Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[CanadianBakin']

Today I'm prepping the desserts for my Fourth of July barbecue. I've made fudgy brownies with chocolate croquant chopped and swirled in, the crepes from Martha's Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake ( how does she get 32??), hazelnut buttercream to spread them with,  and nightscotsman's marshmallows (again). I'm thinking of skewering some and putting them on the grill- it should be fun! Now I need to find a nice fruit dessert. Anyone have a good grilled fruit recipe that's out of the ordinary?? Thanks !!!

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What about making small kabobs with the marshmallows and fruit and then grilling them? Strawberries and pineapple would probably be good grilled.

Oh, and what about a chocolate fondue to dip them in?

Or use apples on the kabobs with the marshmallow and have some caramel sauce for dipping.

Edited July 3, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[apronstrings]

Today I'm prepping the desserts for my Fourth of July barbecue. I've made fudgy brownies with chocolate croquant chopped and swirled in, the crepes from Martha's Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake ( how does she get 32??), hazelnut buttercream to spread them with,  and nightscotsman's marshmallows (again). I'm thinking of skewering some and putting them on the grill- it should be fun! Now I need to find a nice fruit dessert. Anyone have a good grilled fruit recipe that's out of the ordinary?? Thanks !!!

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What about making small kabobs with the marshmallows and fruit and then grilling them? Strawberries and pineapple would probably be good grilled.

Oh, and what about a chocolate fondue to dip them in?

Or use apples on the kabobs with the marshmallow and have some caramel sauce for dipping.

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YES! Great idea! I'll get a nice caramel sauce recipe together. I'll have straberries anyway, because I'm making a spinach salad with mangoes and strawberries. Thanks!

[shaloop]

Friday night after hosting southwestern fajita dinner, had cheesecake with fresh berries. Was gorgeous, but I forgot to take a picture and it went so fast.... Saturday, coming down with a sinus infection, no dessert (barely any dinner.) Sunday, sticky buns for breakfast and for dessert, after a potluck mexican themed dinner at a friends house, I carried mexican chocolate cake (Maida Heatter's mexican chocolate cake with semisweet ganache flavored with mexican vanilla) and margarita pie (spinoff of lemon icebox pie made with limes, tequila and triple sec.) I must say they both turned out very well. I wasn't allowed to bring any of the leftovers home. (Much to the dismay, and protest, of our houseguest.)

[Abra]

Tonight I made Megan's madeleines for my husband. I didn't have Grand Marnier or orange zest, so I used a little orange flower water, a little Cointreau, and a drop of vanilla. I am not a real madeleine fan myself, but he ate quite a lot of them "frosted" with chilled homemade hot fudge sauce, which is sort of a spreadable ganache-consistency when cool. I made the sauce with Spanish cocoa, and it is incredibly deep, dark, and adult.

I wasn't very happy with the edge definition, though. It's a mini-madeleine pan, so I'm not sure if it's the nature of the little ones to be less defined, or if there's something I could do to get them to look more professional.

Ling, for the sauce you caramelize the palm sugar (2/3 cup), then add a can of coconut milk, a smushed lemon grass stalk, and a cinnamon stick. Simmer together for about 15 minutes, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry of 2 tsp cornstarch to 1 tsp water. It's really delicious cold the next day, when it has a perfect pudding consistency.

[Stephanie Wallace]

Chocolate cake with Beet Ice Cream, Beet Chips and Candied Walnuts from "The French Laundry" cookbook.

[Ling]

Thanks for the recipe, Abra! I'll have to try it soon.

That dessert looks great, Melange. What did you think about the consistency of the ice-cream? I haven't tried that recipe yet...but it looks like the most interesting one in the book.

[Stephanie Wallace]

The consistency of the ice cream is fantastic (excluding the fact that the yolks were just slightly overcooked). It was very delicate, the fork slid right through.

I hope you have a serious juicer if you make this. I used a meat grinder, squeezing the beet-pulp in cheesecloth batch by batch by batch. Hell I hope I never have to go through again.

Also, the contrast in texture is one of the best aspects of this dessert; I will definitely plate vertically next time.

[Chufi]

I wasn't very happy with the edge definition, though.  It's a mini-madeleine pan, so I'm not sure if it's the nature of the little ones to be less defined, or if there's something I could do to get them to look more professional.

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Abra, I have a regular madeleine pan, and had the same issue with the definition, so I don't think it's the mini factor. We need Megan's madeleine expertise here I think!

[Abra]

Melange, that is a beautiful plate. I'm dying to try that beet ice cream, although I know the very mention of it would send my husband screaming from the house! What's that on the far left side of the picture?

[miladyinsanity]

Melange, that is a beautiful plate.  I'm dying to try that beet ice cream, although I know the very mention of it would send my husband screaming from the house!  What's that on the far left side of the picture?

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But Abra, you don't have to tell him what it is until he tastes it, right?

[Stephanie Wallace]

Melange, that is a beautiful plate.  I'm dying to try that beet ice cream, although I know the very mention of it would send my husband screaming from the house!  What's that on the far left side of the picture?

