Sunday, April 20, 2008

Dessert Ideas

Justin's youngest brother, Jeremy, has prom next month. His group is doing a progressive dinner and he volunteered me to do dessert. I'm excited to do it, but I'm not sure what to make. I want to do something a little fancy, but that 18 year-olds will like. Any suggestions?

12 comments:

Thomas Family said...

I have a recipe for panna cotta that is way yummy, but maybe not for teenagers. Nevermind. Um...I have a recipe for a chocolate raspberry torte that is delectable. LOTS of chocolate. But are you seriously asking for ideas? You are the recipe QUEEN! My mother-in-law makes these yummy little meringue cups with pudding filling and fruit topping and also homemade eclairs. You could (if you really wanted to) make a few different little things and have it be like a dessert buffet like at a reception. It would be a lot of work, but fun too. Deserts are my favorite thing to make.

Robyn said...

I'm not the hugest fan of fancy desserts because to me, that usually means something ordinary, but way too small, with inedible things on it (like a sprig of mint or a pansy) on top of some kind of incompatible sauce drizzled on the plate in a cool design, and usually with a tiny slice of fruit on the side. I'd rather have a bowl of ice cream. But something that I do love that is on the fancier side of things is chocolate fondue. My husband and I get it for dessert when we eat at the Melting Pot and we (mostly me) love it. I think how fancy it is will depend on the presentation, not so much WHAT you're dipping in chocolate. At the Melting Pot, they have a variety of chocolates to choose from and to mix (like dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, mixed with graham cracker, or marshmallow). The things to dip in it are varied, which makes it easy to please everyone: strawberries, raspberries, bananas, cheesecake, brownies, graham crackers, marshmallows, caramel, etc., organized on individual plates. And I really do think it's the presentation that matters. You'd probably want a fondue set with the long forks (which can be inexpensive, but part of what makes it fancy, rather than just one of those containers of chocolate you buy at the store and microwave), and a good recipe, which are all over the internet. I guess I don't know how many people are going to be eating. Fondue is best for a smaller party, since everyone shares the pot of chocolate, so it has to be in reach. You could have multiple fondue sets, but that might be getting way too pricey. Man, I'm long-winded. Sheesh! I could have just said, "How about chocolate fondue?"

Katy said...

Chocolate fondue is a good idea, and it's fun too. There will be 10 or 12 kids. Alysia- I really do want ideas. I have tons of yummy cookie and brownie recipes, but I don't normally do dessert for special occasions. A dessert buffet would be fun too. I want to start testing some recipes so if you have some, please post or email them. Thanks.

The Gomes Family said...

Katy,
Thank you for the invite! I was ecstatic to get it. I like the Fondue idea, not just because it came from my sister, just because it could really be nicely set up and a quick clean up as well and who doesn't like fruit and Chocolate yummy!

Grammy A said...

Katy, is their a "theme" to the dinner? I mean are the other parts of the meal going to "go together?" Is it going to be Italian food, Mexican food... do you know?Not that it matters. I was just wondering.

Katy said...

No theme that I know of.

knitaholic310 said...

I like the bunch of tiny desserts idea: tiny cupcakes (see the cookbooks Hello, Cupcake and Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse) in all different flavors and decorated fancy. YOu can use your skeelz from the wilton course we took together. Mini cheesecakes with raspberries on top. I must respectfully disagree with Robyn about fancy desserts. The fancier the better in my opinion. Of course I am just as much about presentation as taste. What about mini ice cream sandwiches made out of Mexican wedding cookies (flattened before baked) and dulce de leche ice cream inside? Or a mochi ball tower glued together with white chocolate? You can get mochi at Asian grocery stores. You might have had them at Happy Sumo. How about chocolate souffle cake? Balls of ice cream scooped and frozen until hard and then rolled in different toppings like nuts, crushed cookies, toffee, etc.? Mini fruit tarts? I love the idea of a dessert buffet/bar with everything mini. It would be a lot of work, but for me the work is more enjoyable than the event itself. I wish I was there to help.

Thomas Family said...

Hopefully all the hard work you do won't be wasted on possibly ungrateful teenagers. You should invite some friends over that night and have some dessert yourself!

Britney and Jaren Jensen said...

I have this reallly good recipe from Nordstrom's cafe called Sinful chocolate torte! It is definately sinful and delicious! It looks kind of fancy with powdered sugar sprinkled over it topped with a few raspberries.

knitaholic310 said...

So what's the verdict Katy? What are you going to make?

Katy said...

Well, I discussed the options with Jeremy and he thought fondue would be fun. So, I'll have to save the mini-dessert buffet for another occasion. For the fondue I'm thinking one pot of milk chocolate and one pot of either white chocolate, or something different. And for dippers- strawberries, pineapple, brownie bites (homemade of course), marshmallows, and some sort of peanut buttery balls. Am I missing anything crucial?

knitaholic310 said...

You could include pound cake chunks, kiwi, pretzels (April is national pretzel month by the way), bananas (sprinkled with a little lemon juice and sugar so they don't brown), otherwise I think you are set. Your 5 ingredients or less exchange sounds cool. Are you doing a cooking group there? We are thinking of starting one up here, but are having trouble with alcohol. I don't have a problem with people drinking as long as they don't expect me to provide it or drink with them. But other potential people in the group don't want to invite people who drink. I think their attitude is a little annoying . . . do they have exclusively LDS friends?