Onboarding a Pastry

Dessert

By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor

PLATED PASTRY, TAKE A NUMBER. Order-ahead chocolate sou é and tableside Bananas Foster may have their ‘wow’ factor, but lately, showstopping dessert boards are creating a buzz that commands more attention. What started as a social media sensation has since turned into an in-house dining experience that enables pastry chefs to create themed dessert displays with a variety of textures and flavors in one convenient setup.

Gather And Graze

Theresa Brauer, Pastry Chef of the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, understands the impact of a satisfying end to a meal, especially one that allows diners to indulge their senses as a group. It’s the very reason Brauer relishes making dessert boards for club members and guests. “They allow people to gather and try many di erent things instead of sticking to one dessert,” she says.

Brauer has been experimenting with dessert board concepts for the past two years, representing a new chapter in her seven-year-long stint at the club. She credits Janice Wong, a pastry chef in Singapore she follows online, for alerting her to the initial idea. And while dessert boards have yet to become a menu mainstay, Brauer finds fun ways to incorporate them into her banquets and special events lineup.

One of Brauer’s more popular boards is a chocolate mousse duo (dark and white chocolate), complemented by various toppings and bases. These include almond chocolate biscotti, chocolate chip cookies, macaron shells, vanilla-poached pear, strawberries, amaretto oranges, caramel sauce and a raspberry gastrique (pictured above). This past New Year’s Eve, she created a DIY dessert board for the club’s restaurant, Ollie’s, which was a big hit. Members were given a bowl of pudding they could decorate with any toppings, including Oreo crumbs, mini cookies, peppermint crumble, fresh strawberries, crispy pearls and whipped cream. With these types of creations, Brauer has observed their universal appeal. “Dessert boards are for everyone; they bring a crowd together,” she notes.

Brauer is focused on balancing sweetness when preparing her boards, which requires thoughtful planning. “Just like creating a plated dessert, you need to lay out all your items and compare them between salt, sweet, acidic and bitter,” she notes.