Theme Meal Plans: Party Dessert Tray
Biscotti | Profiteroles (Cream Puffs) | Cannoli
Biscotti
Recipe Summary
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Party Dessert Tray (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 0.75 | cup | almonds, whole |
| 0.66 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 2 | large | egg |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 0.75 | tsp | baking powder |
| 1.75 | cup | flour |
| 0.125 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 4 | oz | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly toast almonds on cookie sheet in oven for 8 minutes. Beat eggs and sugar together until pale and thick (5 minutes). Add in vanilla and mix quickly. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl; add to egg mixture and blend. Fold in nuts and chocolate bits. Place dough on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper; wet hands and shape dough into a log 3” X 12”. Bake in oven until lightly brown about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool. Cut biscotti on a diagonal into ½” wide strips, place cut side down back on parchment papered sheet and bake 10 minutes, turn over and bake 10 more minutes.
Profiteroles (Cream Puffs)
Recipe Summary
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Party Dessert Tray (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 1 | cup | water |
| 0.5 | cup | butter, unsalted |
| 0.25 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 1 | Tb | sugar, granulated |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 4 | large | egg |
| |
Place water, butter, salt and sugar in a pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add flour, stir until mixed, place back on low heat and stir for 2 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and add to bowl of food processor, add eggs and pulse until just mixed.
(you may use a mixer instead) Place large spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, space 2 inches apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes, until golden brown. Turn off oven, remove from oven and quickly poke a few small holes with a toothpick in the sides of the puffs to allow steam to exit. Return cookie sheet to oven, open oven door and let puffs sit for 20 minutes in oven.
Cut off and reserve top, fill with ice cream, place top back on. May be served with caramel or hot fudge sauce.
For cream puffs fill with vanilla cream. For éclairs make cream puffs and drizzle melted chocolate on top.
Cannoli
Recipe Summary
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Party Dessert Tray (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 1 | box | cannoli shells -mini |
| | | |
| 5 | Tb | sugar, powdered |
| 1 | cup | mascarpone cheese |
| 0.125 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 2 | Tb | chocolate, chips |
| 1 | Tb | cream, half and half |
| |
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Reserve 1 Tb of the powered sugar. Combine the remaining sugar, mascarpone cheese and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix thoroughly, add the chocolate chips and mix. Add just enough of the half and half to make a peanut butter consistency. Using a pastry bag fill the cannoli shells from each end. Sprinkle with the reserved powdered sugar.
Note - optional: dip ends in chopped pistashios.
Shown here with mini-cream puffs and mini-eclairs.