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Thank you, Abra. Those are more chips, sprinkled with a little bit of powdered sugar.

[Ling]

The consistency of the ice cream is fantastic (excluding the fact that the yolks were just slightly overcooked). It was very delicate, the fork slid right through.

I hope you have a serious juicer if you make this. I used a meat grinder, squeezing the beet-pulp in cheesecloth batch by batch by batch. Hell I hope I never have to go through again.

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Great, the beet ice-cream is something I really want to do. I think I have access to a juicer in a restaurant kitchen.

[Megan Blocker]

I am completely addicted to the pumpkin scones at Alice's Tea Cup, a cute little restaurant here in New York. I am not, however, addicted to the hour-plus waits for a table. So, today, I decided to use the can of pumpkin that's been in my cupboard for six months to give homemade pumpkin scones a shot.

I used AnnT's scone recipe as a jumping-off point, and mixed pumpkin with the cream (and only used about 1/2 - 3/4 cup cream).

They came out really well...could have used a bit more leavener, probably to counteract the heavy pumpkin.

My kitchen smells like Thanksgiving!

ETA: Those madeleines look great, Abra - all light and airy! One thing I've done to keep edges smooth is to avoid filling the pans right to the rim...gives the batter room to puff out a bit without going over the edge and creating that ruffly bit...

Edited July 3, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[gfron1]

For a Chinese dinner last night I made a mango mousse with a sesame crisp

[alanamoana]

gfron1,

those mousse (meese?) look delicious and your tuiles are beautiful! great job.

p.s. i love how you're always finding cute things which aren't normally dishes on which you plate your desserts! are those coasters?! they look good and match the dessert as well.

Edited July 4, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[Abra]

gfron1, those are gorgeous! Tell us how you did the crisps.

[gfron1]

alanamoana - thanks for noticing. Its become a point of contention in our house since I can't stop buying/finding plates for desserts. Those are bamboo coasters that we now carry in our store-only because I wanted them for desserts

The sesame crisps aren't tuilles. They were a recipe in the last Pastry Art & Design. If I remember correctly (I can share the recipe if anyone wants it, but its in a magazine so I'd prefer not to post it for copyright reasons), you mix a small amount of milk, lechitin, and glucose. Bring that to a boil, then pour over sesame seeds, flour and sugar. I add black sesame seeds for effect. Then spread, freeze. Bake. For the wavy effect, after they baked, I let them set up a bit, then scored them and draped the parchment paper that they were on over a rolling pin to harden. I had an unusally humid day so they didn't crisp up on Sunday, but they held long enough for photos. If you want the recipe just PM me and I'll get it to you. Thanks for the compliments. ~Rob

[alanamoana]

habit...in restaurants we call just about anything a tuile that is crispy and is a component of a dessert...hehehe

but i will pm you for the recipe!

[Ling]

That's gorgeous, gfron! Could I get the recipe for the tuiles as well?

[yunnermeier]

I made muffins today and completely bastardised the recipe but I'm happy with it. They're chocolate muffins but I filled them with pink marshmallows (which floated and exploded and turned a sordid red/pink which I quite like) and white chocolate chunks

[apronstrings]

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11521277...3146_191452.jpg

These are my first mille feuilles. Part of our July 4 barbecue, from Martha's Darkest Choclate Crepe Cake recipe (sans hazelnuts on top). The first one I made was devoured before I remembered to take a pic. It was prettier. I made a Nutella Swiss buttercream. It yielded 20 something layers, but hubby ate some before assembly. I want to make my next one in a square shape. Any suggestions as to when to cut to get the shape desired? As ever, thanks. Can't copy and paste for some reason.

[Kerry Beal]

I had a nice bowl of fresh wild blueberries, drizzled with some Manitoulin wildflower honey and some heavy cream. Ate it on the porch looking at this view.

[miladyinsanity]

I started this fine day with chocolate pancakes. Three of them.

If I eat a dozen, I'm sure I'll have Out-Linged Ling again. But just in case I don't, I've had 2 pieces of Valrhona Manjari, a slice of Swiss Roll and a pear already.

[Ling]

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11521277...3146_191452.jpg

These are my first mille feuilles. Part of our July 4 barbecue, from Martha's Darkest Choclate Crepe Cake recipe (sans hazelnuts on top).

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That is beautiful! It sounds very delicious as well.

Last night, this Canadian chick had an awesome time at her first 4th of July party.

I made brownies and pecan pie bars.

I didn't get a picture of the dessert table, because we were too busy putting together over a hundred foie gras burgers for our guests, but I also had pecan pie someone else made, red, white and blue frosted "USA" cookies, chocolate black bottom pie (it was really deep, like a good 5" tall), coconut cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, rhubarb crisp and vanilla ice-cream.

[miladyinsanity]

I didn't get a picture of the dessert table, because we were too busy putting together over a hundred foie gras burgers for our guests, but I also had pecan pie someone else made, red, white and blue frosted "USA" cookies, chocolate black bottom pie (it was really deep, like a good 5" tall), coconut cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, rhubarb crisp and vanilla ice-cream.

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What's a Black Bottom Pie?