Can a dessert be too decadent?
The other night, at a dinner party the dessert that ended the meal was a huge chunk of dark chcoolate brownie cake, covered with a thick layer of white chocolate ganache, drizzled with a brandy caramel sauce, and then garnished with homemade marshmallows.
Now, I'm one that's all for a great dessert. And while I'm not necessarly a huge chocolate fan, I can appreciate a nice chocolate-y dessert as well as the next person.
But ... but ... this was just too much. It was overpoweringly sweet, almost to the point of being indedible. Just thinking about it now makes my teeth hurt, and gives me these strong urges to brush my teeth and rinse with concentrated Listerine.
Do you think a dessert can be over-the-top?
If so, what's the last dessert that left you with that "Oh, I really can't, I'm on a strict zero-carb diet" response to the host?
By ipsedixit
on Sep 15, 2009 10:50 AM
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nah, not for me. Well, it can be too decadent if I eat too much lol! but that's my stomach speaking.
If one is only using very small portions, then I don't think there is such a thing as too decadent of a dessert. Once it's *so* rich, you just really can't do very large of a portion, as it simply doesn't jive with the dish. Ultra-rich foods are "meant" to be and are better enjoyed in smaller quantities IMO. Too much rich sweet and your tastebuds start to get exhausted, and it becomes less appetizing the more you eat. But that first couple of bites are amazing *because* of that rich sweetness.
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too decadent and too sweet are different matters entirely.
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Agree completely. Baklava to me is not decadent, it's like sticky sweet paper.
But too decadent? Sometimes yes. Sometimes a sharp, slightly tart sorbet is exactly the dessert called for, or sometimes just a very good cookie or some fruit. Other times, I still dream about the dish of chocolate mousse we had once, filled with a warm, fluid dark chocolate ganache and topped with freshly whipped cream. Or some warm sticky-toffee cake, or the whipped-cream-and-strawberries icebox pie our local cafe had every summer when I was a kid...
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I think you hit the nail on the head, Will.
If the goodie is *truly* being served as "dessert", then it doesn't exist in a vaccuum. You have to consider the rest of the menu, to determine how heavy/fatty, light, sweet or intensely flavorful the dessert should be.
If it's just a goodie for a mid-afternoon snack, then that's something different. But even I, who am devoted to the sugar and fat food groups, can only push things so far.
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Yes, what's coming to my mind are a lot of Indian desserts. Way too sweet for my taste, but I wouldn't call it decadent.
In general, I find a lot of desserts on the sweet side which is why I tend to drink unsweetened tea with them. The bitterness from the tea helps to moderate the sweetness. Love the combo of oolong tea with a brownie.
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I also love a cup of oolong with most baked desserts! perhaps consider that you are brewing your oolong for too long if it is bitter. While there are many types of oolong, the ones that I've drank generally have a sweet aftertaste.
I actually brew oolong for a matter of seconds.
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Ah! Another oolong with sweets fan! Actually, I don't brew it for too long -- perhaps not seconds, but less than a minute. It's not overtly bitter, but tea has a bitterness to it -- which I like. I'm hoping more places will start incorporating different teas like oolong and jasmine into their desserts.
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A chocolate fudge cake with a coffee sauce/drizzle. Way too dense, and it left my teeth hurting.
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A flourless chocolate torte was way too decadent for me and the sauce was overly sweet.
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Funnily enough, I was just considering Nigel Slaters brownie recipe.
First batch I made, I could only eat a tiny piece; it was just too rich and cloying.
but you get used to it quickly ;)
Oh hell, I remember the chocolate ganache tart I made (from the recipe on Chow). That really was rich O__O I could only eat a small slice, and It needed the cherry kirsch sauce!
This one http://www.chow.com/recipes/14104
It was good though...
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Can a dessert be too decadent? Yes. But it brings about the same kind of problems as being too wealthy. Or too handsome. Or too smart.
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When I was in England (Yorkshire) "pudding" was often bird's eye custard, with whipped cream and jam. Too much for me.
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The problem may have been with portion size. Something so rich and sweet after a large dinner should have been served in tiny portions. My friend had a collection of small covered chocolate pots that she used for serving bitsy portions of very rich chocolate mousse, for example.
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That sounds totally repulsive. Makes me think of Jean Teasdale's famous dark-passion cherry-mint brownies with cocoa-cream-cheese/peanut-butter frosting:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/...
Seriously, that dessert's just in bad taste, and could never succeed. Even the idea of the marshmallows is just wrong -- but so is the brandy caramel sauce.
Desserts are just as easy to screw up as any other course!
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It sounds like it was just too big a serve for something with that many super-sweet elements. You don't want to be too overly generous with something that rich - your guests can always have seconds if they want more!
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