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Dessert Minis For a Shower


Pam R

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I'm co-hosting a shower in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get some of the baking done. We've decided to keep it to pick-ups, no big cakes.

I have a batch of key lime curd done and in the freezer, and I'll be doing a lemon curd as well. I'll also make a batch of pastry cream and maybe some chocolate mousse. I plan on using fresh fruit (hopefully there will be some nice berries available), chocolate glaze or ganache, whipped cream and meringue to finish things off.

I've baked off a batch of little eclair shells and choux puffs, with some necks should I decide to make them into swans (filled with lemon curd mixed with whipped cream). I'll freeze them until the day before, then thaw and fill.

Here's my question - other than basic tart shells and the choux, what can I use to hold the fillings?

And I was thinking of making little creme brulees, but is there anything I can bake them in that's edible? Is that a completely unreasonable request?

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How about some tiny meringue cups to be filled? If a wedding shower, heart shaped. Or circles, or squares or barquettes. A puff of whipped cream and a berry or two for filling. Or lemon curd, like a miniature lemon angel pie (or lime or orange).

I have a miniature tart recipe which is baked filled with marzipan filling, then an apricot jam glaze and an almond garnish are added. Very tasty and freezable totally completed.

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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Can you find or make miniature chocolate cups? They're great with mousse. Also, in Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook, there's a recipe for little "boxes" made out of bread and toasted -- I wonder if you could do that with pound cake.

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Right now I'm baking mini-cheesecakes in my fancy, but small, silicon muffin pans.  That might make a nice platform for the toppings.

Mini cheesecakes are a great idea. I have plenty of mini-muffin pans . .

A few ideas: phyllo dough, puff pastry, shortbread/cookies.

We've got spanikopita triangles in phyllo in the freezer and ready to bake, so I'd probably stay away from phyllo, but puff makes perfect sense. Perhaps rectangles with some pastry cream and berries . .

Shortbread crusts might be good as a base for a little key lime tart . . .

How about some tiny meringue cups to be filled? 

I love this. I have whites in the fridge leftover from the curd today, I'm going to go whip some up now and bake them off. I'll stick to circles . .

Can you find or make miniature chocolate cups? They're great with mousse. Also, in Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook, there's a recipe for little "boxes" made out of bread and toasted -- I wonder if you could do that with pound cake.

The chocolate cups with the mousse would be great. I think I have a case of them at work. Is that too chocolaty? Should I try another filling in them?

And I really like the idea of the boxes . . but I'm not sure if I can do them . . . I'll check the book, I have it at work.

Thanks!

(Any creme brulee ideas? :biggrin: )

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Any creme brulee ideas?

That's freaky! I just saw this rerun of Sweet Dreams with Gale Gand.

Banana Brulee Spoonfuls:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_16324,00.html

Mark

The Gastronomer's Bookshelf - Collaborative book reviews about food and food culture. Submit a review today! :)

No Special Effects - my reader-friendly blog about food and life.

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I'm co-hosting a shower in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get some of the baking done.  We've decided to keep it to pick-ups, no big cakes.

I have a batch of key lime curd done and in the freezer, and I'll be doing a lemon curd as well.  I'll also make a batch of pastry cream and maybe some chocolate mousse.  I plan on using fresh fruit (hopefully there will be some nice berries available), chocolate glaze or ganache, whipped cream and meringue to finish things off.

I've baked off a batch of little eclair shells and choux puffs, with some necks should I decide to make them into swans (filled with lemon curd mixed with whipped cream).  I'll freeze them until the day before, then thaw and fill.

Here's my question - other than basic tart shells and the choux, what can I use to hold the fillings? 

And I was thinking of making little creme brulees, but is there anything I can bake them in that's edible? Is that a completely unreasonable request?

A multi layered phylo and curd slice?

layered phylo pastry buttered and brown sugar between sheets 3 to 5 sheets ...baked and cut into smallish triangles. on 1 triangle of phylo place some curd cover with another triangle and more curd top with whipped cream.

Or blind bake some buttered and brown sugared sheets of phylo pastry (2 sets); cover one set with curd. Cover that with additional baked phylo (All to fit a 9X9 pan or whatever). More curd and finally whipped cream or meringue.

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Could you share the marzipan tart recipe? Sounds wonderful. Thanks.

How about some tiny meringue cups to be filled?  If a wedding shower, heart shaped.  Or circles, or squares or barquettes.  A puff of whipped cream and a berry or two for filling.  Or lemon curd, like a miniature lemon angel pie (or lime or orange).

I have a miniature tart recipe which is baked filled with marzipan filling, then an apricot jam glaze and an almond garnish are added.  Very tasty and freezable totally completed.

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make a chocolate rolled cookie dough ...roll it out and then use a mini cupcake pan to make chocolate cookie cups ..make them bitter sweet and you can even just put a berry in them and they are nice.... these are good with anything inside!

I have filled them with brownie batter ...wow!!!!

I would put the brulee in one just to see if it worked ..sounds really good to me!

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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This isn't a creme brulee, but PH's Parisian Flan is a tart with a custard filling.

I expect that you can flavor it the same way as a creme brulee (if that's what you want to do) just by infusing the milk before making the filling and baking it.

