Week 5: Dessert Sauces

Because dessert sauces essentially consist of pureeing and straining various fruits, I was anticipating a rather boring blog post.

Luckily, we got to bake some items as a venue for our dessert sauces, which introduced me to my favorite activity to date: making crepes! Of the various types we tried a plain old dessert crepe dressed up with some cinnamon was by far my favorite. The chocolate and pumpkin were tasty, but much more difficulty to work with:

Start with a HOT, well buttered cast-iron pan:

Twirl the batter in the pan to create a thin coat:

Flip!

The final product:

But, because this was a dessert sauces class, we upped the ante a bit with Crepes Suzette (basically a citrus-y caramel sauce):

We also made a few different types of souffle. My instructors continue to be baffled by my lack of familiarity with all that we create. I try to explain that Danvers isn't a thriving suburb for culinary discoveries, but they will have none of it. When I tell them I've never had or made a souffle, I imagine my face when I am asked a technical question at work: part horror, part shame, and a twinkle of pity.

ANYWAY, here is a gigantic lime souffle. I'd never make this at home, but it was a fun experiment:

A less-then appetizing presentation. Plating isn't my forte!

Sunken Molten Chocoalte Cake

White Chocolate Souffle with Raspberry Coulis

Last item on the menu was the Sabayon (or zabaglione), basically a light, frothy wine dessert eaten with fruit. It's super delicate, so must be eaten immediately after the egg whites, dessert wine, and sugar are whisked together over heat for a looooong time. A few of my classmates weren't a fan of the final result, but any dessert involving champaign is alright by me:

Before I sign off: does anyone have any recommendations for a crepe pan??