Sweet Thea » desserts

Angelfood Cake with Sweet Bay Leaf infused Caramelized Pears

laurie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:26:56 +0000

Angel food cake with sweet bay leaf infused caramelized pears, apricot mint sorbet, raspberry lemon thyme coulis, and apricot brandy cream.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Wednesday May 12 2004.

Strawberry & White Chocolate Shortcake

laurie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:23:06 +0000

Strawberry & White chocolate shortcake, with sorrel white chocolate mousse, strawberry lemon verbena sorbet, and strawberry paper crisps.

Served at Sooke Harbour house June 2004.

Baked Soft Meringue with Chocolate Cream & Strawberries

laurie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:20:54 +0000

Slow baked soft meringue filled with bittersweet chocolate cream, served with fresh local strawberries, a strawberry, lemon hyssop sorbet, crème anglais, tuberous begonia and gentian sage flowers

Served at Sooke Harbour house Wednesday August 27 2003

Warm Cherry Clafoutis

laurie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:17:37 +0000

Warm cherry clafoutis with a cherry mint salsa, caramel ribbon ice cream, apricot puree, port reduction and dianthus flower glaze.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Tuesday June 22 2004.

Sour Cherry Brioche Pudding

laurie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:14:38 +0000

Dried sour cherry brioche bread pudding with a maple glazed walnut, cranberry and coriander stuffed baked apple, and Grand Fir caramel, apple cream and hemp seed crisps.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Friday September 19 2003.

Chocolate Mousse and Cake with Caramelized Pears

laurie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:08:56 +0000

Bittersweet chocolate caramel mousse and flourless chocolate cake with golden rosemary infused caramelized pears, earl grey tea crème anglais, apricot fruit sage coulis and filo.

Served at Sooke Harbour house April 2004.

Canoli with Stewed Strawberries

laurie — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:32:10 +0000

White chocolate mousse filled canolis with stewed strawberries, bittersweet chocolate anise sorbet, blackcurrant and flourless chocolate cake pave and sweet cicely glaze.

Served at Sooke Harbour house March 9 2004.

Hazelnut Cake with Wildflower Honey Frozen Mousse

laurie — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:00:42 +0000

Brown butter hazelnut cake with wild flower honey frozen mousse, blackcurrant grand fir sorbet, marionberry compote and whipped crème freche.

Served at Sooke Harbour house March 24 2004.

The Notebooks of Michel Bras: Desserts

laurie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The Notebooks of Michel Bras is a book about inspiration, and isn’t really a recipe book or a typical food book (although it does contain almost 90 recipes and lots of culinary suggestions). It functions mainly as a diary of this Master Pastry Chef’s creative process, as he documents his unusual ideas and concoctions, from the inspiration of nature through to the dessert table. It is illustrated with hand-drawings and doodling, with no real photographs; together with his writing style, it gives the effect of being a notebook, without actually being one.

I am a big fan of Michel Bras, and took a pilgrimage to his restaurant Laguiole in France several summers ago, inspired and excited by the ‘cuisine of well-being’, his passionate commitment to fresh and local seasonal ingredients. Of course that means I love this book, it is very personal to me – I just melt. Reading it I am almost transported to the Auvergne, thrilled by his love of food. The intimacy of his notes make the book special, even romantic; he talks about his memory of why he loves specific foods, his connection with local ingredients and farmers, how the shape of a leaf or smell of a flower will influence his creative nature, contributing to one of his unique and graceful dishes.

Of course, I am a pastry chef, and his musings are far more interesting to me than possibly to the casual reader, and will definitely be a bit too experimental for most cooks. Such extreme-french concepts as pastry dough made with duck fat, or french seminola pudding, are at best an acquired taste for most of us! Michel has the courage and passion to bring these to the table, and discuss his choices clearly with good humor and style.

This is not a book I use, however; it is more a pleasurable read with interesting ideas than it is useful. Cooks wanting some new ideas for their kitchen should probably skip this one, while readers with a taste for the adventurous and the cutting-edge should pick it up.

Cherry Hazelnut Cake

laurie — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:19:59 +0000

Cherry, brown butter, hazelnut cake, with a warm cherry, loganberry, lemon thyme compote, Fromage frais mousse, caramel sauce and sorrel cream.

Served at Sooke Harbour house June 2004.