DESSERTS 2001
Just in time for the real millennium!
By Nancy Ross Ryan
Photos by Laurie Proffitt
Remember the argument around this time last year about the millennium? Purists insisted that 2000 was not the real millennium. The real millennium, they argued, would not officially begin until the year 2001. Not that it kept anyone from celebrating. We can't think of a better way to ring out the old millennium and ring in the new (or is that ring out the false and ring in the true?) than with, of course Champagne, but also desserts.
Desserts -- especially the dazzling confections of this new millennium -- are too fabulous a foodstuff to forswear, and enjoying them too divine a pleasure to be sullied by guilt. Have you looked at many real live pastry chefs lately? Most of them are svelte as runway models -- and the very picture of health. Whenever I meet a pastry chef I always ask if they eat their own desserts. The answer is always yes, living proof that loving sweets is not the slippery slope to breaking your New Year's fitness resolution.
For dispensation we appealed to an authority in these matters, Diane Quagliani, a Chicago-based registered dietitian and official spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "There are no good and bad foods, and you don't have to give up foods that you love to maintain a healthy weight," she says. "The cause of overweight is too many calories in and not enough physical activity. It is absolutely possible to enjoy and include the desserts you love as part of a healthful balanced eating plan -- the key is how often you eat dessert and how big the portion size is."
Ah, sweet words of wisdom befitting one of the millennium's top dessert trends: small artistic portions of exquisite tasting sweets. We confirmed this trend during visits with four of Chicago's cutting-edge pastry chefs: En-Ming Hsu of The Ritz-Carlton, Mary McMahon of Vivere, Nancy Silver of MOD, and MOD. Judy Contino, pastry chef/proprietor of Bittersweet, a North side temple of confectionery. Not only are they masters of their milieu, they are trendsetters. What they create today are the desserts of tomorrow.
Among the top dessert trends? Desserts today are not too sweet. For that reason, when Mary McMahon garnishes with whipped cream, it is barely sweetened. "We have a standard recipe for whipped cream: three tablespoons of powdered sugar to a quart of heavy cream and only one-half teaspoon of vanilla. We just want to enhance the natural flavor of the cream, not overwhelm it. "And McMahon illustrates this trend by a classic Italian dessert that has been on the menu at Vivere since the restaurant opened in 1990 -- Panna Cotta. "It's so simple and barely sweet. There are no eggs -- it's a cream-lover's dessert," she says. She garnishes this silky molded dessert seasonally, with chocolate sauce of caramel sauce and torrone in the fall and winter, and with summer fruit sauces and berries in spring and summer.
Another trend is to have different textures and temperatures in one dessert. In her Chocolate Obsession (paradise on a plate for a chocolate lover) En-Ming Hsu nestles a warm chocolate pudding and places a scoop of cocoa nib sorbet between a chocolate lavender Napoleon and a chocolate and banana pastry. Another of her desserts -- Strawberry Lime Tart with Spun Sugar -- combines seductively creamy lime mousse in a crisp sugar crust garnished with fresh, ripe strawberries.
A third trend is a return to classic techniques in creating pastries and confections. En-Ming Hsu says desserts are "more scientific. It's really important to understand the basic forms, preparation methods and techniques, before you start playing around."
Left: Vivere Pastry Chef Mary McMahon's Napoleon with Fresh Fruit
Right: Ritz-Carlton Executive Pastry Chef En-Ming Hsu's Chocolate Sampler
All four pastry chefs agree that what goes up must come down: "Tall" hard-to-eat desserts are passe. "Even though they may be eye-catching, you really need to balance what is eye-catching with what tastes good," says Hsu. "What I am seeing now is a movement away from tall desserts, and the food looking more like food -- not like something else, " says McMahon.
"Tall desserts, thank heavens, were never my style," says Nancy Silver. But chocolate desserts -- a big trend today --always were. "When people go out for dessert and want something that is the ultimate decadence, chocolate always fills that void," she says. "We always have at least one chocolate dessert on our menu, and it is usually our best seller," says McMahon. The current chocolate creation at Vivere is a chocolate croccante: a very dense Frangelico-infused chocolate cake layer serves as the foundation for alternate layers of chocolate mousse and crisp brown sugar tuile cookies.
MOD. Pastry Chef Nancy Silver's
Lemon Crêpes with Fresh Raspberries
Other dessert trends our experts predict for the year 2001: seasonal desserts (ripe peaches in summer, rather than blueberries in January). "We cook in the Italian tradition," says McMahon, "and that means using the best and most seasonal ingredients in desserts. We let the fruit of the season be the feature on the plate." Another growing trend is to use of super premium ingredients -- the best of the best -- some with pedigrees (heirloom apples, artisinal farmhouse cheeses, exotic chocolates). And, we may have discovered an emerging trend -- everyone's wildest dream. Last fall, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago staged a wine-matched "Definitive Desserts Dinner": three savory courses and four dessert courses.
Along with dessert trends come dessert diehards: Will that tiresome Tiramisu never weaken its menu grip? There's hope in panna cotta says McMahon, "To know it is to love it." And what about the French cliche, Crême brulée? Judy Contino places her bets on an equally classic French dessert, pot de crême. What's more, it's chocolate.
