Café Gourmand…the best dessert idea ever!
Over the last decade, from the humblest of corner Bistros to the grandest of gourmet restaurants, a new dessert has made its way on to menus in France… Café Gourmand!
You know the feeling, at the end of a delicious main course, you’re handed the dessert menu, only to be struck with a sudden wave of indecisiveness! ‘Do I really need a dessert? Should I just have a coffee? Would I be able to manage a whole Crème brulée? Oh but actually I really fancy a chocolate fondant! Oh decisions decisions!’
But then you see something called a Café Gourmand – a selection of mini desserts from the menu served with an espresso coffee – ooh several desserts to try, small portions and a coffee…just what I was looking for!
As they say the best ideas are always the simplest!
I gave this a go at home recently, when I had friends for supper. They absolutely loved it! I served the coffee after since unless you have an industrial coffee machine, delivering 8 espressos at once, it’s never going to happen!
Think of mini dessert ideas that can be prepared in advance. Here are a few ideas to get you going and as is the case with interior design, odd numbers of desserts seem to work best!
A few ideas….
crème brulée
fruit crumble
cheesecake
Meringue
Profiterole
Fruit skewer
Chocolate, Lemon or Strawberry Mousse
Ice cream
Sorbet
Brownie
maccaron
Shortcake round
Chocolate dipped piece of fruit
Panne Cotta ( raspberry, passion fruit, mango, chocolate etc)
There’s no limit to which combinations you could choose! So go on have a go!
Useful equipment for creating café gourmand…
To get your mini desserts looking pukka and professional, the following accessories are really useful
shot glasses
espresso cups
butter pat pots or mini ramekin
square plate or slate platter to serve
skewers
small pastry cutter
Check out some of my other favourite French recipes