Flavor profiles for dessert cakes

[atcake]

If someone said "here's a list of flavor profiles, choose one to create a dessert cake (that would also stand up to wedding cake construction), with the possiblity of the recipe being published", which would you choose?

Kahlua type (or crema di Kahlua), cinnamon, and hazelnut (or other type of nut)

Creme Brulee, vanilla, cinnamon

White chocolate, apricot, cinnamon

Chai, chocolate and berry

Coconut, latte, vanilla or english toffee

Irish cream, white chocolate, marscapone

pistachio, raspberry, white chocolate

pumpkin, white chocolate, brandy

green tea, nut (you choose), spice (again, you choosse)

butter rum, caramel and pecans

hot chocolate, marshmallow, cinnamon or gingerbread

fig, pear, white chocolate

Mint, irish cream, chocolate (or white chocolate)

plum, chai (or other spice), white chocolate or zabaione

pomegranate, lime, chocolate

pomegranate, chocolate, orange

pistachio, pomegranate, vanilla

pomegranate, banana, cream cheese

pom, banana, pistachio

pom, pear, clove

or these 2 flavor combos, where you could incorporate more imagination:

fig and cardamom

pistachio and raspberry

pistachio and pomegranate

apricot and black currant

almond and black currant

pear and chestnut

fig and apricot

hazelnut and cinnamon

plum and chai

Edited February 11, 2008 by atcake (log)

[prasantrin]

I'd go with one of the following:

Kahlua type (or crema di Kahlua), cinnamon, and hazelnut (or other type of nut)

Chai, chocolate and berry, but I'd replace the berry with something else. Like cherry.

butter rum, caramel and pecans

hot chocolate, marshmallow, cinnamon (not gingerbread, i fpossible, I'd rather replace the marshmallow with something else, too, like mint or chile. Or maybe just mint-flavoured or chile-flavoured marshmallow??)

Mint, irish cream, chocolate (not white chocolate, because I usually don't like white chocolate)

[atcake]

Hmmm, the chili marshmallow does sound interesting! Thanks for your reply.

[gfron1]

This is such a large question that it is difficult to answer. I think season of the year matters, customer taste, what else is being served etc.

But, I don't want to let you down, so I'll give it a go. Also, check out THIS topic on flavor profiles that are more general to desserts, not just cakes.

Irish cream, white chocolate, marscapone

butter rum, caramel and pecans

pistachio, pomegranate, vanilla

apricot and black currant

pear and chestnut

[atcake]

Well, it has more to do with a competition we're setting up in Cleveland for January of 2009. We want the tasting competition to be more complex than just a plain ol' chocolate cake.

We did one this year and it was Chocolate Masterpieces, and only a few showed up and those who did were marked "average" by the judges.

Figured if we had more input from a wide range of pastry chefs, we'd entice more competition and competitors. Amoretti will be supplying the flavor compounds to create the cakes and there is a possibility of the recipe being published by them or another source.

I've been looking for that thread and I owe you a big THANK YOU for linking back to it. I knew there were more combos we weren't thinking about.

As for the cherry replacement, what type of cherry would you be thinking about? There are so many to choose from, i.e., black, sour, marichino, choke, etc.

[JMT]

pumpkin, white chocolate, brandy

butter rum, caramel and pecans

fig, pear, white chocolate

These combos sound tasty to me.

There doesn't seem to be that any berry/fruit whipped cream combos however, I think the fig and pear would perhaps work better with whipped cream than white chocolate.

[JeanneCake]

I like the idea of fig, pear and goat cheese but I I know that's not one of the original choices For that matter I like raspberry and goat cheese too.

I would like chocolate, hazelnut, apricot and coffee or chocolate, cherry, apricot and hazelnut

[Tri2Cook]

Sticking to your list, I would probably lean towards the pistachio, raspberry, white chocolate. There are other combos not on the list that I would probably go with if I were a participant (not because they would be better, I just like to go with unusual things at group events to minimize the chances of something similar from someone else... that doesn't always turn out to be a good thing) but that one from your list is a tasty combo.

[Alicia8870]

Personally I like the ones with pom, and the sounds of anything with coffee like the latte one. I dont think people go out too far with wedding cake flavors, but the pistachio sounds really good too. I would love to line up and taste them all though if you need a tester. If you have all the flavors available, you should try some combos and see what seems to really come together the best for you.

Alicia

[atcake]

Thanks! Actually, we'll be getting the compounds for the flavors we choose for the competition.

If there is a different combo that you'd rather see on here, by all means, please don't be shy! That's why I asked.

I also agree that people don't go too outside the box with wedding cakes but we want to show them that they can and see the results can be a wonderful dessert to serve their guests.

Edited February 12, 2008 by atcake (log)

[sugarseattle]

i agree with alicia on the pomegranate...that is such a popular flavor right now that it would be good one to be published. that sounds good with a pistachio cake and vanilla bean buttercream to me.

[atcake]

Thanks for the input everyone!

[hummingbirdkiss]

apricot and walnut

hands down ..I dont think it was on your list and looks like you figured things out!

good luck

Edited February 15, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[atcake]

Thanks!

We've decided to submit the following two options to Amoretti. Hope some of you might be interested in competing.

Pistachio - raspberry - white chocolate

Cinnamon - hazelnut - cherry

[gfron1]

Those sound really nice. Looking forward to seeing how they're used.