Fabulous Dessert Ideas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like to experience failure, try your hand at baklava. Such a simple dessert, so many ways for it to go wrong.

I have watched videos of it. And I think the contestants on GBBS had to do it one season. It seems pretty torturous. I have gone to great lengths to get something technical right, but I don't even like baklava, so if I do give it a go, I'll just start with store bought phyllo.

[Anonymous]

What about a Smith Island cake?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about a Smith Island cake?

I was thinking Dobos Torte, so Smith Island Cake is not that far off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about cranberry tart? I think it looks gorgeous and festive, and I don't see other fruit desserts on your list. You could further fancy it up with some sparkling candied cranberries.

https://www.blossomtostem.net/cranberry-curd-tart/

I would also vote for a cranberry curd tart. I use the NYT recipe. It has some wow factor with the vibrant red color, and makes a fabulous canvas for decorating with meringue, sugared cranberries, etc. and it tastes great, too, which can’t always be said for desserts with a visual wow factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about cranberry tart? I think it looks gorgeous and festive, and I don't see other fruit desserts on your list. You could further fancy it up with some sparkling candied cranberries.

https://www.blossomtostem.net/cranberry-curd-tart/

I would also vote for a cranberry curd tart. I use the NYT recipe. It has some wow factor with the vibrant red color, and makes a fabulous canvas for decorating with meringue, sugared cranberries, etc. and it tastes great, too, which can’t always be said for desserts with a visual wow factor.

Yes, it’s appealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about cranberry tart? I think it looks gorgeous and festive, and I don't see other fruit desserts on your list. You could further fancy it up with some sparkling candied cranberries.

https://www.blossomtostem.net/cranberry-curd-tart/

I would also vote for a cranberry curd tart. I use the NYT recipe. It has some wow factor with the vibrant red color, and makes a fabulous canvas for decorating with meringue, sugared cranberries, etc. and it tastes great, too, which can’t always be said for desserts with a visual wow factor.

How tart is it? I usually find cranberries too tart for my palate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about cranberry tart? I think it looks gorgeous and festive, and I don't see other fruit desserts on your list. You could further fancy it up with some sparkling candied cranberries.

https://www.blossomtostem.net/cranberry-curd-tart/

That looks so pretty.
Not op, but I might try that or the cranberry upside down cake this year.

Can you still find cranberries in stores around Christmas? There are still Thanksgiving ones around now but I seem to recall they get harder to find as the season goes on.

[Anonymous]

Ina Garten’s chocolate mousse

[Anonymous]

A number of ideas (most from Southern Living, because I'm the vintage cakes list lady):

The Little Layer Cake https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/little-layer-chocolate-cake-recipe

The Doberge Cake (this one is based off a Hungarian Dobos torte, but as someone who grew up with a Dobos torte - it's not all that similar IMO but it is visually stunning)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/lemon-chocolate-doberge-cake-recipe

The Coconut Chiffon Cake (this is effortful, stunning if you decorate it properly, and it has been my favourite of the 49 cakes I've baked from the list so far)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/coconut-chiffon-cake

This is last year's SL White Cake (for 25+ years they've had a white cake on the cover of their December issue) and it's not super complicated but it is delicious and by the time you bake the cookies and decorate them, and the cake, etc. it can be just beautiful.
https://www.southernliving.com/redbird-cake-8380086

There is one other SL Cake that meets your criteria but it is truly an insane amount of effort - each layer bakes individually in a cast-iron skillet, so you must have many the same size, or you are baking layers for hours. You also need specialty ingredients like sorghum syrup. I made it because I needed to, in order to complete the cake list - but I wouldn't bother making it again. And, I don't think the result visually is as ornate as what you'd want - it's not a "decorated" cake.

