Trio of desserts
Dark Chocolate Mousse with Chili and Salted Caramel; Yogurt Panna Cotta with Orange Cake, Raspberries, and Pomegranate; and Lemon Custard Verrine with Blueberry Compote
Originally, nora was insistent on trying the Dark Chocolate Mousse with Chili and Salted Caramel, the other two weren’t that interesting to her (after all, she’s never liked panna cotta before and lemon desserts are often more sweet than tart). When we decided to stop, we made the snap decision to go ahead and try all 3 (last day of Food & Wine, last booth before heading home, so why not?).
Yogurt Panna Cotta
When we’ve had panna cotta in the past, it’s really seemed like milk jello (yuck!), however, this one was made with yogurt and a gentle hand regarding the gelatin. The flavor was very close to tangy cheesecake. Nora didn’t detect any “orange cake” but the orange sauce in the bottom was pretty tasty as was the raspberry & pomegranate topping. It was a surprisingly good little dessert.
On our scale of 1-10 (1=never ever again and 10=gotta have this 2 or 3 more times), nora gives the panna cotta a 6 and nick gives it a 5, average score of 5.5/10.
Lemon Custard Verrine
So, what is a “verrine”… It’s a French confection made by layering ingredients in a small glass (who knew that “dirt and worms” could be classifed as a verrine) – some definitions say that it doesn’t have to be a confection, it can also be savory. Perhaps this sounds more interesting than saying “lemon custard with blueberry compote and cookie shards.” Don’t let the fancy name fool you though, we both thought this was restaurant worthy (and that’s saying an awful lot about food from the booths in 2012). The lemon custard was appropriately lemony and tart and smooth. The blueberry compote was just the hint of berry sweetness to balance the lemon. The cookie shards at the top didn’t particularly stand out, but they didn’t detract either.
On our scale of 1-10 (1=never ever again and 10=gotta have this 2 or 3 more times), nora gives the lemon custard verrine a 9 and so does nick! Average score, 9/10.
Dark Chocolate Mousse
The dark chocolate mouse was firm without having a lot of gelatin in it, the flavor was very dark, roasted chocolate. The white chocolate shavings on top had been lightly salted and we didn’t really get any salt flavor from the caramel on the bottom. The chili was very much a lingering aftertaste on the back of the tongue rather than in-your-face heat. Again, we were surprised at how good this was; another restaurant worthy offering.
On our scale of 1-10 (1=never ever again and 10=gotta have this 2 or 3 more times), we both give the dark chocolate mousse a 9! Average score, 9/10.
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