What is your fall-back dessert?

[CaliPoutine]

What is your fallback dessert, when you have to bring something to someones house or you're having spur of the moment guests?

For me its:

Hershey's black magic cake.

Its rich, chocolaty and moist. It's mixed in one bowl, uses oil and it doesnt need icing. If I want it extra special, I;ll frost it with one bowl buttercream frosting.

This cake won me first prize in a county fair last year.

Whats yours? (and how do I post a picture?)

[jim_jimmers]

tres leches. super easy to make and people love it.

[snowangel]

Every August, when the Colorado peaches arrive, I am in heaven. They are only availble here by the lug. When the season is nearing it's end, I approach my produce guy at the market, and offer to purchase the almost over-ripe peaches for pennies on the dollar.

I take them home. Then, I line every pie pan I can get my hands on, line them with foil, and make filling (farm journal cookbook recipe) fill the foil, freeze them, remove pie pans and return said pans to everyone from whom I've borrowed said pans.

All wnter long, we eat peach pies. Guests now expect them, as do the folks to houses I'm asked to bring a dessert.

[yimay]

molten chocolate brownie cupcakes and vanilla ice cream!

[TurtleMeng]

sour cream coffecake ring with lots of streusel inside and on top, lots of walnuts or pecans. People just eat. They often ask what the "good brown stuff" is made of.

[petite tête de chou]

Blackberry crisp. Ideally, served with peach, apple or berry ice cream.

[merstar]

What is your fallback dessert, when you have to bring something to someones house or you're having spur of the moment guests?

For me its:

Hershey's black magic cake.

Its rich, chocolaty and moist.  It's mixed in one bowl, uses oil and it doesnt need icing.  If I want it extra special, I;ll frost it with one bowl buttercream frosting.

This cake won me first prize in a county fair last year.

Whats yours? (and how do I post a picture?)

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I love the Black Magic Cake. I decrease the sugar significantly, from the original 2 cups to 1 1/3 cups, so it has a much deeper chocolate taste.

[binkyboots]

Either an apple crumble or the guiness chocolate cake from "feast"

On balance the cake usually wins, it's better with hobgoblin ale or young's chocolate stout than guiness though.

[spaghetttti]

That quick & easy, do-not-stir fruit cobbler is one I frequently rely on. It's very forgiving, fresh or canned fruit, the cobbler can be topped with ice cream, creme anglaise or whipped cream.

Edited January 24, 2005 by spaghetttti (log)

[Swisskaese]

An apple gallette

[Patrick S]

(and how do I post a picture?)

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Edited January 24, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[CaliPoutine]

I love the Black Magic Cake. I decrease the sugar significantly, from the original 2 cups to 1 1/3 cups, so it has a much deeper chocolate taste.

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[therese]

Pineapple upside down cake.

Ingredients always on hand, easy to make, pretty, doesn't require refrigeration, and everybody loves it.

[K8memphis]

(and how do I post a picture?)

←

(and how do I post a picture?)

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7. Click on the 'Click for Actual URL.'

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!!!!!!!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you !!!!!!!!

[andiesenji]

Mine is some kind of pie, tart, cake or ?? made with my homemade lemon curd which I cook up in large batches and can in quart jars. It has a very intense lemon flavor and is quite creamy, mainly because it is made with a lot of egg yolks plus some whole eggs, and I infuse the zest in some of the lemon juice and reduce it for quite a while to intensify the flavor.

Usually I will fill a blind-baked pie shell with the curd, then take a cup of heavy cream, whip it until it is quite stiff, then beat in a cup of the curd and pipe that on the top instead of meringue. It holds quite well in the refrigerator.

Alternatively, I bake a lemon pound cake in a very long loaf pan (16 inch) cut it into thin layers (3 or 4), use the lemon curd as a filling between the layers and with a thin layer on top, then cover the whole thing with the whipped mixture.

This one serves a lot of people - it is tricky to get the slices on a plate attractively.

