I'm having a dinner party next saturday, and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on this dessert I was planning to make. I remembered a strawberry shortcake recipe I got from Good Housekeeping Cookbook, which was basically an angel food cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries. I was thinking of doing a variation on that, but I would replace the whipped cream with chocolate pastry cream. Any thoughts? I know angel food is delicate, so I was thinking I'd do the pastry cream "diplomat" style by folding in some whip cream to make it a bit lighter and softer, but I'm more interested in the taste. Do you think this combination will work? I am making another dessert as a fail safe of course, but I really wanted this to be my main attraction.
Do you think this dessert will work?
- Thread starter jasonr
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
ironchef
Executive Chef
well, the only way to be sure is to make a cake now, and see if it tastes good. by making one now, you can also adjust or tweak the recipe if it does not come out exactly how you wanted it to
Make the cake now? Uhhhhh.... I really don't want to waste 6 OZ of chocolate, not to mention all that pastry cream, flour, etc... just to do a test run! I mean, in a perfect world, that is what I'd do. But it seems pretty wasteful to make a cake and just toss it in the garbage when it's done. Certainly no one is going to want to eat it, least of all me, since I can't afford to absorb all those excess calories. I have made all the individual components before, so I know they all taste good on their own, the question is: will they work together?
ironchef
Executive Chef
well obviously, the only way to know is to try it. if you want to subject other people to be guinea pigs without knowing how it will taste, then that's up to you.
the cake will be more of a waste if you make it without testing it, and it bombs. at least if you try it first, you can perfect it. do you think chefs just pull recipes off the top of their heads, throw it on a menu, and see what happens? no, we try it in the kitchen on ourselves, and then on other people before we put out on a menu.
in a perfect world, you WOULDN'T have to make a test cake because you would just whip it up, and viola! it would taste great. but this isn't a perfect world, therefore you NEED to test recipes out before hand, in order to determine if it is a winner or not.
the bottom line is: do you want those people to like the cake, or do you not? if the answer is yes, then you would do what you needed to in order to ensure that they enjoy your cake.
the cake will be more of a waste if you make it without testing it, and it bombs. at least if you try it first, you can perfect it. do you think chefs just pull recipes off the top of their heads, throw it on a menu, and see what happens? no, we try it in the kitchen on ourselves, and then on other people before we put out on a menu.
in a perfect world, you WOULDN'T have to make a test cake because you would just whip it up, and viola! it would taste great. but this isn't a perfect world, therefore you NEED to test recipes out before hand, in order to determine if it is a winner or not.
the bottom line is: do you want those people to like the cake, or do you not? if the answer is yes, then you would do what you needed to in order to ensure that they enjoy your cake.
scott123
Senior Cook
It will work.
ramydam
Cook
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2004
- Messages
- 66
To do a test-run just to see if it works taste-wise, you could just make up a very small portion of the pastry cream and buy one of those individual serving mini angel food cakes at the store. It won't take much less time, but you won't have wasted much in ingredients.
I make a lot of desserts in one or two servings because I love experimenting with pastries, but I live alone and most of my friends are too busy to be constant guinea pigs - not to mention I can't afford to make some things for more than one! But I've found there really is no dessert that can't be tested in an individual portion, just to see if textures and flavours work well.
Good luck with your party!
I make a lot of desserts in one or two servings because I love experimenting with pastries, but I live alone and most of my friends are too busy to be constant guinea pigs - not to mention I can't afford to make some things for more than one! But I've found there really is no dessert that can't be tested in an individual portion, just to see if textures and flavours work well.
Good luck with your party!
ramydam
Cook
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2004
- Messages
- 66
I forgot: my grandmother used to always do angel food with chocolate sauce; it was great because the sauce would just soak into the cake gorgeously, but what would really make it or break it was how sweet the sauce was. She never made it the same, and when it was bitter and really kick-in-the-face chocolatey, it worked great, but when it was sweet and more milk-chocolate like, it didn't. Angel food is so sugary on it's own sweet chocolate was overkill. Thought that might help.
Thanks for the suggestions, but I've decided to go for a chocolate cream pie instead; it is safe because I know it will work, and I already have the ingredients. Though your observation vis a vis your grandmother is helpful for future reference. As it happens, I was intending to use Valhrona Gunaja, which is pretty bitter, so it sounds like my idea would have worked (though pastry cream is too thick to soak into a cake)
lindatooo
Head Chef
What we all really need is lots of Guinnea Pigs with subperb metabolisims!
I'm busy training my son's dogs tonight so my posts are likely to be a bit disjointed :roll:
How about the angelfood cake with regular pastry cream and the strawberries dipped in the chocolate?
just a notion
2
I'm busy training my son's dogs tonight so my posts are likely to be a bit disjointed :roll:
How about the angelfood cake with regular pastry cream and the strawberries dipped in the chocolate?
just a notion
2
Thyme
Assistant Cook
I think that your angel food cake will work if you put chocolate in it, you just have to be very careful when folding it into the egg whites. The thickness of the sauce could break your peaks.
Thyme
Assistant Cook
Well then that would work out fine, please excuse my ignorance! :P
Dina
Executive Chef
Jasonr,
You have me wondering if your dessert turned out as planned. I thought your initial idea was fantastic. The chocolate cream pastry with strawberries sounds delicious! Let us know how your guests liked your desserts.
Dina
You have me wondering if your dessert turned out as planned. I thought your initial idea was fantastic. The chocolate cream pastry with strawberries sounds delicious! Let us know how your guests liked your desserts.
Dina
Similar threads
