Pick Or Pass On These Fancy Desserts And We'll Guess Your Sign
- by Michelle_Sanders
- – on
- in Lifestyle
We love food, and that might seem like a stupid statement, or the kind of thing that really doesn't need saying because it's just so obvious, but, whatevs. We felt like saying it anyway, and we would like to see somebody try and make us take it back, because that ain't happening. Anyway, back to food. It's delicious, nobody is even trying to dispute that. But as good as regular food is, we would like to point everybody's attention away from regular food and set sail in an entirely new culinary direction. We're talking, of course, about desserts. Hey, don't get us wrong, there's a time and a place for breakfast, lunch and dinner—namely, breakfast, lunch and dinner time. But there's also a time for a little something sweet, are we right or are we right?
Dessert can be more than store bought cookies and prepackaged half-gallons of ice cream (not that there's anything wrong with those desserts, though). Desserts are a cause for celebration, and the fancier the treat, the more sophisticated we feel. It's time we tip our hats to these magnificent creations, and we're here to do just that right now. Pick or pass on these tasty confections and we'll guess everyone's sign. Bon appétit!
Croquembouche
Croquembouche is amazeballs, and we mean that quite literally because these little balls of fried dough, held together in impressive tower sculptures using caramel and spun sugar as clue, are amazing. These cakes are a popular choice for weddings and other festive celebrations, but we could see eating one of these for no reason at all. Look at all that yum!
Victoria Sponge Cake
Also called a Victoria sandwich, this cake was a favorite of the queen with the same name, and it's no struggle to see why. Two layers of sponge cake, all light, fluffy and delicious, held together with a layer of jam and whipped cream and sprinkled on top with confectioners sugar, a slice of this stuff is hard to resist.
Chocolate Mousse
Mousse is like a cloud and some pudding had a baby, and we are so here for that. And when we hear the words "chocolate mousse" being bandied about, we just can't help ourselves! Who could possibly resist the temptation of a chocolatey, fluffy, sweet mousse mixed with always satisfying chocolate? We couldn't. Not no way, not no how.
Rum Baba
The rum baba is unlike anything you've ever had before—unless, of course, you've had it, in which case, it's probably just like you remember. Small yeast-risen cakes that have been saturated in a liquor, most popularly rum, and topped with a rich whipped cream or pastry cream and sometimes some fruit, the rum baba is oft forgotten, but it shouldn't be.
Crepes Suzette
Serving crepes for breakfast? Man, that was a stroke of genius, and of all the crepe options on the table, we think crepe suzette is the best. Made with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and orange liqueur, most chefs flambe it right at the table when they serve it. Crepe Suzette is so good, it's literally on fire.
Mille Feuille
We're of the mind that the more layers that you can fit into a cake, the better, and that's just one of the many, many reasons why we love the mille feuille. Also called a Napoleon, this cake is comprised of three layers of puff pastry alternated with two layers of pastry cream (can you say, "Yum"?). The top is usually decorated with either confectioner's sugar or combed white and milk chocolate stripes.
Clafoutis
Though it's traditionally made with black cherries, the clafoutis can be made with any fruit you want, and it'll be delicious any which way. First, the fruit is arranged in a dish, then it's covered with a flan-like batter and baked until perfection. Then, the entire confection is dusted with sugar and served with cream.
Charlotte Russe
The charlotte russe is a cake that's served cold, and that's A-OK by us. With sponge cake on the bottom, lady fingers along the side and some kind of filling inside—usually fruit preserves, a cream or a custard—we could see ourselves standing in line for a couple hours to get our hands on a piece of this.
Brandy Snaps
Okay, we're going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to get mad, 'cause we're not responsible, we're just relaying the message. Brandy snaps? They have no brandy in them. Disappointing, we know, but, hey, at least they're super good for what they are. Brittle, crunchy tubes flavored with ginger, butter and sugar and filled with whipped cream, every bite of a brandy snap tastes like a good decision.
Spanische Windtorte
Merengue. Whipped cream. They're COPS! No, no, wait, they're not cops, and this isn't the set up to some desert-based buddy flick, this is just the start of a beautiful dessert friendship. The Spanische windtorte is made by baking rings of merengue until chewy, and filled with whipped cream. These beauties are usually decorated with fruit and chocolate. So pretty AND so yummy.
