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Dessert help

post #1 of 6
11/7/09 at 12:29am
Thread Starter 
I basically need to make a plated dessert with a sauce and a garnish. I was thinking off the top of my head to make an Apple Pie (which I believe are in season or will be when I have to make this) with Vanilla Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce, and a Cinnamon Tuile(maybe Cinnamon-Walnut) as the garnish. Does anyone else have any great dessert ideas I could try out? It's for my Baking class and I want to impress my teachers but at the same time we were warned to not try something too hard and too time consuming (6 hours to make) Any and all help would be appreciated
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post #2 of 6
11/7/09 at 6:52am
Without going too far afield from your original idea, why not elevate your game a bit and bake a tarte tatin? Improve the garnish a bit by serving it with a cold, hand made creme-anglaise -- which is pretty much the same thing as melted French vanilla ice cream, but better.

By the way, it's usually not a good idea to garnish a pie with a cookie, becuase the cookie detracts from the pie-crust, and vice versa; and when it comes to a tuille sharing a plate with an old-fashioned, home style apple pie, egregiously so.

FWIW, if you do go pie, I recently posted instructions on how to make a very flaky crust: http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/pastr...e-bakeoff.html.

The basic proportions for pie dough are are 1/3 cup fat (all lard is best, but you can use shortening and/or butter), 2 tsp sugar, 1/3 tsp salt (about), pinch of baking soda, and 1 tbs ice water (about), for each cup of flour. It's worth memorizing. It's also a little too generic and spartan for my tastes. I actually use a generous 2-1/2 cups and treat the other ingredients (except the water) as though I were using 3 cups of flour -- in short, tripling them.

Cut the sugar in half, use all butter instead of lard or shortening, and you've got a pate brisee, suitable for any tart shell.

Alternatively, make a pate sucree, or pasta frolla.

BDL
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post #3 of 6
11/7/09 at 8:52am
Thread Starter 
I like the Tarte tatin idea. Also didn't think about the Tuile taking away from the pie crust. I will definitely keep that in mind. Any other suggestions?
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post #4 of 6
11/7/09 at 9:51am
How 'bout a cassata Siciliana? Sauce: fruit coulis or saboyan.

Any sort of fruit tart Sauce: creme anglaise, or chocolate depending on the fruit tart;

Flan -- not much of a baking project, you'd have to come up with some good cookies or other garnish. Sauce: Caramel, of course.

Baba au rhum, yum. Whipped cream and rum sauce.

Mousse au chocolat with an exotic chocolate -- I like to use Mexican chocolate like Ibarra or Abuelita, the sort with the almond, vanilla, and cinnamon already in it. Again, no baking so you'd have to do some serious garnish -- your tuille, e.g. You could even serve the mousse in tuille cups or cones. Caramel sauce (dulce de leche), or berry coulis

Live dangerously and make souffle(s). Praline souffle is a nice change from the usual chocolate. Start by making fresh praline. Vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, as appropriate depending on the souffle.

Cheesecakes of whatever type take too long to ripen, unfortunately; or I'd suggest crostata ricotta. You could go for it anyway. Nothing like a cheesecake with pine nuts, set in pasta frolla, and topped by a lattice crust. Fruit coulis, chocolate/coffee sauce.

Whatever sauce you make, don't forget to sieve.

BDL
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post #5 of 6
11/7/09 at 1:42pm
using fruit in season is a good way to impress. So my suggestion is a gooseberry and elderflower jelly, served in a long stemmed glass, with a gooseberry and elderflower icecream sitting in a tuille basket. The sauce evades me, but gooseberries go well with a little star anise. Perhaps you could garnish with a couple of Physallis? (cape gooseberries)

BDL - Talk about lateral thinking...Creme Anglaise = Melted vanilla icecream. Strange, but true.

Ps I've a recipe for the jelly should anyone want it. It's Got sparkling wine in it and its delightfully tart. (Sharp and sweet.)
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post #6 of 6
11/8/09 at 5:07pm
Well if you're talking cremes, why don't you do a custard- I love a delicately soft (very slow set) creme caramel. Custard flavours are an open playing field, you can add anything you like... I'm quite a fan of adding a hint of spiciness from a little chilly to my vanilla, and adding some pockets of flavours or textures are always interesting.
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