Maybe it was Ina Garten who said that dinner guests will only remember the first thing served and the last, so make them special. I don't know about what's served first but I do remember what's served last. That's because I like sweets - a meal without sugar is like a day without sunshine - and have collected a large quantity of dessert recipes. As a matter of fact, the dessert section in my cookbooks is always larger than all the other sections combined.
Here's a simple dessert, easy to get together and always good, even for a fancy meal. I use it often, especially when I don't want to slave over a hot stove making something more complicated. Buy, yes, buy some coconut macaroons. (Or make them yourself if you insist.) Crumble them in the bottom of an old fashioned glass and put a scoop of premium ice cream over the top. You can use an ice cream of your choice but I usually use the coffee flavored variety. That's it. Your guests will dip into the ice cream and gradually get to the bottom where they'll find the macaroons, which will be flavored by the ice cream. What a nice surprise! If you're feeling expansive (and don't care about the calories), you could dribble some chocolate syrup on top but, to mix my metaphores, that's like gilding the lily.
Although I've never tried it, I'm sure you could crumble some flavor of cookie in the bottom of the glass, maybe even chocolate chip, and then fill the glass with chocolate ice cream. Sounds good to me. But use your imagination. And you don't have to use an old-fashioned glass. Just use something not too big. For a really fancy dinner (with this unfancy dessert) I use bird-bath-shaped Art Deco champagne glasses from Heisey (a maker of quality glass in the 1920's and 30's. It was intended for sale in ten cent stores but is now collectable, a little like this dessert...simple but elegant).
Next: vinaigrette dressing. Stay tuned.
MACAROONS WITH ICE CREAM
Here's a simple dessert, easy to get together and always good, even for a fancy meal. I use it often, especially when I don't want to slave over a hot stove making something more complicated. Buy, yes, buy some coconut macaroons. (Or make them yourself if you insist.) Crumble them in the bottom of an old fashioned glass and put a scoop of premium ice cream over the top. You can use an ice cream of your choice but I usually use the coffee flavored variety. That's it. Your guests will dip into the ice cream and gradually get to the bottom where they'll find the macaroons, which will be flavored by the ice cream. What a nice surprise! If you're feeling expansive (and don't care about the calories), you could dribble some chocolate syrup on top but, to mix my metaphores, that's like gilding the lily.
Although I've never tried it, I'm sure you could crumble some flavor of cookie in the bottom of the glass, maybe even chocolate chip, and then fill the glass with chocolate ice cream. Sounds good to me. But use your imagination. And you don't have to use an old-fashioned glass. Just use something not too big. For a really fancy dinner (with this unfancy dessert) I use bird-bath-shaped Art Deco champagne glasses from Heisey (a maker of quality glass in the 1920's and 30's. It was intended for sale in ten cent stores but is now collectable, a little like this dessert...simple but elegant).
Next: vinaigrette dressing. Stay tuned.
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