However I have found that if I cut the slice, then use two of the angel-food cake "cutters", I can pick up the slice and transfer it to a plate perfectly. (I have several of these and use them for a lot of tasks such as this. No one seems to think of them nowadays, but at one time there was one or more in every kitchen.)

[*Deborah*]

If I have enough time (around 2 hours), I like to do the Jacques Pépin Mémé's Apple Tart. It has this nifty crust with Crisco, baking powder and warm milk that I have not been able to mess up yet, although my pastry skills are poor at best.

I have also altered that recipe to add ground almonds and nutmeg to the crust and used apricots in season for a nice tart.

It's quite popular, and makes a good breakfast if there are any leftovers.

[duckduck]

Coffee pie. It's an old recipe I found in a cookbook from the 1940's I believe and it's really basic, just gelatin added to coffee with sugar and whipped cream folded in when it's semi-set and turned into a nut crust. It's always a hit. That and when I have the time, Fort Knox Pie from an advertisement in one of my old Chocolatier magazines is always a huge hit. I'll try to dig out the recipe later. It's an old family favorite now.

[FistFullaRoux]

Ice cream (usually vanilla) topped with one of two sauces

1) Canned fruit (peaches or pineapple), warmed in a saucepan with a bit of cornstarch slurry to thicken, seasoned with cinnamon

2) Brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, all melted in a pan, then spooned over. Add bananas to it and you have Bananas Foster. This covers me for when there are no bananas...

[Ling]

My fall-back dessert depends on the crowd I'm feeding.

Big crowd, people my age --> cheesecake

Small crowd, people my age --> pie (could be blueberry or apple, or one of my personal favourites which is chocolate and peanut butter pie)

Big crowd, older people present (e.g relatives over for dinner) --> cheesecake for the younger people, and some sort of not-too-sweet cake for the older people, like chiffon cake, or lemon pound cake

Edited January 24, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Patrick S]

I've used Wendy's banana cake as an 'fall-back' several times. But Ive also used it when I had plenty of time to bake whatever I wanted, because its a superb cake.

[jgarner53]

I will usually do a pie or tart. If strawberries are in season, I'll go with my fresh strawberry pie, but other than that, I make what I feel like, or what seems appropriate for the meal (Thanksgiving: pumpkin - Easter: strawberry tart or lemon meringue)

My husband calls me the pie queen

[Fernwood]

Coffee pie. It's an old recipe I found in a cookbook from the 1940's I believe and it's really basic, just gelatin added to coffee with sugar and whipped cream folded in when it's semi-set and turned into a nut crust. It's always a hit.

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Could you post the ingredients for the coffee pie, please? Also, advise what kind of nuts you think are best for crust?

Thanks, Fern

[ludja]

A good fallback is Lindsey Shere's Almond Tart in Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook or in Chez Panisse Desserts.

(I usually have all the ingredients on had and it's quick and easy to make; easy to transport).

[kthull]

For a while it was the Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake from epicurious.com, but prepped as 1" squares, then ganached and topped with a coffee bean, like so:

But latley it's been Herme's Tarte Grenobloise from the Chocolate Desserts book, but I first slice it into 24 teeny wedges, then top each one individually with the caramel pecan topping:

Both are relatively rich, so making the smaller portions not only looks way cool on a platter, but it also stretches it much farther than the normal amount of servings either recipe would suggest. And, too much of a good thing is usually not appreciated by most people. Me, I can eat it all and ask for more, but I must be crazy.

[M. Lucia]

I am still learning, so I am constantly making new recipes. Like Ling, it would depend on the crowd and the occaision.

young crowd: Chocolate Ganache Tarts with Fleur du Sel

older crowd/ less sweet: Beaumes de Venise Cake with whipped cream

winter party: Guinness Ginger Cake or Sticky Toffee Pudding in individual ramekins

summer party: fruit pie or cobbler with homemade ice cream

fancy: Blackberry Lemon Layer Cake