Confessions of a Dessert Reactionary

I have a confession to make:  I did not like the desserts at Per Se. 

There, I said it. Please don't hate me, everyone!

Maybe I am an ungrateful idiot, or a total ignoramus about food, but a girl doesn't like what she doesn't like.  (Just to be clear, the rest of the meal was spectacular).

Also, the whole "one dessert for the women at the table, one for the men" that they do at Per Se irks me. It reminds me of how French restaurants in the city used to give the men at the table a menu with prices on it and women a menu without any prices listed. (Totally awkward if you are taking your boyfriend out for his birthday, by the way.) So not cute.  

So, I was a touch biased against Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts, by Claire Clark, renowned pastry chef from French Laundry, the Thomas Keller food mecca and sister restaurant to Per Se. 

To be frank, I think the root of the problem is that I am a little bit of dessert reactionary.  Basically, it seems I pretty much have a one innovation per dessert quota.  After that, I get a little cranky.  For example, I despise any dessert that must be listed in quotations marks (e.g., "napoleon" of withered banana and ginger mousse, "cake" of burnt caramel shards and tapioca) or a dessert that seems like it would have gone better between the soup and salad courses (most vegetable or bacon flavored desserts, for example, would fall into this category). I imagine myself to be the type of person who would love interesting and challenging desserts but, sadly, the truth is that most of the time I am not.  When it comes to dessert, I usually just want what's on my plate to be a sweet, toothsome, proper version of itself.  No cognitive dissonance with my dessert, please.

At the same time, I get crabby about desserts that are too boring, or not properly prepared.  Basically, I am cantankerous when it comes to desserts.

Oh, and by the way, the title didn't help matters either.  There's nothing a neurotic, anxiety-prone lawyer-for-her-day-job home cook like me needs less than a title that announces that under most circumstances, for most cooks following the directions properly, these desserts will be "perfect."  Without even trying a single dessert, I can predict with 100% accuracy that none of my efforts to replicate the desserts in the book will come out "perfect."

The recipes in Indulge are actually split between recipes that are somewhat old-fashioned, slightly crusty in a not-quite-retro way (e.g., sacher torte, opera pastry) and some slighly more interesting ones (e.g., red wine chocolate cake, salty pistachio ice cream, strawberry balsamic white chocolate truffles).  Nothing weird enough to make me cranky, though.  Although about half of the recipes are hyper-complicated, the directions seemed fairly clear and detailed in that slightly science-labby pastry chef way.  The only slightly confusing elements are the Britishisms in ingredient lists and instructions, which are sorta cute.  Like many good baking books, it lists ingredients by weight.

And the desserts did come out, well, almost perfect.  The honey madelines were sweet and buttery, with a tender crumb.  They did dry out very quickly, though.  The Bakewell Tarts, adorable little tartlets filled with a layer of raspberry jam and a filling of ground almonds, butter and lemon zest, were lip-smackingly delicious.  The Red Wine Chocolate Cake was a little bit too much of a "grown-up" cake (it reminded me a little of haroset), but was moist, light, chocolatey, and redolent of red wine, cloves and cinnamon.

If there's one thing I learned from this book, it's to follow Clark's instructions exactly -- it really does make a difference to sift the dry ingredients twice and to pipe the madeline batter into the molds (yes, I did do a side-by-side test, I am that much of a dork).  If you read the recipes carefully and follow them exactly, this book will make you happy, even if you are a cranky little biddy like me.

Comments

[Mr. Addict]

I really loved the bakewell tarts and the honey madelines.

I thought I wasn't going to like the red wine chocolate cake, but it actually was really good. That being said, it isn't a chocolate cake in the more traditional sense.
I think the key is having just enough of a chocolate flavor to counteract the wine and spices. Otherwise it would have veered into something fruitcake-like, which I am not fond of.

[Tracy]

I just found your blog. Well done! Nice writing and photos.
Your madelines look nice. A madeline pan is on my list of stuff I want, so guess I'll have to wait to try those.

[The Cookbook Addict]

Hey Tracy, thanks for checking it out! I have a mini madeline pan, it is also nice to make little cornbreads to go with soup. One of the great things about doing a blog is that it not only helps me to justify my out of control cookbook purchases, I also use it to justify buying kitchen equipment that I only use a few times a year.

But I am determined to try to use the madeline pan more; maybe I will try little cakes in there, or cheese puffs...

[pbromley]

Nice post again!

I haven't eaten at French Laundry, but I did eat at Per Se one time. It's hard to remember the desserts as there were so many courses before them, and if I remember correctly about 4 separate courses for dessert alone!

I am willing to give "conceptual" versions of desserts a chance but too often I am left wanting what the original version was after I tried the interpretation.

Were there any other recipes in the book that you didn't get a chance to try but plan to in the future?

[Jack at Fork & Bottle]

Nothing wrong about not liking the desserts at Per Se. Or being cantankerous about desserts....that's a good trait!

And this, "one dessert for the women at the table, one for the men" is sexist.

[The Cookbook Addict]

Hey Jack - Thanks for supporting my cantakerousness! Glad to know I am not the only way who thinks it's weird to serve different desserts for boys and girls. We are not in kindergarten -- I do not need to get the pink cookie.

Pbromley - I still want make this fruit slice thing -- It's a terrine of vanilla custard with fruit suspended in it that looks really beautiful sliced. If I do, I'll post a note about that too.