What Christmas dessert should I bring this year?
December 7, 2011 4:40 AM
What's your most fabulous (christmas) dessert recipe?
For a potluck dinner with friends, around christmas, I'm bringing dessert. For some reason, I've ran out of ideas so I'd be very grateful for yours!
Some pointers/restrictions:
- Preferably it should be made in advance (same day or day before) and portable (there's a kitchen, but with dinners like this, kitchen space and oven time are at a premium).
- Home made ice cream, tiramisu and crème brulée have been done in previous years, so I'd prefer to steer clear of those.
- For this particular dinner, 'classy' would trump 'homey'. Also: I'm not afraid of fairly complicated stuff.
- We won't be at the dinner location very long before dinner, so anything that needs to be frozen (ice cream for example) would be tricky. Cooling during the trip, however, could be arranged.
- The group consists of around 14-16 people.
Thanks in advance!
For a potluck dinner with friends, around christmas, I'm bringing dessert. For some reason, I've ran out of ideas so I'd be very grateful for yours!
Some pointers/restrictions:
- Preferably it should be made in advance (same day or day before) and portable (there's a kitchen, but with dinners like this, kitchen space and oven time are at a premium).
- Home made ice cream, tiramisu and crème brulée have been done in previous years, so I'd prefer to steer clear of those.
- For this particular dinner, 'classy' would trump 'homey'. Also: I'm not afraid of fairly complicated stuff.
- We won't be at the dinner location very long before dinner, so anything that needs to be frozen (ice cream for example) would be tricky. Cooling during the trip, however, could be arranged.
- The group consists of around 14-16 people.
Thanks in advance!
This dark chocolate mousse recipe, with the modifications in the first comment/review. I dollop with some whipped cream spiked with Bailey's, stick the chocolate drizzle in, then garnish with a strawberry perched on the glass.
Are molten chocolate cakes passé? This recipe for individual ramekins was easy and delicious, and could be prepped in advance. Would need a bit of re-heating before serving though. I served it with vanilla-bean ice cream and a blood-orange sauce (basically just supremed blood orange segments, cooked down in their own juices a bit with some sugar and maybe a splash of Cointreau.)
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 4:52 AM on December 7, 2011
Are molten chocolate cakes passé? This recipe for individual ramekins was easy and delicious, and could be prepped in advance. Would need a bit of re-heating before serving though. I served it with vanilla-bean ice cream and a blood-orange sauce (basically just supremed blood orange segments, cooked down in their own juices a bit with some sugar and maybe a splash of Cointreau.)
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 4:52 AM on December 7, 2011
This Ginger Pear Upside-Down Cake is all kinds of awesome, and only for a certain kind of grown up palate--it's not very sweet but mysteriously musky and fragrantly spiced. Love it. Plum Torte never fails either (CI's recent version is very good too, where you roast the fruit beforehand...I've made it with a mix of stone fruits like plums, peaches, nectarines, etc.).
posted by ifjuly at 6:11 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by ifjuly at 6:11 AM on December 7, 2011
Trifle done right: absolutely requires preparing in advance, highly portable. Nigel Slater has a few variants (one here) but I love the flexibility it affords, and it's suitably classy / extravagant for the season.
Start with some ladyfinger/savoiardi biscuits at the bottom of the dish, reduce your fruit of preference with some sugar and an appropriate alcoholic substance (I'm a fan of madeira and dark cherries for the sweet-tart combo); leave to cool; make a proper egg custard (recipe here); leave to cool somewhat, then pour gently on top of fruit/sponge layer, and refrigerate; on the day of serving, whip cream or make syllabub, layer on top of trifle, decorate with grated chocolate, toasted flaked almonds, or whatever you choose. If you want to make multiple thinner layers of fruit and custard, go right ahead.
posted by holgate at 6:37 AM on December 7, 2011
Start with some ladyfinger/savoiardi biscuits at the bottom of the dish, reduce your fruit of preference with some sugar and an appropriate alcoholic substance (I'm a fan of madeira and dark cherries for the sweet-tart combo); leave to cool; make a proper egg custard (recipe here); leave to cool somewhat, then pour gently on top of fruit/sponge layer, and refrigerate; on the day of serving, whip cream or make syllabub, layer on top of trifle, decorate with grated chocolate, toasted flaked almonds, or whatever you choose. If you want to make multiple thinner layers of fruit and custard, go right ahead.
posted by holgate at 6:37 AM on December 7, 2011
Buche de Noel, and I use Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe. If you really want to spalsh out, williams Sonoma has a stump cake pan.
posted by Ideefixe at 6:51 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 6:51 AM on December 7, 2011
Seconding Buche de Noel! Can be very impressive. I used Joe Pastry's tutorial to great success.
posted by torisaur at 7:12 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by torisaur at 7:12 AM on December 7, 2011
Jaime Oliver's Marmalade Bread Pudding. Amazing! Google it!
posted by xammerboy at 7:27 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by xammerboy at 7:27 AM on December 7, 2011
Red Velvet Trifle. This recipe is from recipegirl, but there are tons of others out there. It's beautiful, seasonal, easy to transport, should be made a day ahead, and really really good.
posted by raisingsand at 7:55 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by raisingsand at 7:55 AM on December 7, 2011
Buche de Noel, and I use Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe, too. (From the Cake Bible.) Beautiful and so ethereally light and elegant. It's my favorite part of Christmas, year after year.
posted by HotToddy at 9:05 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by HotToddy at 9:05 AM on December 7, 2011
Thanks for all the reponses so far! I love the new takes on the classics (Trifle, Buche the Noel but these new things sound very interesting as well. I'll have to organize a couple of extra dinners to try them all :-) Feel free to keep new suggestions coming though!
posted by Ms. Next at 11:12 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by Ms. Next at 11:12 AM on December 7, 2011
Flourless chocolate cake (only 3 ingredients!) is awesome.
Perhaps with some cream on the side.
Should be made 1 day in advance.
Tried and tested recipe.
posted by leigh1 at 12:21 PM on December 7, 2011
Perhaps with some cream on the side.
Should be made 1 day in advance.
Tried and tested recipe.
posted by leigh1 at 12:21 PM on December 7, 2011
I started making Sticky Toffee Pudding a couple of Christmases ago (a request of the Brit boyfriend) and it is delicious and easy. Steamed individual date cakes with a caramel sauce. Nom!
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 1:36 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 1:36 PM on December 7, 2011
My favourite Christmas dessert: Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova, if it's doable. So delicious!
posted by thylacinthine at 6:49 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by thylacinthine at 6:49 PM on December 7, 2011
Live sticky toffee pudding, perhaps with some whiskey whipped cream, but a good trifle with sherry us fabulous too. I must be feeling British.
posted by purenitrous at 7:32 PM on December 7, 2011
posted by purenitrous at 7:32 PM on December 7, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jeather at 4:45 AM on December 7, 2011