in the kitchen x chocolate, passion fruit, and coconut

in

When you have an abundance of ingredients, it's nice to challenge yourself to create a cohesive dessert from a variety of extra things you have on hand. This dessert consists of components from a couple of different desserts and extra ingredients I had on hand. I had leftover passion fruit semifreddo batter from the baked alaska dessert. Toasted coconut was already on hand. Cocoa nib crumble leftover from a tart. Coconut cupcakes prepared for family meal. Chocolate ice cream for emergency requests. Sometimes these dessert challenges fail, but this time it yielded something delectable. That's the best thing when you set challenges for yourself, your never quite know the outcome.  

Tasty! Passion fruit semifreddo, cocoa nib crumble, chocolate pearls, coconut cake, toasted coconut, and chocolate ice cream. It goes without saying that everything is Valrhona, my go to chocolate in the kitchen.

 

Here are the components on a separate plate. It consists of coconut cake, toasted coconut, chocolate pearls, chocolate cake crumbs, and cocoa nib crumble. I also added the cocoa nib crumble in its original state, a tuile.

The final product yielded a delicious dessert. The passion fruit was a good tart counterpoint to the bitter and rich chocolate flavors. The texture between the smooth semifreddo, the crunchy pearls, the spongy cake and toasted coconut provided for a good contrast. Overall, a delicious balance of flavors and textures.

in the kitchen x winter cheesecake

in

Winter is not a bounty of produce. Luckily, the abundance of citrus available is a chef's dream. Blood orange, bergamot, sour orange, citron, kumquat, clementine, finger limes, meyer lemon, satsuma, grapefruit, pomelo, and the list goes on. The bright pop of citrus needs a rich and luxurious counterpoint, so why not cheesecake? I love a good classic cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, it's a classic for a reason. Three different versions later, I finally had a delicious version. IMG_6559

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