Parfait sounds kind of lame, I know. But this was a great and easy to assemble dessert that looked really pretty. I will admit, however, that I thought it was out of balance. I was really worried it would be too sweet, and instead it ended up being a bit too tart. I needed one more layer of sweetness somewhere.
Here's what I did. I made a homemade cranberry sauce, but went light on the sugar. Here's the cranberry sauce recipe:
1 bag cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
1/4 ruby port
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamon
I used three 8 oz containers of mascarpone, and whipped in about 2 oz of grand marnier and 1/3 cup sugar. I also shredded a small block of bittersweet chocolate, but I think semi sweet or milk chocolate would work better. I'd recommend shredding enough to have a half cup. Crush nila wafers (about six per parfait, this amount of mascarpone will easily make six large servings) in a plastic bag. Segment one to two blood oranges per parfait, and then chop them roughly.
Using pretty serving glasses (I used large shrimp cocktail glasses), layer in the following order: thin layer of cranberry sauce, nila wafers, shaved chocolate, mascarpone, oranges, mascarpone, chocolate, nila wafers, thin layer of cranberry to cover the top.
For that classy finishing flair, top with a little shaved white chocolate. Serve chilled.
This is very simple, very elegant, and I think with a few adjustments will be a super hit, rather than just a very good dessert.
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Christmas Cookie Party!
I hosted a holiday cookie party study break. Holiday cookie parties are a fun way to see friends and then mix and match cookies and take a plate home. Great for study time!
I busted out my great grandmother's peanut butter ball recipe. It's my all time fave holiday treat.
Ingredients:
1 lb butter
3 tbsp vanilla
2 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 blocks paraffin (I've never used the entire amount)
2 cups peanut butter
3 boxes powdered sugar
Directions:
Mix together the butter, peanut butter and vanilla.
Add 1 box of powdered sugar at a time to first mixture. Mix until crumbly.
Roll peanut butter mixture into small balls. Refrigerate until chocolate is ready.
Melt paraffin over double boiler and add chocolate chips, stir.
Use toothpicks to hold balls and dip in chocolate. Lay out on wax paper until solid.
They are kind of time consuming to make, because you end up rolling and dipping about 100 individual balls. I had three full cookie sheets worth. I'd allocate a good hour and a half to prep work and dry time. But they stay good and taste fresh for weeks, and are extremely crowd pleasing.
Oh, and you'll probably have extra chocolate for dipping, so buy some nice strawberries and dip them afterward. Or shortbread cookies! Good chocolate should not go to waste!
I busted out my great grandmother's peanut butter ball recipe. It's my all time fave holiday treat.
Ingredients:
1 lb butter
3 tbsp vanilla
2 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 blocks paraffin (I've never used the entire amount)
2 cups peanut butter
3 boxes powdered sugar
Directions:
Mix together the butter, peanut butter and vanilla.
Add 1 box of powdered sugar at a time to first mixture. Mix until crumbly.
Roll peanut butter mixture into small balls. Refrigerate until chocolate is ready.
Melt paraffin over double boiler and add chocolate chips, stir.
Use toothpicks to hold balls and dip in chocolate. Lay out on wax paper until solid.
They are kind of time consuming to make, because you end up rolling and dipping about 100 individual balls. I had three full cookie sheets worth. I'd allocate a good hour and a half to prep work and dry time. But they stay good and taste fresh for weeks, and are extremely crowd pleasing.
Oh, and you'll probably have extra chocolate for dipping, so buy some nice strawberries and dip them afterward. Or shortbread cookies! Good chocolate should not go to waste!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Brunch Club - Eurotrip!
This week's brunch club theme was Eurotrip. So, I thought about one of my eurotrips, to France and Italy with my mom. We had pain au chocolat pretty much EVERY day. So, that was what I decided to make.
I also decided to lazy it up hardcore, and I bought crescent rolls. Sort of a mistake, because I should I have bought puff pastry and cut it myself. It would have been lighter and fluffier. Sigh. Definitely will do that next time. Anyways, here are my suggested directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Cut puff pastry into squares, and then cut each square diagonally (to form triangles).
3. Spread nutella in a triangle shape stopping about 1/2" or so from the edges
4. Roll from the wide end of the triangle towards the pointed end.
5. Pinch the ends closed
6. Shape into a crescent and place on a foil covered baking sheet.
7. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Be careful not to bake for too long, because no one likes burnt croissants.
Overall, this is a super easy thing to make in the morning for a brunch, and it'll be a big hit because, let's be honest, who doesn't love chocolate? If you don't, you are unamerican. Just putting that out there.
Apologies for the lack of pictures. They just looked like croissants. Not that exciting.
I also decided to lazy it up hardcore, and I bought crescent rolls. Sort of a mistake, because I should I have bought puff pastry and cut it myself. It would have been lighter and fluffier. Sigh. Definitely will do that next time. Anyways, here are my suggested directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Cut puff pastry into squares, and then cut each square diagonally (to form triangles).
3. Spread nutella in a triangle shape stopping about 1/2" or so from the edges
4. Roll from the wide end of the triangle towards the pointed end.
5. Pinch the ends closed
6. Shape into a crescent and place on a foil covered baking sheet.
7. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Be careful not to bake for too long, because no one likes burnt croissants.
Overall, this is a super easy thing to make in the morning for a brunch, and it'll be a big hit because, let's be honest, who doesn't love chocolate? If you don't, you are unamerican. Just putting that out there.
Apologies for the lack of pictures. They just looked like croissants. Not that exciting.
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