You also mentioned puff pastry and raspberries and it reminded me of this.

May

Totally More-ish: The New and Improved Foodblog

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I did something for my daughter's graduation party that was a huge hit with everyone. I did Key Lime Shooters. Just mixed up a gingersnap crust, pressed it in the bottom of shooter cups (I found plastic ones are a party supply store), piped in some key lime custard and stored in the fridge. Just before serving, I piped in some whipped cream and slid in a little sample spoon (about the size that you get at Baskin Robbins) and sprinkled on additional crumbs:

gallery_34972_3580_257599.jpg

You intrigue me with the mention of freezing key lime curd. I didn't know that you could freeze it! Any special concerns?

Kim

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make a chocolate rolled cookie dough ...roll it out and then use a mini cupcake pan to make chocolate cookie cups ..make them bitter sweet and you can even just put a berry in them and they are nice.... these are good with anything inside!

I have filled them with brownie batter ...wow!!!!

I would put the brulee in one just to see if it worked ..sounds really good to me!

Along that line...I've seen this done with gingersnap dough filled with white chocolate mousse. I bet you could fill them with your pastry cream instead and top with some diced peaches or ?

With the puff pastry you could make vol-au-vents to fill with just about anything. I wonder if you could fill them with cooked custard and torch them, although you wouldn't be able to get a nice flat finish on the custard....maybe not.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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How about some tiny meringue cups to be filled?  If a wedding shower, heart shaped.  Or circles, or squares or barquettes.  A puff of whipped cream and a berry or two for filling.  Or lemon curd, like a miniature lemon angel pie (or lime or orange).

  You could make tiny Pavlovas with the little meringues!

I have a miniature tart recipe which is baked filled with marzipan filling, then an apricot jam glaze and an almond garnish are added.  Very tasty and freezable totally completed.

I second the request for this recipe -- sounds wonderful!

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The mention of meringues and Pavlova made me think of a little dessert by Gale Gand in "Just a Bite". I can't find the recipe or a picture online but it's not complicated. Using a simple merigue you pipe little cups about 1" - 1-1/2" across the bottom and then just pipe up a couple rows on the edge to form the cup. Bake till they are crisp. Just before serving you pipe in whipped cream to fill and then top with one raspberry. Oh.my.goodness!! These taste so good. The combination of sweet, crispy, creamy and tart all in one mouthful is just wonderful.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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I'm going to reply to more of the above posts later, but!!:

The mention of meringues and Pavlova made me think of a little dessert by Gale Gand in "Just a Bite". I can't find the recipe or a picture online but it's not complicated. Using a simple merigue you pipe little cups about 1" - 1-1/2" across the bottom and then just pipe up a couple rows on the edge to form the cup. Bake till they are crisp.

I did just that last night. About the size of a loonie (Canadian $). They're in a ziplock, ready to be filled. Very, very cute.

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Thank you, thank you. I always have several pounds of almond paste in my freezer so will make these as soon as I get the proper pan. This is the type of tart pan to use, right? I bet it would be great with raspberry preserves as well - similar to linzer tarts and torte.

http://www.chefsresource.com/mini-tart-pans.html

As many times as I have made this recipe, I had a difficult time finding it.  Finally, from a scrap of notebook paper, here is:

Marzipan Tartlets with Apricot Glaze

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Thank you, thank you.  I always have several pounds of almond paste in my freezer so will make these as soon as I get the proper pan.  This is the type of tart pan to use, right? I bet it would be great with raspberry preserves as well - similar to linzer tarts and torte.

http://www.chefsresource.com/mini-tart-pans.html

As many times as I have made this recipe, I had a difficult time finding it.  Finally, from a scrap of notebook paper, here is:

Marzipan Tartlets with Apricot Glaze

That pan is larger than the ones I use. My pans measure 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 3/4 high and are NOT fluted. The width of each tart is about 1 3/4 inch. I measured with water to determine capacity, which is less than two tablespoons per tart.

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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You intrigue me with the mention of freezing key lime curd.  I didn't know that you could freeze it!  Any special concerns? 

None. I freeze it all the time.

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The shower was tonight. We didn't have the time to get as many things done as we wanted, but I was happy with what we had (and the guests seemed to enjoy!).

Here's the dessert table - we refilled as needed:

gallery_25849_641_266368.jpg

(l-r: Raspberry Almond Frangipane Tarts - didn't love the look, but they tasted fantastic), Lemon Swans, Chocolate Cups with Chocolate Mousse, Lemon Meringue Tarts, Éclairs, Fresh Fruit Tarts, Key Lime Tarts.

Some close-ups:

gallery_25849_641_26960.jpg

gallery_25849_641_36473.jpg

gallery_25849_641_248638.jpg

gallery_25849_641_176735.jpg

gallery_25849_641_195846.jpg

And finally - the mini pavlova. They were so good - but by the time they got to the shower, they were too soft to serve. But we had them there on a counter, and people kept popping them in their mouths and said they were delicious! We should have filled them once we got there, but were concerned we wouldn't have the time.

gallery_25849_641_34166.jpg

Thanks for all the suggestions - it was a big hit.

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