80's Dessert

[Suzi Edwards]

I'm going to an 80's party on Saturday and would like to take some dessert with me. I'm a bit stumped about what fits in with the theme though. My first thought was Black Forest Gateau, but I'm a bit worried that it might be more 70's than 80's (not that anyone would be so ungreatful as to say that, but I would like to be thematically correct)

Any ideas? Ideally a cake or a tart, something that can be sliced.

[curlywurlyfi]

Kiwifruit, girl, you gotta involve those kiwi fruit. what about a tart with creme patissiere then kiwi fruit slices and apricot glaze?

or, what was that thing that we all had to death - the chocolate pots with the macaroon crumbs in, can't remember what it's called but I think Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken & Other Stories has a recipe (have got at home so can dredge out if you warn me). Or what about just a good old chocolate mousse - the first thing I learnt to 'cook' as a young laydeee - must be made with Bourneville chocolate rather than anything with a high cocoa solids percentage, of course. Or a raspberry pavlova?

god I love the 80s. "You are gold (gold!), always believe in your so-oul..." (Exit Fi stage left, singing.)

[Dave the Cook]

Grasshopper Pie -- or is that 70s, too?

[Carolyn Tillie]

According to Food Timeline.com, it is Pumpkin Cheesecake, Mud Pie, and Jelly Beans.

Edited January 8, 2004 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

oh, I'm getting really into this now. Weren't the 80s all about overelaborate presentation? what if you made little boxes out of After Eight wafers [for the US - proprietary brand of small thin flat 2.5in square mint fondants dipped in dark chocolate] glued together with piped chocolate and filled with afore-mentioned chocolate mousse, maybe spiked with creme de menthe, and a chocolate leaf on top?

Or Josceline Dimbleby's Tarte Montmartre (which has nothing at all to do with Paris as far as I can recall) - chocolate shortcrust pastry, lemon souffle-ish filling, iced with dark chocolate ganache, lemon rind shavings to garnish? Again, have recipe somewhere.

This is making me Hungry Like The Wolf...

[GG Mora]

Kiwifruit, girl, you gotta involve those kiwi fruit. what about a tart with creme patissiere then kiwi fruit slices and apricot glaze?

This isn't a very good idea, unless you can find a way to dry out the kiwi slices. I once tried exactly what you proposed here. The kiwi continued to weep once the tart was assembled, and by the time it was served about 2 hours later, the whole thing was a runny, sodden mess.

[laurenmilan]

I have a California Culinary Institute cookbook from the 80s, and it has a strawberry mirror cake, made with sponge cake, layers of strawberry mousse, and a translucent layer of strawberry gel on top made with Xnox and strawberry puree. Very slick.

[Suzi Edwards]

This is making me Hungry Like The Wolf...

cries with laughter.

i have the simon hopkinson book. will look it out post-haste.

thanks for the ideas so far. the kiwi fruit one is inspired. might pop some glace cherries on there as well. just for a colour contrast you know ;-)

[MsRamsey]

Make a cake with some 80s-type new-wave graphics on it. Or take a look at some Memphis design by Ettore Sottsass and come up with some cake construction based on those colors (think yellow, red, and blue) and geometrical designs.

[tryska]

*lol* fi - you are making me laugh!

[denise_jer]

Could you make a super rich chocolate cake and call it the Miami Vice Cake? You could even do some day-glo icing, maybe...

[Ling]

My mom used to make cream horns from scratch. I remember eating them as a kid and marvelling that anything on earth could taste that delicious.

[laurenmilan]

Could you make a super rich chocolate cake and call it the Miami Vice Cake? You could even do some day-glo icing, maybe...

wasn't that the decade when flourless chocolate cake came into vogue to begin with? (to become a tired dessert-menu standby by the 90s?)

hmm, maybe flourless chocolate cakes, stacked impossibly high with needless accents & garnishes, and made ludicrously small...

Also, remember, that's the decade when specialty ice creams came into vogue as well.

[tryska]

from http://www.leitesculinaria.com/features/dining10.html

On the dessert front, chocoholics swooned when faced with decadent flourless chocolate cakes, truffles and chocolate crème brûlée. Desserts also grew skyward as pastry chefs, taking cues from architecture, built towers of sweetness that rose from the plate. Diners often wondered whether to use a fork or a sledgehammer to eat.

if i recall correctly "death by chocolate" was a big deal in the 80s.

[laurenmilan]

Some more evil ideas that came to me...

- make something disgusting and "low cal/hi-fiber" that's supposed to be good for you. Use yogurt where cream should be. Make a cookie with oat bran.

