A Special Dessert

Hello, Everyone!

Today I wanted to stray from quilting and chat about a special friend, a special birthday, and a special dessert. I have some wino-foodie friends, when we get together there is always great wine and food and lots of wonderful time spent together.

A few weeks ago we celebrated Glenn’s 60th Birthday. Glenn and I have known each other for 12 years. Glenn worked in the wine industry and has immense knowledge about all things wine. Glenn taught me about wine and I appreciate the wisdom he bestows on this subject.

When we all get together wines and foods are usually planned so everything tastes especially good together. For this special celebration Glenn had a dessert wine; a Chenin Blanc varietal from the Loire Valley, France. Glenn asked for certain flavor components in the dessert, to compliment the wine. He asked for a citrus, a stone fruit, a ginger and cardamon component.

My original idea was a Pavlova; a large meringue shell filled with lime curd and berries and sliced like a pie. I decided to do individual servings. I made 4” meringue shells. I made a lemon mousse (I found a traditional recipe using meringue and whipped cream- that’s the correct way to make mousse). I made a slightly cooked fruit sauce using apricots and mangoes. I happened upon a jar of ginger peach conserve while at the grocery store- I took it as a sign to make my job easier and added some of that to the fruit sauce. Check off the ginger component. Cardamon flavor, that was a thinker. It had to be an accent; I found a recipe for cinnamon glazed almonds and decided to wing it using cardamon instead. It worked! As a finishing touch, unsweetened whipped cream.

So here we are, meringue shells filled with lemon mousse, topped with apricot mango ginger fruit sauce, and chopped cardamon glazed almonds. A perfect pairing for the 1989 Huet Le Mont Moelleux. Please enjoy the pictures below.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Steve, the guy behind the camera, for all these great shots!

Until next time, find some time to sew!

1 thought on “A Special Dessert”

  1. Absolutely a great dessert. I especially loved the textural interplay between the crunchy meringue and the chopped nuts.

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