Dessert Trends
Dessert
is supposed to be the high point of a meal not just some sweet
afterthought. In fact, desserts trends are toward less sugar and
fat and greater lightness. The newest fad is dessert soups served in fancy goblets. No longer reserved for drinking, glasses are used to show off dramatic layered desserts of jewel-coloured fruits and vegetables that require a spoon, not a fork.
Eclectic and creative, modern fusion cooking blends ingredients and techniques from various culinary traditions into daring dishes with complex flavours. Simplicity is the perfect foil for such sophisticated dining and many top chefs like to end a meal with fresh fruit. A salad of sliced oranges, or strawberries with preserved ginger or balsamic vinegar close a meal on a light note. Getting away from grand baked desserts is another trend.
Another fashion in desserts is remembrance of things past. Old childhood sweets bring back fond family memories. Mom's apple pie, Aunt Mary's jam scones, the chocolate mousse with which Sunday dinner always finished, and the blancmange of childhood sick rooms remain comfort foods we turn to with pleasure.
There are three trends: salty-sweet desserts, simple, refreshing
fruit desserts, old favourites. Give treasured family recipes a new
twist with some new exotic fruit.
Spices
Often associated with salty dishes, spices
add an exciting, mysterious note to desserts. Cinnamon, coriander,
cloves, nutmeg and star anise all bring out the flavour of dark
chocolate. Ginger adds bite to apples. Spiced up, old standbys
become deliciously, surprisingly new!
Crumbles
Fast, easy and as flavourful as pies,
crumbles combine fruit, crumbs, spices, sometimes even chocolate,
into the perfect finale for a family dinner.
|
Spicy Apple Crumble Verrine |
 Almond Crumble,Berry Jam, Cinnamon Whip |
 Apple Pecan Crumble With Rosemary, Vanilla Mousseline |
Granités
Often served as a first course, these
fancy ices also make a light dessert or a refreshing,
palate-cleansing pause in a multi-course dinner.
As dessert, granité can be served in sherbet glasses with fruit. Guests then spoon scraped granité over the fruit like syrup.
 Litchi Granité |
 Raspberry Granité |
 Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) Granité |
 Watermelon Granité |
 Rio Star Grapefruit Granité |
Sherbet
Orange, lemon, pineapple, kiwi… Assorted
sherbets make a colourful dessert. Spoon sherbets into hollowed out
fruit and freeze. For an adult dessert, top with liqueur:
limoncello, mandarin, banana or litchi liqueur.
 Honeydew Melon Sorbet with Star Anise |
 Fruit Sherbet |
 Fresh Strawberry-Mint Sorbet |
Fruit
Cocktails
Whatever the season, these liquid desserts are a hit with
young and old alike. Fruit lovers, mixologists and adventurous
souls on the lookout for new and interesting flavours go for them
in a big way.
The basic ingredients for all fruit cocktails, improvised or made from a recipe, are the same: ice cubes, sugar, fresh fruit juice and water as needed to dilute overly thick mixtures. Freshly squeezed juice lasts just a short time... after a few hours it's no longer good.
To give glasses a frosted rim, dip them in a little lemon juice then a shallow bowl of sugar. Garnish the cocktails with fresh fruit and serve with a straw.