Dessert Wines : Vintners Share Their Suggestions for Desserts to Serve With Sweet Wine

What desserts would wine makers serve with the sweet wines they produce? Anything from cakes and tarts to ice cream and fruit, depending upon the character of the wine.

Dessert-wine specialist Andrew Quady recommends that the wine be at least as sweet as the dessert it is to accompany, or perhaps a little sweeter.

“As chefs become more and more familiar with these wines, we’re going to see lots of interesting pairing,” he said.

One example is a chocolate cake flavored with dried ground ancho chile created around Quady’s Orange Muscat wine, Essensia. The cake, which is brushed with a wine glaze and served with a wine sauce, was created by Susan Andrews, pastry chef at the Fourth Street Grill in Berkeley, and is a popular dessert at that restaurant.

The recipe for a plainer cake made with Essensia appeared in the Good Cook’s Almanac, a booklet formerly issued monthly by Bon Appetit, a gourmet grocery with outlets in San Francisco, Tiburon and Danville, Calif.

During the harvest season, Joseph Phelps Vineyards hosts nightly dinners for employees. Michelle Mutrux, who hires on as guest chef, has created a dessert of pears poached in Phelps’ Sheurebe wine and served with two sauces. One sauce is a zabaglione made with the wine. The other is a caramel sauce flavored and colored with blood orange juice.

Denise Vouri of Phelps contributed an apple compote to serve over ice cream. In this recipe, the wine-flavored liquid in which the apples are poached is cooked with currant jelly and cinnamon sticks into a syrup that is spooned over the apples.

A delicate cassata with strawberry sauce is a Catalonian dish, made distinctive by the addition of a ground praline mixture that includes three types of nuts. There is no wine in the cassata. Instead, it was designed to accompany a sweet wine served at a Christian Brothers luncheon. In charge of the menu for that event were chefs Lluis Cruanyas and Joan Figueras of the restaurant Eldorado Petit in Barcelona, Spain.

A kiwi tart recipe is featured in a brochure published by the Robert Mondavi Winery to promote its sweet Muscat wine. Mondavi has also issued a booklet that includes a handful of other dessert recipes that suit the wine. Among them are a pear flan, meringue tart and creme caramel.

The final recipe is an all-purpose sauce from Angelo Papagni. The key ingredient is Papagni’s 9-year-old fortified Muscat wine, which is simmered with honey, butter, lemon juice and nutmeg and served over desserts such as ice cream and frozen yogurt.

CHOCOLATE-ORANGE-ANCHO CHILE CAKE

1/2 pound butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

Grated zest of 3 oranges

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon baking soda

Fine dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup Chocolate Syrup

1 tablespoon ground dried ancho chile

Chocolate Syrup

Essensia Glaze

Essensia Sauce

Cream butter at high speed of electric mixer. Add sugar gradually and beat until light. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Turn mixer to lowest speed. Add flour gradually. Continue to beat until thoroughly incorporated.

Divide batter in half, leaving half in mixer. To batter remaining in mixer, add orange zest, juice and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Turn into buttered 10-inch bundt pan that has been sprinkled with bread crumbs.

Return remaining batter to mixer. Slowly beat in Chocolate Syrup, remaining 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and ancho chile. Spread in even layer on top of first mixture in bundt pan. Cover pan loosely with foil. Bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 40 minutes longer or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool pan on rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan. Brush all over with Essensia Glaze until all glaze has been incorporated. Serve cake at room temperature with Essensia Sauce. Makes 10 servings.

Chocolate Syrup

1 1/4 cups water

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons honey

10 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

Place 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup butter, honey and chocolates in top of double boiler. Heat very gently over simmering water until mixture blends together and is silky.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and remaining 1/2 cup water. Set aside 1/2 cup syrup for cake. Reserve remainder for another use.

Essensia Glaze

Juice of 1/2 orange

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons Essensia wine

Combine orange and lemon juices and sugar in small saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in wine.

Essensia Sauce

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup orange juice

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Grated zest of 1 orange

3 tablespoons Essensia wine

Combine sugar, cornstarch, orange and lemon juices and zest in small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to full boil. Reduce heat and cook 1 minute longer, until sauce thickens. Do not overcook or sauce will be bitter. Remove from heat and stir in wine. Strain and cool. Serve at room temperature.

