The basil and candied pine nut ice cream was very good, but as with any ice cream it is better as an accompaniment to dessert. In this case I used white cake I'd had in the freezer (I toasted it slightly to refresh it) and just a drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil. If I'd been planning this I'd have made Thomas Keller's madeline cake (I really must post about that, it is delicious) and some sort of citrus olive sauce, probably thickened with xanthan gum. Still, it was a delicious dessert--and not just for something thrown together on a whim.
Hi, I'm Chef Mercedes. I'm a graduate of the French Culinary Institute/International Culinary Center's classic pastry arts program. Currently I do not work in the food industry so I use this blog to share my love of eating and passion for baking with the world. I hope you’ll enjoy what I have to share about baking and that I’ll inspire you to bake as well.
Showing posts with label plated dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plated dessert. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Sixtieth Birthday Party
My pops turned 60 earlier this month. We threw him a big surprise party. And even with all the cooking and preparation we did, he (shockingly) was surprised! We really went all out too; it's quite something that we still managed to surprise him.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Brownies with Citrus Salad
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Caramelized Waffles and Chocolate-Hazelnut Ice Cream
The ice cream was amazing. It's a creamy chocolate and sour cream ice cream base (from the New York Times food section) with some toasted hazelnuts and a dash of Frangelico added in for good measure. I didn't add much liqueur because it can interfere with the freezing point of the ice cream, but with Frangelico on top of the hazelnuts, a little went a long way. This was, hands down, the best batch of ice cream I've ever made, and I've made some good ones. I think it was the sour cream. You couldn't taste it at all (which was good, sour cream would have been all wrong with the hazelnuts) but it made the texture unbeatable.
Plated all together, the warm, crisp waffles and the cold, creamy ice cream were just perfect! (Happy New Year, by the way.)
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Gluten Free Desserts, Sightseeing, and my Dissertation
I stayed with my cousins for the last couple weeks of dissertation writing. I can't thank them enough for putting me up and putting up with me during such a stressful time. In an attempt to thank them, I baked quite a bit for them. Below follows a stream of consciousness post including some gluten free baking and some miscellaneous non-food photos.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Glazed Pumpkin Scones
Sunday, January 5, 2014
The Best of 2013
It's that time. The time to look back over the previous twelve months and see where you've been and what's happened in your life, both good and bad. For me 2013 is the year I started grad school. It's also the year I made a wedding (okay, anniversary) cake for a real couple, crafted a TARDIS out of chocolate cake, made hundreds of chocolates for the holidays, and so much more. So here's to 2013.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Thanksgivukkah
Friday, October 18, 2013
Plated Dessert for the Jewish Holidays
The beautiful thing about this dessert is it could be for almost any Jewish holiday! I had been away from home for Rosh Hashanna so I decided to use the traditional flavors from that holiday--apple and honey--as inspiration for my dessert. Since some of my cousins can't eat gluten- the whole dessert is gluten free and is therefore suitable for Passover (obviously if you keep Kosher there are other considerations besides leavened goods and flour, but in my household that's pretty much the extent of Passover.)
Friday, August 23, 2013
White Chocolate, Blackberry and Lime Eton Mess
I love traditional Eton mess with strawberries, but I decided that after our dinner of onion tart and filet mignon I couldn't just serve plain old strawberries and cream. I decided to substitute blackberries for the strawberries. That's not really much of a change so I figured I'd add some white chocolate (it's so good with blackberries) to the whipped cream. But white chocolate crème d'or, no matter how delicious, mixed with blackberries is no longer Eton mess. So I whipped up some cream with a bit of lime juice and zest (both pretty and delicious) and folded the meringue pieces into that.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Eating Out
It's been strange being back in NYC as a tourist, but nice because I've never had an excuse to eat at Bar Boulud, Jean-Georges' Nougatine, and Cafe Fiorello over the course of only two days--lunch, lunch, dinner. (The excuse was actually my mom's birthday, but if we'd been living in the City we certainly would have had at least one of the meals at home.)