Outside of SL, one year I did a Mexican themed menu for Christmas and did the Dulce de Leche Chocoflan (el pastel imposible/the impossible cake) that flips in the pan as it bakes). It was very popular.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021761-dulce-de-leche-chocoflan?unlocked_article_code=1.fE4.zsOX.cj_IV1LPXyQC&smid=share-url

[Anonymous]

Cake list lady back again - I forgot one (non-SL) recipe.

These are NOT seasonal flavours (but it is kind of red/pink) but it is a showstopper so if you could get the rhubarb you could consider it. I broke 3 peelers trying to get the rhubarb right, but it's one of the most popular recipes I've ever shared on Instagram so confirmed that it looks good.

https://thefeedfeed.com/joyosity/strawberry-coconut-cream-tart-with-herringbone-latticed-rhubarb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about cranberry tart? I think it looks gorgeous and festive, and I don't see other fruit desserts on your list. You could further fancy it up with some sparkling candied cranberries.

https://www.blossomtostem.net/cranberry-curd-tart/

That looks so pretty.
Not op, but I might try that or the cranberry upside down cake this year.

Can you still find cranberries in stores around Christmas? There are still Thanksgiving ones around now but I seem to recall they get harder to find as the season goes on.

David Tanis’s recipe in NYT cooking is really good. It is not too tart and looks spectacular. Plus it’s GF!
Fresh cranberries freeze well so buy them now and stash them away until Christmas.

OP, one more idea for a visually stunning cake is to make a vertical striped version of your favorite layer cake. You would use a sponge-like cake batter baked in a jelly roll pan, spread with your favorite flavor of meringue buttercream. Cut into three pieces lengthwise and roll; flip 90 degrees so that the round side is down leaving you with vertical layers. Ottolenghi had a version of it in his dessert cookbook that uses a lemon sponge with a berry flavored buttercream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A number of ideas (most from Southern Living, because I'm the vintage cakes list lady):

The Little Layer Cake https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/little-layer-chocolate-cake-recipe

The Doberge Cake (this one is based off a Hungarian Dobos torte, but as someone who grew up with a Dobos torte - it's not all that similar IMO but it is visually stunning)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/lemon-chocolate-doberge-cake-recipe

The Coconut Chiffon Cake (this is effortful, stunning if you decorate it properly, and it has been my favourite of the 49 cakes I've baked from the list so far)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/coconut-chiffon-cake

This is last year's SL White Cake (for 25+ years they've had a white cake on the cover of their December issue) and it's not super complicated but it is delicious and by the time you bake the cookies and decorate them, and the cake, etc. it can be just beautiful.
https://www.southernliving.com/redbird-cake-8380086

There is one other SL Cake that meets your criteria but it is truly an insane amount of effort - each layer bakes individually in a cast-iron skillet, so you must have many the same size, or you are baking layers for hours. You also need specialty ingredients like sorghum syrup. I made it because I needed to, in order to complete the cake list - but I wouldn't bother making it again. And, I don't think the result visually is as ornate as what you'd want - it's not a "decorated" cake.

Outside of SL, one year I did a Mexican themed menu for Christmas and did the Dulce de Leche Chocoflan (el pastel imposible/the impossible cake) that flips in the pan as it bakes). It was very popular.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021761-dulce-de-leche-chocoflan?unlocked_article_code=1.fE4.zsOX.cj_IV1LPXyQC&smid=share-url

I had looked at that cardinal cookie, and settled on making that as a cookie! This one from SL was my runner up:

https://www.southernliving.com/white-poinsettia-layer-cake-8744900

I'm going to take a closer look at that choco flan. Flan was on the list of things I was considering, that that is just beautiful, for something that looks fairly simple (and I have that exact bundt pan)

I do have a winner! It's a simple cake, but the decorating is complicated. The original recipe does not call for stabilized whipped cream, but I think I will make it that way, since it has to travel a little and hold up.

As of now, I'm making the following, in addition to the cake above.