Creme Caramel
Creme caramel, or flan, is just about as good as it gets. You've got a custard dessert, baked to perfection so that there's a delicate skin on the outside, but so the custard is *just* firm on the inside, and the whole thing is topped off with a thin layer of decadent caramel. Aaaaaaand, now, we're drooling.
Apple Strudel
Apparently, "strudel" means "whirlpool". Not sure how that helps you decide whether or not this dessert is worth eating (spoiler alert: it is), but we just felt like sharing. The apple strudel is a long pastry made with an unleavened dough and filled with apples and a blend of aromatic, warming spices. Talk about yum!
Orange Souffles
Studies have shown that eating a souffle is the fastest way to feel super fancy known to mankind, and some studies even suggest that simply saying the word "souffle" is enough to feel a rise in self-sophistication. The orange souffle is a citrusy take on a classic fancy pants dessert, so if that sounds like your kinda thing, this is probably your kinda dessert.
Battenberg Cake
Would you just look at this cake? It's so pretty! And it gets prettier and prettier as you slice into it. The Battenberg cake is made by baking a yellow and a pink almond-flavored sponge cake separately, then slicing them and arranging them in a checkerboard pattern, gluing them together with jam, and covering the whole thing in marzipan.
Tarte au Citron
In terms of popularity, we guess it should come as no surprise that tarts can't compete with cakes, but that doesn't mean they aren't delicious, you know? The tarte au citron is a classic lemon tart with a pastry crust and a lemon custard filling, baked to tart perfection, or tart-fection, if you will.
Linzer Torte
Legend has it, the Linzer torte is the oldest cake in the world. Just know that before digging into a slice of this stuff. A short-pastry (which is more crumbly than buttery and flaky), this torte is usually filled with apricot or redcurrant jam or plumbutter, and is topped with pastry lattice-work, so it's pretty to look at and easy to eat.
Black Forest Gateau
Oh, good, sweet, merciful deliciousness! The Black Forest gateau is all about the decadence. You've got a rich, scrumptious chocolate sponge cake layered with cherry filling, which would be good enough for us, but this cake doesn't stop there. No, on top of all of this, the Black Forest gateau is covered in a whipped cream icing and decorated with cherries and chocolate.
Fraisier Cake
"Fraise" means "strawberry", so it should come as no surprise that strawberries are the star of the fraisier cake show. Two layers of spongecake are soaked in a syrup to give them additional moisture, then they're filled with a delicious custard, the sides decorated with strawberries to give the dessert its iconic appearance.
Sacher Torte
Named after the guy who invented it, the Sacher torte is dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, covered top to bottom with a thick, irresistible layer of chocolate icing. This stuff is so rich, so very luxuriously decadent that it's served with *un*sweetened whipped cream. Wow, we've been waiting our whole lives for a cake like this. How do we get our hands on some?
Angel Food Cake
Made with mostly flour, egg whites, sugar and not much else, the angel food cake is all about the fluffiness. Seriously, this stuff is so light and so airy, it's like eating a cloud. Paired with whipped cream and fruit, traditionally, this cake can do no wrong in our minds, and it should get a lot more attention than it receives.
Charlotte Royale
The charlotte royale is basically the same as the charlotte russe. It's still a cake that's served cold with cake on the bottom and sides and a custard or fruit filling in the center. But, the major difference here is the charlotte royale is held together with pieces of Swiss roll molded into a gorgeous dome of decadence, which secures the flavor holding it firmly in its place for the eater to enjoy.
Marjolaine
Praline buttercream and chocolate ganache? Ha! Well, say no more, 'cause we're already sold. The marjolaine is a cake with the aforementioned buttercream and ganache, as well as layers of merengue and a buttery cookie base. How can so much yum manage to fit into such an unassuming slice of cake? The world may never know.
Pavlova
Meringue is so delicious, and we can't help but feel that it's constantly being outdone by all of the other desserts out there, like chocolate cake and apple pie—and we're not saying those desserts don't have anything to offer, 'because they do, but meringue is valid, too, ya know? Pavlova is meringue's time to shine. With its crispy crust and light, airy center, the pavlova is comprised of layers of meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit. Soooo tasty!
