Black & White Desserts ?

[pjm333]

Have a part coming up at the end of January & the customer wants a Black & White theme on the desserts. She told me she had many ideas but when we talked all she had was the B&W cookie. I have several ideas but any suggestions / ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance !

[Smithy]

How black is black? I'm thinking of a 'black bottom pie' which has deep, dark chocolate brown at the base. Would something like that do, with whipped cream? Or does it need to be licorice-black?

[cakewalk]

Oreo type cookies, maybe Thomas Keller's TKOs, using very dark cocoa. You could decorate the cookie part like a tuxedo.

[BeeZee]

dark chocolate mini tart shells with white chocolate mousse

[Shelby]

Hmmmm.....something like cookies and cream?  A mousse?  Maybe in a dark chocolate "cup"?  Then there's always cake pops.  I know, I know, overdone, but they could be cute and fun.

[pastrygirl]

Something with black sesame - lychee would be a lovely flavor combo for the white, if you can get it.

[CatPoet]

Licorice macaroons with vanilla filling?

[Lisa Shock]

Oreos are made with a special cocoa that is really dark. Do a search for black cocoa and you'll find it, or something similar from a different manufacturer. It's super processed, and isn't quite as flavorful as some cocoas -I'd try to use a little chocolate extract to boost flavor in some recipes. Also, a little black food color will probably be helpful in some cases, like cakes. Flavor wise, there are a lot of extractsand oils which are clear and can be used to flavor creams, icings and fillings. Here are some random ideas:

 

fruit tarts: black cocoa cookie shell, stabilized chantilly cream (maybe flavored with pear essence or orange flower water), topped with glazed blackberries and black grapes and peeled thinly sliced pears or apples (only use types with white flesh)

 

Battenburg cake: use a white sponge cake recipe and a chocolate sponge recipe, work cocoa into marzipan for the icing

 

black cocoa cookie with macadamia nuts, half dipped in white chocolate

 

entremet  with layers of cocoa mousse and white mousse (coconut, vanilla, white chocolate flavor) with crispy layers of macadamia nut crunch and black cocoa cookie, dark chocolate glaze on top

 

marshmallows have a good white color, they could be served half-dipped in dark chocolate

 

Italian buttercream also has a nice shiny white color, this would be useful for whoopie pies, mini cupcakes, mini cake slices, etc.

 

meringues are a lovely white, they can be used alone, sandwiched with black cocoa buttercream, and, used for mini-pavlovas with blackberries and black grapes

 

if frozen desserts are possible: coconut sorbet and chocolate sorbet, fleur de lait gelato with chocolate chips, black liquorice ice cream and vanilla ice cream -cups or cones can be made with the black cocoa, or dipped in white chocolate

 

you can buy white or dark chocolate cups (and swirled ones) and make a quick candy or dessert, say, pipe an orange flavored white ganache into a dark cup, or put lychees in them, etc.

 

white and dark chocolate curls are an easy garnish

[djyee100]

I remember that Alice Medrich liked to play with the black-white theme in desserts. You could check some of her cookbooks.

 

A few recipes that I remembered and tracked down online:

 

B&W cheesecake:
http://www.pbs.org/mpt/jewishcooking/recipes/season1/106r.html

 

B&W poundcake:
http://bakingbites.com/2006/04/cooking-school-chocolate-marble-cake/

 

B&W cookies aka Brownie-stuffed Vanilla Cookies aka Chocolate hamantaschen. They can be folded in different styles, of course, as long as the filling peeks out.
Recipe:
http://alicemedrich.blogspot.com/2012/03/chocolate-hamantaschen.html
Pic:
http://cooking-books.blogspot.com/2008/12/chocolate-hamantaschen.html

 

Agree with comment upthread, how black is black, how white is white. The recipe may be on a black/white theme, but not starkly colored black & white in reality.  Have you seen this pic of a B&W dessert table? Pretty amazing.
http://www.mondeliceblog.com/black-and-white-dessert-table/

[Lisa Shock]

I really like those photos of that B&W dessert buffet djyee100 linked to. Note that they were creative in using plain black, plain white, and patterned b&w papers, sheaths, cups, etc. to hold some of the desserts like the cupcakes. A lot of the items shown are pretty simple, the papers act as a garnish. The mix of black and white serving pieces also helped the visual appeal.

 

I had one other thought about the food, you may wish to talk to your produce purveyor and see what specialty items they can get. There is a white strawberry, a white watermelon, and some other varieties of melon have white flesh. They could be used in fruit tarts, sorbet, pavlovas, Strawberries Romanoff, etc.

[Simon Lewinson]

Marshmallow and chocolate constructed to look like a licorice allsort. Could also do similar with chocolate ganache and mint fondant.

Simon

Edited December 31, 2014 by Simon Lewinson (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Panna cotta and blancmange can be flavored with clear flavorings, molded in small silicone molds. then placed onto baked (cookie, pie crust, etc.) bases.

[MelissaH]

At the risk of going ghetto, I recall reading about a homemade Funfetti cake recipe, which is a very white cake with multicolored sprinkles. (Ah, here it is: http://food52.com/blog/11225-how-to-make-a-funfetti-cake-from-scratch) I haven't tried it, but you could use chocolate sprinkles or other black or dark candy pieces, or even cookie crumbs, with whipped cream to frost.

[pjm333]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas, as far as the colors Black & White the customer told me later that color brown/chocolate was fine. Thanks again for all of your help & Ideas !!

[Lisa Shock]

You know, we'd like to see pictures of the spread, if possible...

[pjm333]

The party is 01/26/15 & will take pictures.