet (Artisan, 2003). Also to consider: Fig with spiced port sauce. Kahlúa with honey-cinnamon cream. Frozen mango with raspberry coulis and a meringue mushroom. Banana with sauce anglais flavored with crème de banane or hot fudge sauce.

Peach Tart served with Amaretto Ice Cream.

Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Ice Cream or Passion Fruit Coulis & Roasted Pineapple Spears. Bread pudding never fades from its widely popular status.

Fig Tart with Armagnac Ice Cream. See the version offered on pp. 260f. of Flavor (Hyperion, 2003) by Rocco Dispirito. Or with Almond-Grappa Zabaglione.

Apple Tart – Oh yes, the lavender-honey ice would pair very nicely. Or a Calvados-sabayon & Quince Gelée. Maple-Bourbon Sabayon is another alternative.

Trio of Sorbets – Pineapple + Guava + Coconut. Or: Orange-Saffron + Lime + Raspberry.