A simple but elegant presentation is a banana sliced on the bias into 'scallop' sized slices. Dip the top in sugar and put on foil on a cookie sheet and melt the sugar with a blow torch. Think "Creme Burlee". You want it for brown and form a crisp cracking shell.
Serve a couple of slices with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Add you own touches for color and presentation.
A drizzle of caramel or chocolate, shaved chocolate curls, raspberry jam, a few fresh berries, mint, ..etc. etc. What ever you like. I keep some instant coffee on hand just to dust on ice creme.
Affogato - it's basically a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso drizzled over it. I use a good vanilla bean ice cream with an Italian espresso.
We make compote for our oatmeal, and for efficiency's sake, get a large bag of apples and/or pears when available; not dessert eaters per se, we've found this simple crumb recipe to satisfy a sweet tooth or finish off a light meal.
pear or apple or pear-apple crumb
slice pears, peel apples and slice, mix in with about 2 T lemon juice (about 8 pieces of fruit)
mix in T 2 t corn starch
2 tsp cinnamon
less that 1/4 C brown sugar (we modified to have less sugar- the cooked fruit is super sweet!
mix this in with the fruit
grease pan with oil or butter of your choice- the fruit throws off enough liquid that you don't need to go overboard on this step; we use a 9 x 13 pyrex which creates a thinner product with a nice fruit-to-topping ratio
Put the fruit mixture in the pan and set aside for the moment.
topping:
1/3 C brown sugar (here it's less, again)
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C oats (we used more here)
1/2 C walnuts, crushed (we used more here, again)
3 T "fake" butter chopped up and mixed with the above
Spread mixture over the top of the fruit.
Put in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.
This can be made days in advance and freezes well, taking just minutes to re-heat.
Little chocolate pots with some nice biscuits on the side. If you want a big dessert to serve at the table, then a biscuit crumb base with choc truffle/sturdy choc mousse on top is always a winner. A beautifully presented fruit salad can look impressive too. I like to serve lots of thin slices of citrus fruits arranged on a large platter. Some ginger syrup or wine poured over, a dusting of icing suar to dissolve in, or a scattering of pomegranate seeds chopped pistachio nuts and some rose water or syrup. It looks pretty, and Is no real effort!
Pot de creme served in fancy glasses with chocolate shaved on top....or Dorie GreenSpan's French pear tart, served with whipped creme. It looks attractive and it really easy once you have made it once...I get asked for the recipe all the time and I can make it in my sleep now.
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Serve a couple of slices with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Add you own touches for color and presentation.
A drizzle of caramel or chocolate, shaved chocolate curls, raspberry jam, a few fresh berries, mint, ..etc. etc. What ever you like. I keep some instant coffee on hand just to dust on ice creme.
I'd be glad to share the recipes if you want to message me.
pear or apple or pear-apple crumb
slice pears, peel apples and slice, mix in with about 2 T lemon juice (about 8 pieces of fruit)
mix in T 2 t corn starch
2 tsp cinnamon
less that 1/4 C brown sugar (we modified to have less sugar- the cooked fruit is super sweet!
mix this in with the fruit
grease pan with oil or butter of your choice- the fruit throws off enough liquid that you don't need to go overboard on this step; we use a 9 x 13 pyrex which creates a thinner product with a nice fruit-to-topping ratio
Put the fruit mixture in the pan and set aside for the moment.
topping:
1/3 C brown sugar (here it's less, again)
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C oats (we used more here)
1/2 C walnuts, crushed (we used more here, again)
3 T "fake" butter chopped up and mixed with the above
Spread mixture over the top of the fruit.
Put in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.
This can be made days in advance and freezes well, taking just minutes to re-heat.