Soft Desserts: Portable, Non-Chilled & Impressive
December 5, 2013 3:09 PM Subscribe
I'll be attending a holiday party and said I'd bring a dessert. There are a few specifications.
The catches are:
- 1 of the guests has trouble chewing, so it needs to be a soft dessert
- I'll be taking transit, so it needs to not be too fragile and not depended on staying chilled
- Should be somewhat impressive, i.e. not a vanilla pudding, say. Doesn't have to be show-stopper but I'd like to do something out-of-the-ordinary.
- can be made with basic cooking equipment (i.e. no blow torches or fancy pans)
Any ideas, friends?
The catches are:
- 1 of the guests has trouble chewing, so it needs to be a soft dessert
- I'll be taking transit, so it needs to not be too fragile and not depended on staying chilled
- Should be somewhat impressive, i.e. not a vanilla pudding, say. Doesn't have to be show-stopper but I'd like to do something out-of-the-ordinary.
- can be made with basic cooking equipment (i.e. no blow torches or fancy pans)
Any ideas, friends?
Frozen berry crumble is not particularly impressive, but it is DELICIOUS. You just make crumble topping (pulse together butter, brown sugar, flour or oatmeal, and cinnamon / cloves/ what have you in a food processor, or mix by hand), pour frozen berries into a baking dish, pour the crumble topping on top, and bake until bubbly. It takes about 30 or 45 minutes -- you can even transport the berries and the crumble topping separately and bake it when you get there.
posted by KathrynT at 3:12 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by KathrynT at 3:12 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding trifle...it's delicious, soft, and it's striking. It's way prettier than it deserves because it's EASY to put together. It can be as easy or as hard as you want. It's even good with store-bought pudding and boxed cake. But do the whipped cream yourself from scratch... perhaps spiked with a good liquor.
posted by answergrape at 3:39 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by answergrape at 3:39 PM on December 5, 2013
Tiramisu. It should be chilled when you make it, but once it's set, it's fine out of the fridge for a couple of hours, especially if there's a fridge at your destination so it could rechill for half an hour or so.
All sorts of variations out there - pumpkin, chocolate, with/out booze, etc.
posted by aimedwander at 3:44 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
All sorts of variations out there - pumpkin, chocolate, with/out booze, etc.
posted by aimedwander at 3:44 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
Thirding trifle! I've made a couple recently, and they got raves, even with mostly store bought ingredients. I made this one, subbing Tastykake peanut butter candy cakes for the brownies, and with extra peanut butter mousse. The pudding was store bought Kozy Shack; the whipped cream was home made.
The other recent one was just layers of chocolate brownies drizzled with Hershey's syrup, Kozy Shack chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, and homemade whipped cream. Everything was store bought except the whipped cream.
Seriously, TRIFLE.
posted by booksherpa at 4:20 PM on December 5, 2013
The other recent one was just layers of chocolate brownies drizzled with Hershey's syrup, Kozy Shack chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, and homemade whipped cream. Everything was store bought except the whipped cream.
Seriously, TRIFLE.
posted by booksherpa at 4:20 PM on December 5, 2013
Strawberry fool
Summer Pudding with Rum Whipped Cream
posted by bunderful at 4:37 PM on December 5, 2013
Summer Pudding with Rum Whipped Cream
posted by bunderful at 4:37 PM on December 5, 2013
I'd say just try making pudding from scratch. Start with melted chocolate or some other base flavor you like and just add yummy stuff you see listed as ingredients in pudding recipes until you've got a flavor and consistency you like. Then pick one of the fancy-sounding names from this list and call it that, like "mocha blancmange" or something of that sort, if you feel that "pudding" is insufficiently high-brow.