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Individual Berry Crumbles
But then I thought about it and realized that a crumble would be the perfect use for fresh berries that were maybe getting a little sad. My cousin was coming over for dinner so I needed a gluten free dessert and my strawberries weren't fresh enough for Eton mess (the dessert I'd planned to make). What a perfect opportunity to test my theory.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Fudgy Brownies
These incredibly fudgy brownies are from the Desserts Le Champignon Sauvage's dessert cookbook. They are meant to be the base for a whole chocolate brownie bar, so they are quite thin and don't really hold together well. That's okay though, they are delicious. The texture is deliciously fudgy and the flavor is pungently chocolaty with just a hint of sea salt. I had a little left over mocha buttercream in the fridge so I put a little bit on it, topped with some raspberries and voila, a delicious plated dessert.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Cardamom Blondies
As for serving them, they are great out of the pan, hold the plate. But they were also nice with a cup of coffee or (unsurprisingly) chai tea. My favorite way was with vanilla frozen yogurt and lightly toasted cashew nuts. I really like cashews and the slight Indian influence of the cardamom paired nicely with them. Yum!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Menu Project, The Food
![]() |
Guinness Chocolate Cake: See how the dark, cylindrical cake with the foamy, white cream on top resembles a pint of Guinness? Cute, huh? |
A few relevant details of the project I forget to mention before: we were allowed to bring our own plates, but didn't have to. We were not required to make an amuse bouche, but it is allowed (although not mentioned by the chefs, I figured it out from taking to former students). The chefs sit up at the front of the class and you must carry everything up to them (in contrast to the usual judging where they come to you) at a chosen time that is different for each person so that hot food stays hot and cold stays cold (in contrast to the usual judging where everyone finishes at the same time and the judges get to you when they get to you).
Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you what I did. I decided to make a sort of amuse bouche. I bought different plates for each of my desserts and a beautiful tray that matches my restaurant theme perfectly (you can see it in the picture of the cake, above) to use to carry everything up to the chefs on. I knew I needed something to carry them on since I was going to be bringing up one of each of the ordered desserts plus an amuse for each of them and I don't have four hands--shocking I know--and I thought a sheet pan covered with parchment would look crappy.
My first dessert (pictured above), the Guinness chocolate cake was a hit. My ice cream came out perfectly, something I surprised myself with because I tend to have a bit of trouble making a perfect creme anglaise ice cream base. My cake, the chefs said, was not quite Guinness-y enough and ever so slightly dry. They said I should have "refreshed" them in the oven and then doused them in a Guinness soak. Actually, I'd thought of doing that, but was afraid I'd over soak them and make them soggy, so I opted to go with the plain cake because I know it's really good. I'm a bit annoyed at myself that I didn't take the risk, but they still liked the cake and really liked everything else on the plate.
![]() |
I cut the crusts off when I did this in class and served it with slightly less salad. |
Sorry about the really strange coloring of the photo, perhaps I should have used my real camera instead of the one on my iPhone. |
I'm thrilled with how well everything came out and with how much the chefs liked everything. We have three final projects (this, a wedding cake, and our final exam showpiece). I definitely got off to a good start with these!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Menu Project, The Assignment
Yesterday I started review in class by making a bunch of different doughs. We'll shape the dough in three classes, after the menu project. Now, I think, is a good time to explain the menu project. Basically we have to come up with a concept for a restaurant/bakery/dessert bar/etc. Complete with a brief business plan that includes a clearly defined concept, location (which must be in the tri-state area), the name of your place, and any other details you can think of (decor, colors, hours...) Additionally, you must design a menu with eight desserts (not including ice cream or petit four assortments or a cheese plate). The menu must use seasonal ingredients and reflect the general theme of the restaurant (obviously). The chefs order two desserts off your menu and, a few classes later, you must make and plate them.
For me, the menu and restaurant plan was challenging but right up my ally. I'm used to written work and presenting reports in an aesthetically pleasing manner. What worried me was developing recipes for the menu items that worked and making sure each component of each dessert tasted (and looked) good together. It took many a test recipe and even more tweaking to come up with desserts that worked, were delicious, fit the restaurant theme, were seasonal (spring is especially hard), showcased my talents, and minimized the odds that I'd be asked to do something I wasn't confident about.
Now that you know what the project was, I can tell you about my restaurant. It is a restaurant located in a high-end, mid-town hotel, that serves "comfort food for the discerning diner." In other words, classy twists of classic comfort food. As it turns out it's harder to come up with a balanced menu (not too much of one type of item--like cake--or one flavor--like chocolate) that fits the bill and is seasonal for spring.
The chefs ordered the Guinness Chocolate Cake with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream, Creme Fraiche Cream, and Guinness Chocolate Sauce; and the Brie, Chocolate, and Basil Panini on Sourdough with an Orange Basil Salad and Orange Philadelphia-style Ice Cream. I'm really happy they chose these, even if it does mean I have to lug my (well technically my mom's) cast iron grill pan and panini press top with me to class.
Update: you can read about the food I made for the menu project here.