CASSATA WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/2 cup walnuts

2 cups whipping cream

6 egg whites

8 strawberries

Strawberry Sauce

Butter large baking sheet and set aside. In heavy-bottomed skillet, melt sugar over medium-low heat. Stir to allow even caramelization. When sugar is melted and golden, stir in pine nuts, hazelnuts and walnuts.

Pour mixture onto buttered baking sheet. When completely cool and solid, break into pieces. Pulverize in blender or food processor. Set aside. Whip cream until stiff. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Carefully fold egg whites into whipped cream. Gradually stir in 1 cup ground nut mixture. Pour cassata into 2-quart rectangular mold. Cover and freeze 24 hours.

Just before serving, cut strawberries into thin slices, leaving slices attached at stem end. Quickly dip cassata mold into hot water until cassata is loose. Turn out onto platter. Cut into 16 slices. Place layer of Strawberry Sauce on each of 8 dessert plates. Top with 2 cassata slices. Garnish each serving with 1 fanned strawberry. Makes 8 servings.

Strawberry Sauce

1 pint strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

In blender, puree strawberries with sugar. Strain.

KIWI TART MONDAVI

1 baked 9-inch pie shell

3 eggs

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

6 small kiwis, peeled and sliced

Prepare pie shell and cool. Combine eggs, whipping cream, brown and granulated sugars in food processor or blender. Blend thoroughly. Line pie shell with overlapping kiwi slices. Pour custard over kiwi. Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature. Garnish with additional kiwi slices, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

POACHED PEARS WITH ZABAGLIONE

6 Bosc or other firm ripe pears

2 1/2 cups Scheurebe wine

1 cup honey

Peel of 1 orange

Peel of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon white pepper, optional

Zabaglione

Blood Orange-Caramel Sauce

Peel pears but leave on stems. Combine wine, honey, citrus peels and pepper in saucepan or Dutch oven large enough to stand pears in single layer. Bring to boil. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium, cover and poach pears until tender, about 20 minutes. Cool in poaching liquid.

To assemble, stand 1 pear on each dessert plate. Spoon Zabaglione into thin pool to cover half of plate. Spoon caramel sauce into thin pool on other side of plate. Makes 6 servings.

Zabaglione

6 egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup Scheurebe wine

Prepare Zabaglione just before serving. Beat egg yolks and sugar in top of double boiler until lemon colored. Add wine and continue beating. Pour boiling water into bottom of double boiler and set over low heat. Continue beating gently with whisk until mixture thickens.

Blood Orange-Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 cup blood orange juice

Combine sugar and water in small saucepan. Cook and stir to dissolve sugar, then cook to medium-dark caramel. Stir juice into caramel carefully since mixture will spatter.

CHUNKY APPLE COMPOTE

6 to 8 medium Granny Smith or other tart apples

5 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup Delice du Semillon wine

6 tablespoons red currant jelly

2 sticks cinnamon

Grated zest of 2 lemons

Vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Peel and core apples. Cut into 1-inch chunks and drop into large bowl of water combined with 3 tablespoons lemon juice.

In medium saucepan with heavy bottom, combine 1 cup water, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, sugar and wine. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer and add drained apple chunks. Partially cover and cook gently until apples are just tender. Apple chunks should remain whole.

With slotted spoon, transfer apples to bowl. Add jelly and cinnamon sticks to syrup remaining in pan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce to simmer and cook until syrup is reduced by 1/3. Stir in lemon zest.

To serve, spoon apple chunks over ice cream, then top with chopped pecans and syrup. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

DESSERT WINE SAUCE PAPAGNI

1/2 cup fortified Muscat wine

1/2 cup honey

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Dash salt

Grated peel of 1 lemon

Sliced or chopped toasted almonds

Place wine in small saucepan and warm over medium heat. Stir in honey, butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt and lemon peel. Cook gently until blended. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle sauce over cake, ice cream, frozen yogurt or fruit. Sprinkle almonds over top. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

ESSENSIA CAKE

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds

1/3 cup Essensia wine

Butter bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan. Line bottom with wax paper and butter paper. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter at high speed of electric mixer. Add sugar gradually and beat until light. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond extract, orange peel and almonds.

Turn mixer to lowest speed. Add wine and beat until combined. Add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees about 50 minutes, or until wood pick comes out clean. Let cake stand in pan on rack 10 minutes. Invert onto rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Food styling by MINNIE BERNARDINO and DONNA DEANE / Los Angeles Times