Following are recipes from all four chefs so you can set some dessert trends at home. |
HICKORY NUT SOUFFLÉ GLACÉ
En-Ming Hsu, The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago
FOR THE CARAMELIZED HICKORY NUTS:
4 oz. sugar
1 oz. water
10 oz. warm hickory nuts
1/4 tbsp. butter
1. In a copper bowl over medium heat, combine the sugar and the water. When the syrup boils, add the hickory nuts. 2. Stir with a wooden spoon continually until the sugar begins to look grainy. As the mixture begins to smoke, remove from heat. Continue to stir and add the butter. 3. Pour the nuts onto wax paper to cool.
FOR THE SOUFFLÉ:
scant 1/3 cup honey
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 cup chopped candied orange zest
1 cup caramelized hickory nuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2-1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped
1. Set aside a 6-cup capacity mold lined with two layers of plastic wrap. 2. Bring honey to a boil (at 121°F). Meanwhile, use mixer to quickly whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. With mixer running, slowly add honey to egg whites. Continue to whip until bowl feels cool to the touch, about 4 minutes. 3. Stir in remaining ingredients, except whipping cream. 4. Fold in whipping cream. 5. Transfer mixture to prepared mold, Cover to make airtight and freeze. 6. To serve, use the plastic wrap to lift the glacé from the mold. Cut into serving portions and serve immediately.
Serves 6
PANNA COTTA
Mary McMahon, Italian Village Restaurants
3 ounces (scant 1/2 cup) sugar
1 quart cream
1-1/2 envelopes (about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin
Sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons of the cream in a small bowl to soften. Meanwhile heat cream and sugar to just-before boiling, stirring constantly. Add gelatin-cream mixture, stirring to dissolve completely. Pour into 4-ounce molds. Chill three to four hours, until firm. Unmold onto individual serving plates by dipping bottom of mold briefly in warm water to loosen. Garnish with fresh summer fruit or fruit sauces or, in winter, caramel or chocolate sauces.
Makes 8
DARK CHOCOLATE-DRIED APRICOT BREAD PUDDING
Nancy Silver, MOD.
Nancy Silver makes her own sour cream ice cream to accompany this dessert. You may substitute your favorite vanilla ice cream.
4 cups plain white crustless bread (such as sourdough), diced
1-1/4 cup heavy cream
4-1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces butter
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bread cubes in large bowl; pour 1 cup of the cream over. Stir and let soak at least 10 minutes. Over a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter and remaining cream, heating to melt. Whisk melted ingredients together to incorporate. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and slowly, one at a time, whisk in egg yolks first, then whole egg. Combine flour, sugar and dried apricots; add to soaking bread. Stir to incorporate. Stir in chocolate mixture. To bake individually, spray or butter 8 8-ounce ramekins. Fill with bread pudding mixture. Bake in a water bath for about 30 to 40 minutes or until set. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Makes 8
JUDY CONTINO'S FAVORITE POT DE CRÊME
Bittersweet Bakery
13 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
12 egg yolks
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 quart half and half
In medium stainless bowl, place finely chopped chocolate and sugar. In saucepan bring half-and-half and vanilla to boil. Pour the half-and-half over chocolate and allow to sit 5 minutes. Whisk till smooth. Have yolks in stainless bowl. Temper with warm chocolate mixture (that is, pour a small amount of chocolate mixture into the yolks while whisking to incorporate. Then add all chocolate mixture, whisking to mix. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and divide equally among 12 small (4- to 6-ounce) ramekins or traditional crème pots. Bake at 300°F to 325°F in a hot water bath until set, about 30 to 35 minutes. Carefully remove the pots de crème from the water bath, place on a tray, and refrigerate covered until well chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve, without unmolding, in their pots.
STRAWBERRY LIME TART WITH SPUN SUGAR
En-Ming Hsu, The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago
When En-Ming Hsu makes this dessert, she bakes her own tart shell and sugar. But the home cook may use a good pre-baked tart shell and omit the spun sugar; it's lovely on its own.
For lime mousse:
1-1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1-12 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2-1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lime zest
1/4 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg white
1 cup well-chilled heavy cream
Sweet pre-baked 9-inch tart shell
3 pints strawberries (about 1-1/4 pounds)
To make the mousse: In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1-2 tablespoons cold water and let soften 1 minute. In a small saucepan, heat gelatin mixture, lime juice, zest and 1/4 cup sugar over moderately low heat, stirring, just until sugar and gelatin are dissolved. Cool to room temperature.
Set a metal bowl over a saucepan and put enough water in pan so that bottom of bowl just touches the water. Remove bowl from pan and bring water to a boil. In bowl with a metal spoon, stir together egg white and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar until combined. Remove pan of boiling water from heat and immediately set bowl with egg mixture over pan. Stir egg mixture gentle with spoon (keep mixture as froth-free as possible because the froth cooks more quickly) 1 minute. (This is for egg safety.)
With an electric mixer beat egg mixture at high speed 5 minutes, or until cool. Reduce speed to medium and bear meringue 3 minutes more, or until it holds tiny peaks. In another bowl beat cream until it holds soft peaks. Gradually stir lime mixture into meringue until combined (mixture will be thin and not completely smooth) and fold in whipped cream gently but thoroughly.
Spoon mousse into tart shell, smoothing top. Chill tart, uncovered, at least 4 hours, or until mousse is set, and, covered, up to 1 day.
Before serving, trim strawberries and arrange, cut sides down, over tart. Serves 8 |