Silky Smooth Delicate

Desserts You know?
Those are those things you have to have, you can not be without. Those are the real pleasures. Those are the ones which make you suffer if you ever think about losing weight...

DESSERT(s)
    At the beginning of human occupation on planet earth dessert was first introduced by Eve, who offered Adam her apple. Taking this happening as a fact, we may as well assume that the wording "sinfully good" applies to all desserts wherever offered by a woman to a man. Today, however, to lead another person in to sin is no longer limited to a woman tempting a man with dessert. Today dessert can be offered by any sex to anybody who is willing and ready for such.
    Since the early days of man on earth choices have greatly increased. Nowadays there is more than just fruit. Take the delectable delight in form of a silky smooth Creme Brulee, an original egg-custard with a subtle hint of vanilla beans imbedded. They offer it in many restaurants. Well, it is just custard, served with brown Hawaiian cane sugar on top, which is seared with a hot iron. Yet when the firm crust brakes much like a thin eggshell under the gentle tapping of the dessert spoon, who would ever be able to resist?
    Brulee is a dessert but not the only choice. What about some Turkish delights? How about the Baklava, which is paper-thin pastry with chopped nuts and honey? This dessert has been around for many centuries before being introduced to us by Greek restaurant owners who had gotten the recipe from their forefathers who in had been taught by the Turkish.

    Dessert is a sweet temptation, spelled in many ways, always attractive, tempting, sometimes floating, at other times resting on the serving plate while teasing, offering to please those the habitual desires.

    Dessert comes in many flavors. Ice cream can be dessert if taken orally. Dessert is an oral sensation. There are many varieties of ice cream. I like Cassata which is available at many places. That's Neapolitan ice cream with candied fruit and nuts, a pleasing uncomplicated dessert.
    On days when I crave simple home made desserts, I like a dish with compote, made of fresh or dried fruit cooked in syrup. I prefer some fresh creme with it, such ads to the flavor and texture.
    From the fancy desserts my favorites are Crepes Suzette. These are thin pancakes served in an orange sauce. Most women like these a lot, they go ape shit over a couple of thin pancakes prepared at the table knowing that they could have gotten a lot more J-bang for the money at a coffee shop down the road. However Crepes Suzette is dessert. A short stack of pancakes is as filling but it is not dessert.
    In some restaurants I order Parfait. This is a frozen pudding of cream, eggs, sugar and flavoring. It is not ice cream but it is dessert. With my cup of espresso I like some Profiteroles, which are small cream filled light pastry rolls, which can be dessert. They usually serve these with chocolate sauce. However if I eat a box full of profiteroles with my coffee in the morning that is not dessert, that is breakfast.
    My German ancestors used to make great Strudel. Nowadays one can find Strudel, a baked pastry consisting of fruit rolled in wafer-thin sheets of dough, in many parts of the world. In Germany Strudel is served with coffee in the afternoon. There it is not a dessert but a conversation piece during coffee-klatsch. Nonetheless in most parts of the world they offer Strudel after dinner. Here Strudel is a sweet temptation rolled out on a dessert cart, displayed on dessert menus, explained with mouthwatering phrases to the already full diner. Here Strudel is dessert.
    Zabaglione made from beaten egg yolks with marsala wine and sugar is one of these desserts which are often found on elaborate dinner menus. A cup with Ben & Jerry ice cream⁽¹⁾ after a slice of pizza is dessert too. A gallon or more of Ben & Jerry ice cream while watching TV, is insanity, but not dessert.

    They say that dessert came from des- + servir (Latin servire). The dictionary lists it as a sweet course served at the end of a meal. Some people mix it up with the word desert which is the past participle of deserve.

    "They got their just deserts" has little to do with "They just got their desserts" or does it not?

    The British make a bread pudding which is hard to digest, they call it dessert, but I would never call it such. Still, some people do. The traditional British Christmas plum pudding is a prime example, it's the type which is dark in color. It does not look appetizing at all. Why don't I call it dessert? Because Plum pudding is heavy enough so that divers could use it as weights in any weather.

    I see dessert as a sweet pleasure, as an enjoyment for all the senses. For me dessert has to look appealing, smell alluring, taste desirable, feel acceptable, and have a seductive sounding name.
    Where I work, we have a bread pudding too. This one is made by a French Master Chef from pumpkin and brioche. It is served on a pool of vanilla sauce. His bread pudding is light and airy. A hint of liqueurs and dried fruit delights the consumer. It pleases the eye, garnished with roasted almonds and fresh raspberries. A dash of freshly whipped cream and a homegrown mint leaf complete this picture perfect in all aspects unique, one-of-a-kind food-art.

    How about chocolate for dessert? What fond memories can a chocolate mousse made with a smidgen of Jamaican rum and a hint of Grand Marnier rekindle? None, than it is time to create some. Just picture a dark chocolate cup filled with a lightly whisked, beaten to perfection chocolate creme concoction, one which is rich in flavor, airy to the bite, creamy but not heavy.

    Good desserts are a pleasure, yet not every pleasure is a good dessert.

    "Desserts are delicate taste-bud-teasers." I say.
    However there are some people who do not agree with me. One of them is my house doctor. When he comes in for dinner and I mention the half-frozen chocolate decadence served on raspberry coulis he mumbles, "Deadly infusion of calories."
    When I praise the flowerless chocolate cake - which other places sell under the most appropriate nickname Sudden Death By Chocolate - I hear him, my house doctor, whispering "Instant heart attack, half a pound of butter, sugar and chocolate." However, then after all his complaining about the calories and fat, he orders soufflé, Grand Marnier soufflé. He knows the ingredients. I have told him such several times; they make soufflés from egg whites, baked in the oven. The sauce, served with it, are the beaten egg yolks with heavy cream and Grand Marnier.
    Talking about richness in food, soufflés are rich. Asking my yet so health-conscientious house doctor why he orders soufflé, he answers, "They are hard to make at home!"

    Desserts are sinfully good, at times addicting, they are the finishing touches to a meal. If I have to, I might just skip the meal to have dessert but certainly I would not want to have a meal if I could not have dessert. For me dessert is an essential to fine dining. Whereby dining is my ability to enjoy the pleasures of well prepared food with the out most respect which such nourishment deserves. Dessert is usually something sweet or fruity which I have to have after having had everything else.
    Dessert is the one item I feel I need to complete my dining experience. There is always somewhere in my full belly a little niche for just one dessert. Dessert is an absolute must no matter how much suffering it might cause me at a later time.⁽²⁾

1. Ben & Jerry Ice cream is made in Vermont from real cream. Ben and Jerry is a registered trademark.

2. Desserts are keeping health-farms, fitness clubs and makers of fitness equipment in business. Therefor desserts are not only essential for the diner but also for an industry which creates large revenues by offering to reduce the extra pounds gained off the peoples waistline and wherever it might have settled.

...let's say you want to look your dessert options over. You may do so at the Desert index page, just click here on slurp,gulp,slip,sip and enjoy yourself.

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