So long crisps, crumbles, berry-filled pies and other desserts of summer.
Autumn has arrived and pastry chefs, such as Michael Moorhouse of WP24 Restaurant in Los Angeles, are celebrating the season’s bounty by rolling out modern holiday desserts featuring seasonal ingredients.
“The infusion of seasonal harvest ingredients into classic holiday treats provides guests with a festive dining experience,” said Moorhouse.
On Nov. 1, Moorhouse will debut three new seasonal desserts at WP24, including Kabocha Squash Cheesecake, which replaces traditional pumpkin with the sweeter, Japanese squash. To make his Far East-inspired rendition of a pumpkin cheesecake, Moorhouse roasts locally sourced kabocha squash to bring out the honeyed, herbal flavors that complement the dessert’s rich, nutty elements. The two other new desserts are a Semisweet Chocolate Tart and an Apple Almond Tart. The desserts are available individually or as a flight.
Also swapping out pumpkin in holiday desserts is Chuck Abair, executive chef of Café Del Rey in Marina del Rey, Calif. Abair’s pumpkin-less offering is a Garnet Yam Cheesecake made with yam purée, graham cracker crust, drizzled with house-made caramel sauce and served with chocolate cookies.
Pastry chef Tedd Romero of Lucy Restaurant & Bar at the Bardessono Hotel in Yountville, Calif. riffs on old-school apple pie with his Fried Apple Pie with organic cider reduction and calvados ice cream, which is set to debut in the coming weeks. In this upscale take on fast-food hand pies, Menlo wrappers are filled with granny smith apple filling then lightly fried in grape seed oil. Romero will also introduce pumpkin-filled crepes with red hot cinnamon ice cream and s’mores with dark chocolate mousse, toasted house-made marshmallows, graham cracker ice cream and chocolate sauce.
Similarly, the menu at Marco’s, the one-year-old Italian trattatoria in Brooklyn from the owners of Frannys and Bklyn Larder, will soon feature a modern take on apple pie. Sous chef Adam Baumgart is making apple fritters, beer-battered fried dough served with whipped yogurt, maple sugar and late harvest vinegar.
"My thinking behind the desserts are for them to be simple,” Baumgart said. “Something that is comforting and satisfying at the end of the meal using seasonal ingredients.”
Other holiday desserts scheduled to show up on Marco’s menu in the coming months include Grilled Pumpkin Cake with Honey Gelato and Brown Butter Nut Tart with Creme Fraiche.
John Stage, founder and pit master of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem, is evoking memories of holidays past with a new dessert. Presented in a single-serving cake tin, Stage is making a Roasted Apple Cake with fresh apples, crushed almonds, a classic blend of spices, cream cheese frosting and a sweet caramel drizzle.
But some restaurants aren’t messing with a good thing, and are instead re-launching seasonal favorites from menus past.
Chef Karen Hatfield of The Sycamore Kitchen in Los Angeles is once again making her best-selling Gingerbread Lady cookies, feminine versions of the classic little boy-shaped treats, and an Eggnog Layer Cake that evokes tiramisu, made with cake soaked in the sweet dairy-based drink, layered with sweet mascarpone and eggnog spices and topped with a hint of espresso.
Handel’s Ice Cream & Yogurt, a nearly 40-unit franchise based in Canfield, Ohio, has already brought back several ice cream flavors for the holiday season, including Deep Dish Apple Pie, Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Ripple. A spokesman said the chain would also soon re-add holiday favorites such as Peppermint Stick, Cherry Cordial and Cinnamon Pecan Sticky Bun.
On Nov. 1, egg-nog-cream-flavored ice cream will reappear at Cream, a San Francisco-based dessert franchise that specializes in premium ice cream sandwiches and other confections. First introduced last year, the new flavor is being brought back because it was an instant hit with the chain’s customers.