You can also add garnishes when it's being served, like a cinnamon stick in each bowl and a sprinkle of ground-up nuts, for extra sizzle.
posted by XMLicious at 4:38 PM on December 5, 2013
You can also add garnishes when it's being served, like a cinnamon stick in each bowl and a sprinkle of ground-up nuts, for extra sizzle.
posted by XMLicious at 4:38 PM on December 5, 2013
Banana pudding!* It makes a really pretty presentation, is very soft, and enjoyable by the toothed and toothless alike!. Seriously, every time I make this everyone goes gaga. It should be kept refrigerated until you leave, but it will be fine on transit. I usually make it in a pyrex but you can use a disposable foil pan which is lighter.
*Like all Paula recipes, it's got some fat in it, but you can reasonably lighten it up with low-fat milk, light cream cheese, light cool whip, etc, with no discernible change in taste.
posted by radioamy at 4:41 PM on December 5, 2013
*Like all Paula recipes, it's got some fat in it, but you can reasonably lighten it up with low-fat milk, light cream cheese, light cool whip, etc, with no discernible change in taste.
posted by radioamy at 4:41 PM on December 5, 2013
How about chocolate cream pie? You can even make it crustless, although a regular or even graham cracker pie crust shouldn't be hard to chew. It would be better chilled, but it'll survive a transit ride unless you live somewhere pretty tropical. If chocolate isn't what you or the other guests might prefer, coconut cream or key lime (this one sounds kind of amazing) would also be beautiful, soft and delicious.
For any of those, you'll want real whipped cream on top. You can either whip it at home and top the pie before you leave, whip it at your host's home (if you know they have a mixer), or bring a can of spray whipped cream like Reddi-Wip.
No, I am not a fully owned and operated subsidiary of King Arthur Flour, but yes, I can see why you might think that.
posted by Smells of Detroit at 6:54 PM on December 5, 2013
For any of those, you'll want real whipped cream on top. You can either whip it at home and top the pie before you leave, whip it at your host's home (if you know they have a mixer), or bring a can of spray whipped cream like Reddi-Wip.
No, I am not a fully owned and operated subsidiary of King Arthur Flour, but yes, I can see why you might think that.
posted by Smells of Detroit at 6:54 PM on December 5, 2013
Cook's Illustrated chocolate pudding is a REVELATION. Honestly, I had no idea pudding was so good. This would be easy to transport, just make sure there are ramekins where you're going, and carry it in a tupperware. Once you got there you could top the servings with whipped cream and a raspberry if you really wanted to put on the dog.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:54 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:54 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Chocolate custard! Might be slightly annoying to transport depending on the container you choose, but so so sooo good. Definitely impressive.
posted by town of cats at 8:20 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by town of cats at 8:20 PM on December 5, 2013
If you're going to do a banana pudding (and I highly recommend that you do), I changed my favorite from the Paula Dean recipe to the Magnolia Bakery recipe. It feels lighter somehow, and I like it better.
posted by CathyG at 8:50 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by CathyG at 8:50 PM on December 5, 2013
These look delicious and pudding cake is pretty soft, especially if served with sauce or whipped cream.
http://darlingmagazine.org/louises-lemon-pudding-cake/
posted by euphoria066 at 9:19 PM on December 5, 2013
http://darlingmagazine.org/louises-lemon-pudding-cake/
posted by euphoria066 at 9:19 PM on December 5, 2013
Super-rich mini chocolate cupcakes (or any flavor, really) are easy to transport on public transportation if you carry the icing separately and assemble everything on-site. I've done them with just a little kiss of icing on top... then dusted with edible gold powder (like this here http://www.nycake.com/hightlightgold.aspx though silver might be more festive for the season). They look amazing!
posted by feistycakes at 4:37 PM on December 6, 2013
posted by feistycakes at 4:37 PM on December 6, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. After trifling with the idea of the trifle, I went with the Sticky Toffee Pudding which was a super-hit.
posted by oceanview at 9:59 AM on December 11, 2013
posted by oceanview at 9:59 AM on December 11, 2013
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posted by kmennie at 3:11 PM on December 5, 2013 [4 favorites]