For me, the menu and restaurant plan was challenging but right up my ally. I'm used to written work and presenting reports in an aesthetically pleasing manner. What worried me was developing recipes for the menu items that worked and making sure each component of each dessert tasted (and looked) good together. It took many a test recipe and even more tweaking to come up with desserts that worked, were delicious, fit the restaurant theme, were seasonal (spring is especially hard), showcased my talents, and minimized the odds that I'd be asked to do something I wasn't confident about.
Now that you know what the project was, I can tell you about my restaurant. It is a restaurant located in a high-end, mid-town hotel, that serves "comfort food for the discerning diner." In other words, classy twists of classic comfort food. As it turns out it's harder to come up with a balanced menu (not too much of one type of item--like cake--or one flavor--like chocolate) that fits the bill and is seasonal for spring.
The chefs ordered the Guinness Chocolate Cake with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream, Creme Fraiche Cream, and Guinness Chocolate Sauce; and the Brie, Chocolate, and Basil Panini on Sourdough with an Orange Basil Salad and Orange Philadelphia-style Ice Cream. I'm really happy they chose these, even if it does mean I have to lug my (well technically my mom's) cast iron grill pan and panini press top with me to class.
Update: you can read about the food I made for the menu project here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Baked Ricotta with Orange Basil Salad and Orange Iced Cream
This was another practice dessert for my menu project. I'm glad I practiced it, because I've decided that I don't really like the baked ricotta--a twist on cheese cake--with the other two components. The problem with baked ricotta--this version was based on a recipe I found in a Gordon Ramsey cookbook--is that it isn't terribly flavorful and the salad and iced cream totally overwhelmed it. Also, it was harder than I'd expected to get the texture right, they came out either tough or almost runny. The salad was brilliant and the iced cream (basically whipped cream and fresh orange juice and zest frozen solid) was really nice, but perhaps a bit too icy.
I think I'm going to keep the salad and iced cream but switch from the baked ricotta to a chocolate, basil, and brie panini. It keeps cheese as part of the dish and ties in with the basil in the fruit salad, plus chocolate makes anything better. If the chefs order this, I'll discuss all the components in more detail.
I think I'm going to keep the salad and iced cream but switch from the baked ricotta to a chocolate, basil, and brie panini. It keeps cheese as part of the dish and ties in with the basil in the fruit salad, plus chocolate makes anything better. If the chefs order this, I'll discuss all the components in more detail.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Olive Oil Cakes
![]() |
Ligurian Lemon Cake |
My favorite of the two desserts was the ligurian lemon cake with raspberries baked right into the cake and topped with bruleed Swiss meringue (although I could have done without the meringue). We served this with a very clear raspberry sauce, an almond tuile, and incredible honey almond gelato. I think the tuiles were a little out of proportion for the plate, but they did taste good so I don't mind too much.
![]() |
Beaumes-de-Venise Cake |
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Chiboust Day
We also made a chocolate chiboust tart made simple of a rectangle of baked chocolate tart dough with chocolate chiboust piped on top. We served that with a sour cherry compote, chocolate and ancho chili sherbet, a cacao (or cocoa) nib and caramel tuile, and a piped chocolate decoration. Everything was delicious, especially the sherbet, although I'm not sure I liked the cherry compote and the sherbet together. The chocolate decorations were made by taking tempered chocolate and adding enough cocoa powder to it to thicken it to a pipe-able consistency. As the chef explained, basically we are taking couvature chocolate--chocolate with extra cocoa butter added to make it more fluid--and getting rid of the couvature by adding in more cocoa solids. So perhaps if you tempered a Hersey's bar--you can temper any chocolate, by the way--it would have nearly this consistency to start. Once the tempered chocolate is sufficiently thick, it's just a matter of piping it into interesting shapes. We made long rods of chocolate and some squiggly snakes but you could do anything you want. Because they are tempered they set up hard and with a even color and because they have extra cocoa powder they are slightly more bitter than the chocolate you started out with (in this case semi-sweet chocolate). Lovely and delicious!
![]() |
Chocolate decorations |
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A la Minute Cakes
A la minute desserts are desserts that are baked to order. These two warm cakes were delicious. The first, a warm chocolate fondant (I don't know why it's call a fondant...it has no resemblance to the fondant you use on cakes and doesn't even have that as an ingredient), was delicious. It's basically a warm chocolate mousse cake. We served it with pistachio creme anglaise, chocolate sauce, decorative curls of tempered chocolate, and vanilla-raspberry swirl ice cream. The pistachio creme anglaise was a bit too green and not nutty enough for my taste. Other than that, I liked everything.
![]() |
The chef's plating of the warm hazelnut cake. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)