- make something semi-homemade (aka from boxes) like jello pudding pies/cheesecakes. UGH. Just the same as homemade, right?

- white chocolate, very very popular in the mid 80s. White chocolate ON white chocolate ON white chocolate.

[kopi-susu]

Tiramisu was done to death in the '80's, speaking as somone who spent about half that decade in pastry departments. A couple of eye-roll ingredients and techniques from then:

- passionfruit (reminded of this reading J. Tower's memoir)

- white chocolate, as previously mentioned

- serving everything in a plopped in a puddle of sauce, so the bottom of whatever dessert was good and soggy by the time you ate it.

- squeeze bottle cuisine: drip, drip,drip, squiggle, squiggle, squirt!

So how about all four in an appropriately over-the-top dessert: Tiramisu with white chocolate mousse (instead of mascarpone) served in a pool of passionfruit sauce. Ala Gotham, stick something tall and ridiculous into it for a garnish, and dot the edge of the plate with blobs of something else (probably rasberry coulis, it was ubiquitous) and you're done. It sounds horrible to me, but about right for the decade.

And yes, back in the '80's, EVERYONE had to have a flour-less chocolate cake, or death-by-chocolate item on the menu. A creme brulee/pot du creme item was not optional either. I can think of some restaurants where these rules still apply 20 years later...

[Jason Perlow]

Make a cake with some 80s-type new-wave graphics on it. Or take a look at some Memphis design by Ettore Sottsass and come up with some cake construction based on those colors (think yellow, red, and blue) and geometrical designs.

Or better yet, get one of those professionally made cakes where they can actually airbrush sugar pictures on them with a computer.

I'm thinking the Synchronicity album by the Police, or Darryl Hall and Jon Oates. Or a Madonna cover.

oh wait. WHAM! or The Breakfast Club.

[hjshorter]

Make a cake with some 80s-type new-wave graphics on it.  Or take a look at some Memphis design by Ettore Sottsass and come up with some cake construction based on those colors (think yellow, red, and blue) and geometrical designs.

Or better yet, get one of those professionally made cakes where they can actually airbrush sugar pictures on them with a computer.

I'm thinking the Synchronicity album by the Police, or Darryl Hall and Jon Oates. Or a Madonna cover.

oh wait. WHAM! or The Breakfast Club.

Or the chick on the "Rio" album - the colors would go nicely with raspberry coulis.

[GordonCooks]

Rice Krispy Squares or a Jello Mold with extra Cool Whip!

Edited January 8, 2004 by GordonCooks (log)

[tryska]

Make a cake with some 80s-type new-wave graphics on it.  Or take a look at some Memphis design by Ettore Sottsass and come up with some cake construction based on those colors (think yellow, red, and blue) and geometrical designs.

Or better yet, get one of those professionally made cakes where they can actually airbrush sugar pictures on them with a computer.

I'm thinking the Synchronicity album by the Police, or Darryl Hall and Jon Oates. Or a Madonna cover.

oh wait. WHAM! or The Breakfast Club.

Or the chick on the "Rio" album - the colors would go nicely with raspberry coulis.

oh my god yes...an airbrushed nagel print oin the cake.

how horrificly 80s!

[cbarre02]

What about the stupit powder sugar spoon shadows on the plate. With the chocolate coffe cup, mocha mouse, and a tuile spoon.

So eighties... So stupid... So Regan...

[bilrus]

How about lines of flavored powdered sugar on a mirror to be inhaled with a rolled up $100 bill?

[hjshorter]

How about lines of flavored powdered sugar on a mirror to be inhaled with a rolled up $100 bill?

Now Bill, no one did drugs in the 80s. We all "just said no," remember?

[laurenmilan]

So how about all four in an appropriately over-the-top dessert: Tiramisu with white chocolate mousse (instead of mascarpone) served in a pool of passionfruit sauce. Ala Gotham, stick something tall and ridiculous into it for a garnish, and dot the edge of the plate with blobs of something else (probably rasberry coulis, it was ubiquitous) and you're done. It sounds horrible to me, but about right for the decade.

The sad thing is... in some areas of US Suburbia, that's considered cutting-edge cuisine!

My aunt in Jacksonville, Florida recently bragged about all the trendy Italian bistros & coffeehouses opening up near her! Hmm, they seem at least a decade behind us...

[LJC]

I'm with Bill, there are two desserts I recall from the 80 Frusen Glasen (Spelling??) and Cocaine. Most people preferred the latter.