Need Help Asap!! Possible Job

Business By ASupergirl Updated 26 May 2007 , 12:22am by beachcakes

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ASupergirl Posted 19 May 2007 , 1:36pm
post #1 of 10

I have the opportunity to become the dessert and pastry person at an upscale restaurant. I have an interview with them on Tuesday at 10am and they want to see my portfolio and a sample of something that isn't cake but don't care what it is as long as it isn't cake....What should I make to WOW them???? I'm so excited right now. This place is going to have the governor there in the afternoon...So something really quite good needs to make the mark on this. It has to be enough for two people to try as the Director and the Chef (the lady who wants me there) will be in this interview. By they way....I know have a new KitchenAid Mixer (see Mixer Question in the biz section of the forum for great hubby story on it)....so my ideas can be seemingly endless now.....So....WHAT CAN WOW THEM FOR A SUPER DESSERT???? I'll take any and all suggestions of any kind...THANKS!!!!

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prterrell Posted 19 May 2007 , 2:59pm
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Got this recipe from www.foodtv.com If you've never had banana creme brulee before, it is awesome! So much better than regular creme brulee!

Banana Creme Brulee
Recipe courtesy David Rosengarten
Show: Cooking Live

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 bananas, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons granulated white sugar
juice of 1/4 lemon
3 tablespoons Spanish Brandy
3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
8 egg yolks
12 teaspoons light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the bananas, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Stir well to blend the sugar and butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. The bananas should be lightly caramelized. Mash the bananas with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the lemon juice to the mixture, raise the heat to high, add the brandy, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, divide among 6 wide, shallow creme brulee dishes, and let cool. Place the heavy cream in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the cream with the tip of a knife. Add the scraped-out vanilla bean, and bring the cream just to a boil, then remove from heat. Reserve. Place the egg yolks and 5 tablespoons of white sugar in the top of a double boiler. Whisk them together, then stir over simmering water until the mixture becomes fairly thick (about 15 minutes). Strain the reserved cream into eggs, and stir the mixture over simmering water for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and ladle over the cooled banana puree in the 6 dishes. Place the dishes in a roasting pan, and fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the dishes from the pan, and chill them for at least 3 hours.
When you are ready to serve, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of light brown sugar over each dish, distributing evenly. Place the dishes on a bed of cracked ice in a roasting pan, and position the pan under a broiler until the sugar caramelizes. Watch carefully, and move the dishes around so the sugar browns evenly but doesn't char. Remove and serve while the crust is still hot.

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lu9129 Posted 19 May 2007 , 3:04pm
post #3 of 10

Do you have to make it ahead of time or are you going to make it on site???

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mkolmar Posted 19 May 2007 , 4:36pm
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I like to do chocolate cups (you can buy them premade sometimes) and then fill them with a baileys chocolate mousse topped with a small spritz of sweetened whipping cream, I usually plate with a stuffed strawberry on the side. When I plate I put a design down of a sauce then place the choc.baileys cup in the center with the strawberry on the side. A quick wipe down with a damp towel around the sides of the plate (to get rid of any prints or splatters) and your good to go.
I made these for an event a few weeks ago and they were getting snapped up faster than I could place them down practicaly.

If the desserts are being plated make sure that you do an ODD number, for some reason the human eye drawn to odd numbers and not evens.
So say you decide whatever dessert you are doing you want fresh raspberries on the side as a decoration -- you would put eiter 1, 3, 5 or so on (then I would put either a pretty edible flower tucked in or a spring of mint) No one ever eats the edible flower but if you are making a dessert make sure everything is edible (unless you are making something with a remekin--like the above mentioned brulee)

If something looks like it's just lacking something sometimes a simple sprinkling of powdered sugar through a cup sifter is the right touch. I do this on plates sometimes, I just put down a doilee or some kind of design cut out of paper or cardboard sprinkle it with powdered sugar and then lift the design up---simple to do with a beautiful effect.

Also, a piped chocolate design helps to boost the elegance of a dessert too

Another dessert item I do --which is REALLY easy is to cup up pineapple (you can grill it or leave it as it) and just put a Malibu rum reduction sauce on top. The last time I made it I didn't reduce the sauce down because of time reasons and it went over really well too. The bartender and manager of that ritzy hotel kept thanking me because they are now using the pineapple soaked in rum as a garnish for their drinks. ( I told them they could do the same with marashino cherries and a different liquior and they flipped out)

You'll do fine--whatever you make will taste great! Just make sure of the cardinal rule "What pleases the eye, pleases the pallet".

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ASupergirl Posted 20 May 2007 , 4:02am
post #5 of 10

any other ideas???....bump???? and thank you to those who have and will reply to this post

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albumangel Posted 20 May 2007 , 4:27pm
post #6 of 10

You really can't go wrong with chocolate, right? icon_lol.gif

Do you have their current dessert menu? Maybe take a look at that to see what they currently offer. I would not try to replicate one of their desserts., but I would want to offer something of the same caliber.

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SCS Posted 20 May 2007 , 4:33pm
post #7 of 10

What about a tower of profiteroles, drizzled with white and dark chocolate? They are yummy! In fact, I think I will have to make some soon ...!!!

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snarkybaker Posted 21 May 2007 , 10:52pm
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I am the pastry person at an upscale restaurant, and my best selling desserts are those that are familiar with a twist, for example I make a vanilla chai cheesecake in a ginger biscotti crust with a peach -rhubarb chutney. It's just cheesescake, but it has interesting flavors, and rhubarb is very hot in desserts right now, but cut with peach it is more palatable to those who can'r get into a tart rhubarb taste.

So along those lines try Chocolate Raspberry pavlova. Make chocolate meringues and fill them with prettily piped raspberry mousee. Top with fresh berries and serve plated with chocoalte and raspberry sauces.

Make a Mexican Chocolate creme brulee. ( just add some cinnamon and a dash of chipotle powder to your brulee batter) Serve it with fresh berries and spiced shortbread.

Make Bananas foster shortcake served with home made brown sugar ice cream served on a warm chocolate waffle.

Make a fruit trifle with exotic fruits. One of my favorites is fresh rasperries, vanilla bean custard, passion fruit curd and vanilla cognac cake layered in a champagne glass.

Make Grasshopper Chiffon pie with chopped andes candies in it and a chocolate creme de menthe ganache.

Those have been some of my most popular desserts that aren't cake.

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jen1977 Posted 23 May 2007 , 11:06am
post #9 of 10

How did it go? What did you make?

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beachcakes Posted 26 May 2007 , 12:22am
post #10 of 10

OMG mkolmar & txkat, I am DROOLING!!!!

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