MEAT in desserts

[blindbunny]

Question for everyone:

the concept of putting bacon or foie gras into sweets is not terribly 'nouveau' anymore and has perhaps become a bit of a staple of even mainstream dessert menus.

So that said, have you come across any other types of proteins/meats/savory components in your desserts which surprised you? And, which meats do you think would lend themselves nicely to sweets? Bacon does work unbelievably well, particularly if it has been candied b/c it creates a nice balance of salty/sweet/fat that complements desserts. I'm now thinking about how this could apply to other meat products and am coming up blank.

Any ideas??

[ipsedixit]

Mochi stuffed with Chinese pork floss.

Peanut butter brittle made with chopped peanuts and dried cuttlefish.

And, some would say that char sui boa (Chinese BBQ buns) are very much an item suited for dessert.

[momskitchen]

The ground beef provides the fat in the brownies....like adding butter. If you are in the beef business, you would think this is really cool!

[Pia]

Not meat, but I've come across the pairing of chocolate and olives (typically kalamatas, chopped up into little pieces) several times. It works pretty well.

[blindbunny]

oh wow, interesting, i've not heard of that before. there are probably some interesting preparations that could be applied to the olive for a dessert. thanks for sharing!

[Aravisea]

Mincemeat comes to mind - made the old way, with beef or game instead of the suet sometimes used nowadays.

[blindbunny]

mincemeat tarts are a favorite holiday dessert for me...the old-fashioned way. and paired with a cold glass of egg nog. almost makes me wish it were winter!

[pikawicca]

Yum! Just don't tell folks what they're eating, or they'll freak out.

[Aravisea]

Do you make your own mincemeat? As a child, I always laughed and laughed at the mincemeat recipe in my mom's old Joy of Cooking - a recipe that, apparently, produced enough for 20 pies, and included among its ingredients an optional 1/4 teaspoon of coriander seed.

That tickled me to no end. Still does actually.....

[pikawicca]

I make my own, and it's definitely meaty.

[momskitchen]

I've had brownies made with ground beef at the National Beef Cookoff....and they were delicious. Here's a recipe I found for them: http://www.food.com/recipe/beef-brown...

They do not taste like beef at all....they taste rich and chocolatey

[blindbunny]

oh wow, beef brownies? i wonder what the point of them is if you cannot taste the beef. i like the idea of pairing a meat with a sweet for the contrast of flavors. very interesting, though..i may have to try it. thanks for sharing!

[JungMann]

I've had desserts with candied pork and pork fat, duck egg yolks, thousand year-old egg, tofu, blue cheese and feta. They all worked in their own ways although the thousand year-old egg was a little jarring as it was unexpected.

[blindbunny]

tell me about the blue cheese and feta desserts. how were they prepared? and was the candied pork similar to bacon?

[JungMann]

Blue cheese was added to a pear tart with honey and candied walnuts. Only a little bit is enough to offer sharp contrast to the honey flavors. The feta I crumble on coconut milk cakes. It's creamy so it will go with desserts, but the brine will make it stand out at the same time.

The candied pork was basically candied pieces of pork belly. It was unsmoked and uncured but had a big porcine flavor that lent itself well to the candying process. Pork, in general, goes well with sugar.