Tiramisu
We love coffee and we love dessert and we love enjoying one with the other—but, what if we told you it's possible to have the two at the same time? Tiramisu isn't coffee with a side of cake, it's cake with coffee already in it. Astounding! Made with ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with cocoa and a mixture of eggs, mascarpone cheese and sugar, this stuff...wow, incredible.
Panna Cotta
Literally "cooked cream", panna cotta is every bit as delicious as you might think. It's so good, in fact, that it might even be better than whatever decadent delight you're imagining right now. Sweet cream stabilized with gelatin and flavored with coffee, vanilla or any number of other flavor combinations, panna cotta is akin to creme caramel, but it's a whole new taste experience.
Tres Leches Cake
Also called pan tres leches, which translates to "three milk bread", this cake is very, very dense, yet very, very light and there ain't a thang wrong with that. This starts off as nothing more than a simple butter or sponge cake, but it's then soaked in three kinds of milk all at once: condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream. OMG, that's all we've got to say.
Egg Custard Tarts
Egg custard is so sweet—we're talking in terms of flavor, of course, but we bet it's got a sweet personality, too. Anyway, once you've had a taste of this stuff, sticking it in a flaky pastry crust and baking it to tart perfection only makes sense. It's hard to exercise self-control when there's a plate of these puppies sitting around. Trust us.
Eclairs
Okay, come on, everybody knows what eclairs are. They're delicious choux pastries filled with a delicious sweet cream, typically Bavarian but sometimes custard, and topped with a gorgeous decorative icing, most often chocolate. Eclairs are so versatile, you can fill them and top them with just about anything. They're bound to be delicious no matter what because they're basically just super sophisticated donuts, and who doesn't love donuts?
Horchata Semifreddo
Horchata is usually served cold as a drink—and it's a good one, too, it's made from rice and it's all cinnamon spiced, it's wonderful, you should totally try it. But this twist on that delicious drink might just be even better because it's ICE CREAM! Man, we are so STOKED that horchata semifreddo is a thing, and you should be, too! But, the question is...are you?
Cannolis
Whoever pitched the idea of an edible tunnel probably got a lot of weird looks from their coworkers at that meeting, but we're glad somebody had the guts to invent these things. Cannolis are pastry tubes, baked oh, so carefully so that they develop appetizing bubbles on the surface an a nice crunchy when you bite into them. Inside the tube is a sweet cream, usually made from ricotta. Ugh! Now we want a cannoli, too!
Bananas Foster
This dessert originated in New Orleans, which makes complete sense to us because so many delicious foods come from Louisiana. Bananas foster is a dessert consisting of bananas and ice cream, but it's not *just* bananas with ice cream. First, the bananas are cooked in butter and sugar, then the an alcohol is added to flambe the bananas. The result is topped with a syrup and nuts and served up fresh to the delight of any diner.
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska is such an iconic dessert. It's a cake topped with ice cream, which has to be chilled because once it's all put together, it's then topped with a meringue and...wait for it...baked. That's right, folks, you've got to throw this cake and ice cream combo in an oven in order to brown the topping. Of course, you could just use a blowtorch to brown the meringue, but even so, that whole process still sounds super complicated.
Baklava
Baklava is a delicious confectionary consisting of layers of a pastry called filo and chopped nuts, usually walnuts or pistachios, held together with a sweet syrup, usually honey. Everything is layered together and baked to deliciousness until everything is sort of caramelized and flaky and, gosh, we sure wish we had about a truck load of this stuff right now...
Clementine Cake
Ooh! Clemintine cake! Clemintines are, as you probably know, a kind of orange, and the cake made with them is...made...with them. Hm, that didn't sound very smart. Sorry about that, that sentence kind of got away from us. Well, anyway, this tasty treat is citrusy and sweet and, with a side of ice cream, it's the stuff our dessert dreams are made of.
Opera Gateau
Layer upon layer upon layer of almond sponge cake, oh, so thinly sliced and soaked in coffee syrup, alternated with layers of a creamy, rich ganache and coffee flavored buttercream icing, then topped with a decorative layer of still MORE ganache. We don't know how the "opera" bit in this gateau's title plays into it, but we have a feeling it's because one bite of this dessert is enough to make anyone sing.
