Making Desserts More Elegant
Cooks who are confident making everything from appetizers to multi-course meals will still often head to the pastry shop when it comes time for dessert. But desserts don't have to be complicated to be elegant, attractive and delicious. A little creativity and a few simple steps can turn ho-hum deserts like cookies, ice cream and cake into something that will impress your family and friends.
Ohio native Pamela Sturkey is an award-winning pastry chef and part owner of three restaurants in the Cincinnati area, Sturkey's and two Encore Café locations. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Sturkey was Rising New Pastry Chef for Chocolates a la Carte in 2000. Here she offers some easy ideas for making ordinary desserts extraordinary:
- Cut cake in shapes.
Sometimes very small things can make the difference. You might start, for example, by cutting a piece of a cake into an unexpected shape, like a circle, diamond or triangle.
- Add texture to ice cream.
Instead of just slapping down ice cream next to the cake, first roll it in toasted nuts, toasted coconut or chocolate chips for a different look, taste, and texture.
- Stack it on a cookie.
Use a flat butter cookie as the base of an inventive dessert. Stack on a layer of round cake, and then a ball of ice cream on top of that.
- Top with fruit and sauce.
Add fresh fruit and a little bit of sauce to top it all off, and you've suddenly got many different elements coming together to make a wonderful dessert.
- Try fun garnishes and combinations.
To garnish your dessert creations, take fresh fruit, dip it in chocolate and then nuts, and use it to top your mousse or cake. Another idea is to take cookies and stick them out of ice cream with some fruit and a diamond-shaped piece of cake.
- Make layers and angles.
The idea is to use different shapes, textures and angles to dress up and enhance the traditional desserts that everybody knows and loves. With a little effort and some ingenuity, basic dessert ingredients can make dishes that seem anything but basic.
For more dessert ideas, check out the following website:
Sturkey's Restaurant
www.sturkeys.com
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