‘Desert Island’ Desserts: Her Personal Favorites

At lunch recently, I was sitting with two innovative chefs--New Yorkers Larry Forgione of An American Place restaurant and Gerard Pangaud of Aurora restaurant.

Both chefs make a point of changing their menus as much as possible, but there is one section they dare not touch: desserts.

“People get really upset,” Forgione said, and Pangaud concurred. “I’ve altered my desserts once in two years, and that was to add a dish.”

So we began talking about our own personal “desert island” desserts. Mine would always include the chocolate mousse made by chef Chambrette of La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. The first time I tasted it, I could not believe how good it was.

He simply melts chocolate and folds in egg whites with a bit of sugar. With no cream or butter to interfere with the taste of the chocolate, the pure flavor comes straight through. Equally elementary is the decoration of powdered cocoa and powdered sugar.

A Lustrous Sheen

Creme caramel has always been a bit sweet for my taste, so this Portuguese version, made with fresh orange juice instead of milk, is just my style. The cream, set with whole eggs, is wonderfully soft and smooth. The only tricky point is not to overcook it. A lightly cooked caramel lends a lustrous pale gold sheen to the top and dissolves to form a sauce.

An array of desserts would not be complete without a fruit pie, and this seasonal recipe combines pears with a rich almond cream. The pears are thinly sliced and arranged in a pie shell to resemble the petals of a flower. Then it is half covered with an almond mixture and baked until brown. A classic from Normandy, the pie can be made with apples, too.

Singly, any one of these desserts makes a festive end to dinner. Together they offer a festive welcome to an evening gathering, particularly if served with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.

DEFINITIVE DESSERTS FOR 8 Chef Chambrette’s Chocolate Mousse Orange-Caramel Cream Normandy Pear Pie Suggested drink: Sweet white wine like Sauternes or Muscat, or coffee Advance cooking leaves a minimum to do before the party.

Up to three days ahead, make the chocolate mousses and chill. Bake the orange creams and chill.

Up to one day ahead, bake the almond-pear pie. Store in an airtight container. Chill the white wine. Set the table.

Up to two hours before serving, decorate the chocolate mousses, then refrigerate. Glaze the pie and keep at room temperature.

About 30 minutes before serving, unmold the orange cream.

About 10 minutes before serving, brew the coffee.

CHEF CHAMBRETTE’S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup strong black coffee

8 egg whites

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Powdered sugar

Cocoa powder

Melt chocolate in coffee in heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring gently. Boil mixture, stirring constantly, until consistency of thick cream. Let cool to tepid.

Whip egg whites until stiff. Add granulated sugar. Continue beating until whites are glossy, about 30 seconds. Stir about 1/4 of egg whites into chocolate until well mixed. Add chocolate mixture to remaining whites. Fold together as lightly as possible.

Spoon mousse into 8 mousse pots or stemmed glasses with 3/4-cup capacity each, filling each completely. Smooth tops. Cover and chill at least 6 hours, until set. Mousses can be kept, covered, up to 3 days in refrigerator.

Not more than 2 hours before serving, half cover top of mousse with wax paper so semicircle of mousse is left exposed. Dust semicircle thickly with powdered sugar. Cover powdered sugar side of mousse with wax paper and dust remaining semicircle thickly with cocoa. Chill until serving time. Makes 8 servings.

Note : The fewer the ingredients, the better they must be. Choose best dessert chocolate for this recipe.

ORANGE-CARAMEL CREAM

Sugar

1/2 cup water

10 eggs

1 quart orange juice

To make caramel, heat 3/4 cup sugar with water in small heavy saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Boil rapidly, without stirring, until sugar caramelizes to golden brown. When mixture starts to color, it will darken rapidly. Remove from heat before it burns. Let bubbles subside.

Working 1 at a time, pour some of caramel over bottom of 1-cup ramekin. Immediately turn ramekin so base and sides are coated. Continue procedure on 7 other ramekins. Let caramel cool and set.

Whisk eggs with 2/3 cup sugar until thoroughly mixed. Stir in orange juice. Strain mixture into caramel-lined ramekins, filling each almost full. Set ramekins in larger shallow pan and add boiling water to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake ramekins at 350 degrees until almost set and knife inserted in center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Do not overcook or cream will curdle. Remove ramekins from water bath. Let cool. Creams can be kept, tightly covered, up to 3 days in refrigerator.

Not more than 30 minutes before serving, run knife around edge of ramekins. Turn creams upside down onto individual plates. Caramel will have dissolved to form sauce. Makes 8 servings.

NORMANDY PEAR PIE

Flour

3/4 cup butter

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold water, about

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons kirsch, optional

1/2 cup whole blanched almonds, ground

3 to 4 ripe pears

Sugar

3/4 cup apricot jam

Sift 1 1/2 cups flour onto work surface. Make large well in center. Pound 6 tablespoons butter with fist to soften. Add to well with 1 egg yolk, salt and water. Work central ingredients with fingertips of 1 hand until thoroughly mixed.

With pastry scraper or metal spatula, gradually draw in flour, working with fingers of both hands until coarse crumbs are formed. If crumbs seem dry, add more water. Press dough into ball. Work dough with heel of hand on floured surface, pushing it away and gathering it up 3 to 4 times so butter is thoroughly incorporated. Press dough into ball. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.

Roll out dough, then line 10-inch pie pan with removable base. Flute edges. Chill again until firm, about 20 minutes. Set baking sheet in 400-degree oven to heat.

To make almond cream, cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until mixture is light and soft. Gradually add egg and remaining egg yolk, beating well after each addition. Add kirsch. Stir in ground almonds and 2 tablespoons flour. Spread 2/3 of almond cream in chilled pastry.

Peel pears and halve. Scoop out cores and stem fiber. Cut halves crosswise in very thin slices. Arrange slices on almond cream, stem-ends inward, keeping slices of each half pear together. Press slices gently toward rim of pie to flatten to resemble flower petals. Spoon remaining almond cream into spaces between pears.

Bake on hot baking sheet near bottom of oven at 400 degrees so pastry base cooks thoroughly, 10 to 15 minutes or until pastry edges begin to brown. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking additional 5 to 10 minutes or until almond cream is almost set. Sprinkle pie with sugar to taste. Continue baking 20 more minutes until sugar caramelizes slightly. Both almond cream and pastry should be well browned. Let pie cool before unmolding. Pie is best eaten day of baking, but can be kept 1 day in airtight container.

Not more than 2 hours before serving, heat apricot jam. Work through sieve to form smooth glaze. Melt glaze in small saucepan. Brush over pie. Serve at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.