1. Fruit Tart - https://natashaskitchen.com/fruit-tart-recipe/
2. Fruit Pie - Probably Cherry. Could be the NYT cardamom one. Want to be able to do an elaborately decorated one.
3. Maida Heatter's Tiramisu
4. Cream Puffs - one set with chocolate filling and caramel, and another with vanilla filling and chocolate coating
5. NYT Cranberry Curd Tart
6. Choco Flan (probably)

I'll add some ginger biscotti from Maida Heatter, those cardinal cookies, home made marshmallows, and probably a few more I haven't figured out yet. Oh, and cake pops. I have a cake in the freezer that I can't use for anything else.

If someone sees gaps (too much of the same type, texture, flavors, omitted something that is seasonal etc.) do point it out.

[Anonymous]

Cake Lady again - I made the chocoflan in bundtlettes and the visual of the spread of them, rather than just one cake - was very attention-getting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cake Lady again - I made the chocoflan in bundtlettes and the visual of the spread of them, rather than just one cake - was very attention-getting.

That sounds so cute. What do you serve them on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A number of ideas (most from Southern Living, because I'm the vintage cakes list lady):

The Little Layer Cake https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/little-layer-chocolate-cake-recipe

The Doberge Cake (this one is based off a Hungarian Dobos torte, but as someone who grew up with a Dobos torte - it's not all that similar IMO but it is visually stunning)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/lemon-chocolate-doberge-cake-recipe

The Coconut Chiffon Cake (this is effortful, stunning if you decorate it properly, and it has been my favourite of the 49 cakes I've baked from the list so far)
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/coconut-chiffon-cake

This is last year's SL White Cake (for 25+ years they've had a white cake on the cover of their December issue) and it's not super complicated but it is delicious and by the time you bake the cookies and decorate them, and the cake, etc. it can be just beautiful.
https://www.southernliving.com/redbird-cake-8380086

There is one other SL Cake that meets your criteria but it is truly an insane amount of effort - each layer bakes individually in a cast-iron skillet, so you must have many the same size, or you are baking layers for hours. You also need specialty ingredients like sorghum syrup. I made it because I needed to, in order to complete the cake list - but I wouldn't bother making it again. And, I don't think the result visually is as ornate as what you'd want - it's not a "decorated" cake.

Outside of SL, one year I did a Mexican themed menu for Christmas and did the Dulce de Leche Chocoflan (el pastel imposible/the impossible cake) that flips in the pan as it bakes). It was very popular.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021761-dulce-de-leche-chocoflan?unlocked_article_code=1.fE4.zsOX.cj_IV1LPXyQC&smid=share-url

I had looked at that cardinal cookie, and settled on making that as a cookie! This one from SL was my runner up:

https://www.southernliving.com/white-poinsettia-layer-cake-8744900

I'm going to take a closer look at that choco flan. Flan was on the list of things I was considering, that that is just beautiful, for something that looks fairly simple (and I have that exact bundt pan)

I do have a winner! It's a simple cake, but the decorating is complicated. The original recipe does not call for stabilized whipped cream, but I think I will make it that way, since it has to travel a little and hold up.

As of now, I'm making the following, in addition to the cake above.

1. Fruit Tart - https://natashaskitchen.com/fruit-tart-recipe/
2. Fruit Pie - Probably Cherry. Could be the NYT cardamom one. Want to be able to do an elaborately decorated one.
3. Maida Heatter's Tiramisu
4. Cream Puffs - one set with chocolate filling and caramel, and another with vanilla filling and chocolate coating
5. NYT Cranberry Curd Tart
6. Choco Flan (probably)

I'll add some ginger biscotti from Maida Heatter, those cardinal cookies, home made marshmallows, and probably a few more I haven't figured out yet. Oh, and cake pops. I have a cake in the freezer that I can't use for anything else.

If someone sees gaps (too much of the same type, texture, flavors, omitted something that is seasonal etc.) do point it out.

I was thinking ginger but like like you got that!

The fruit tart is the one that feels or of place seasonally, if you're planning to use berries. Something like a lemon meringue might read more "winter."

Otherwise please please please invite me.