Individual Desserts

Poached Pears with Cream Cheese Pecan Filling

Poached pears happens to be one of the first desserts that I made after I got married. It is a simple but impressive dessert that is easy to make and has outstanding flavour and appearance. Over the years and many moves later, the recipe for Poached Pears with Cream Cheese Pecan Filling has changed very little with only the variety of pears or locally available wine as adjustments. I prefer the elegant look of Bosch pears for this dessert, but any variety of pear will work well.

Poached Pear plated with raspberries — Poached Pear dessert garnished with fresh berries, whipped cream, raspberry coulis and mint

This dessert is an excellent gluten-free option. For a dairy-free option, use non-dairy cream cheese in the filling. For a nut-free version, omit the pecans in the filling. If you choose not to use wine in the poaching liquid, substitute apple juice or pear juice.

The poaching liquid is reduced to a syrup and used when plating the poached pears.

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Malteser White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

By Denise Pare-Watson

Have you ever tried a Malteser? It is a confection with a history dating back to the 1930s! American Forrest Mars, Sr. invented the Malteser in England in 1936. They were originally described as energy balls, which were marketed to women as a slimming aid as they had much less chocolate than the chocolates of the day. This classic malt center candy is a tiny light-as-air sphere covered in milk chocolate. While I am not a huge candy consumer, I find these particular bonbons quite unique both in texture and in taste. I have created a cheesecake that incorporates Maltesers, along with white chocolate in the filling. Malteser White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes are an individually baked cheesecake that maintains the crunch of the Maltesers candy as well as highlights the chunks of candy. Try it! You will enjoy it!

Malteser White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

It is interesting to note that Maltesers are one of Canada’s top 10 selling candies, along with popular brands such as Crispy Crunch, Aero Bars, Glosettes and Smarties.

I have incorporated Maltesers into baking before. One of my favourite loaf recipes is Anna Olson’s Malted Milk Chocolate Cakes. I will make that recipe again soon. It is a hit at coffee parties. In the meantime, enjoy this cheesecake!…

Watermelon Gelée

By Denise Pare-Watson

Watermelon is one of the summer’s greatest pleasures. For my family, enjoying watermelon while sitting outside around our picnic table or on the back porch was a real pleasure. We would grab thick wedges of melon with the rind on, which made it much easier to hold onto. We would devour the bright pink fruit until we could not eat another piece, watermelon juices dribbled down our chins, which made the smiles on our faces sticky and pink and most satisfied. When I was a child, my father grew ‘Sweet Beauty’ melons in his large garden. We would always have our eye on the biggest melon in the garden and we watched it grow daily from an egg-sized oval to a monster melon. When the melon was perfectly ripe, the neighbourhood children were invited over to share the summer delicacy. It was so heavy that Dad would carry it to our rustic old table using a wheelbarrow. What a feast we had! Whenever I see watermelons today, my mind races through all those wonderful childhood memories of friends and family.

Skip to Watermelon Gelee Recipe

Skip to Raspberry Tapioca Pearls Recipe

Watermelon Gelee is simply plated, including a garnish of strawberry tinted tapioca pearls

Over my career, I have made watermelon granita; watermelon and lime sorbet, and many litres of melon infused water and other similar treats. Watermelon is quite tricky to use in desserts because of the high water content. The flavour and colour can easily be compromised if overheated. So, when I read about an intriguing dessert called Watermelon Gelée by Chef Eddy Van Damme, I wanted to experiment with it! Watermelon Gelée is a gelatine set dessert using the juice of a watermelon. The vivid pink hue is further enhanced by the addition of raspberry liqueur. A very interesting option to consider as a garnish for the dessert is the use of tapioca pearls tinted with raspberry puree. Watermelon Gelée is refreshingly fun to make and gives you a flavourful alternative when serving watermelon this summer. You need to try this! You will enjoy it.

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Greek Yogurt Lemon and Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

By Denise Pare-Watson

Planning a menu for a pure white dessert can be a challenge. Having said that, I created a Greek Yogurt Lemon and Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta for Canada Day. Panna Cotta is a natural choice for its purity of white colour and its simplicity to make. I love the fresh look of panna cotta, a gelatine set custard made from dairy products which often include cream and/or milk. In this recipe, Greek yogurt is used because of its tangy taste.

Creating a pure white dessert requires eliminating vanilla bean paste because it would tint the custard to an ivory colour. To solve this problem, I added just a smidgeon of vanilla bean powder, which will show only the tiny specks of the vanilla bean seeds in the dessert while retaining the purity of the white colour. As well, I used lemon in two ways (juice and zest) as a flavouring ingredient, which compliments the tangy Greek yogurt.

Skip to Panna Cotta Recipe

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How to Make Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes

By Denise Pare-Watson

Have you ever noticed that most restaurants offer cheesecake on their dessert menu? It is definitely a favourite choice for many people and also for the restaurants as cheesecake stores and freezes well. I prefer making cheesecake in individualized portions, served simply with a raspberry coulis or a few fresh berries. In this post, I will share a recipe for Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes. This featured cheesecake recipe has a pink hue created by the raspberry puree which is combined with a delicious coconut crust infused with lime zest. For Valentine’s Day, I dress the cheesecakes up by creating a heart swirl decoration before it is baked. The decoration stays attractively suspended on top of the thick cheesecake batter.

Skip to Cheesecake Recipe

Raspberry Mini Cheesecake

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Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffeecake

By Denise Pare-Watson

This Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffeecake has become a tradition in my family and has been enjoyed every Christmas morning for nearly 40 years. Frankly, it is popular all year long and any excuse to make this family favourite is appreciated. The cake is a balance between a cheesecake and a coffeecake and is a welcome addition to any celebration.

Skip to My Recipe

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Individual Baked Dark Chocolate Mousse in Crispy Wrappers

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series

I have an idea – Individual Baked Dark Chocolate Mousse in Crispy Wrappers! Why? My favourite day is coming up – Valentine’s Day. It always makes me happy to come up with ideas for Valentine’s Day desserts. My objective when considering choices for a Valentine dessert menu is two-fold. One of the choices has to be chocolate – this is universal, it seems. The second consideration for a chocolate dessert is anything but a chocolate molten cake, which (in my opinion) has been far too prevalent on dessert menus for far too long.

But, how about taking that same idea of a soft warm chocolate cake and giving it a new twist? How about encasing it in a crispy crunchy nest that you take apart and scoop up delicious filling to share with someone you love? If you follow me on Urbnspice, you probably already know that my favourite way to serve desserts is to make individual sized portions. So, after considering all of these points, Individual Baked Dark Chocolate Mousse in Crispy Wrappers was the inspiration for my dessert creation.

Individual Baked Dark Chocolate Mousse in Crispy Wrappers

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White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart

By Denise Pare-Watson

White Chocolate and citrus is something most people have not considered when looking for something a little different using chocolate as an ingredient. Presenting White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart – the combination of sweet white chocolate and lemon is a combination that pairs so beautifully together in perfect harmony. This is a decadent and impressive dessert. The curd is so silky and smooth and can be used on its own in a parfait or swirled lightly into Greek yogurt. The tart shells are pre-baked, so it really is a convenient make-ahead dessert.

White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart | urbnspice.com

White Chocolate Lemon Curd Tart

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How to Make a Meringue Nest

By Denise Pare-Watson

I learned how to make a meringue nest early in my pastry chef career. It is an excellent idea in the pastry kitchen to have a repertoire of recipes that use an abundance of egg whites. The reason for that is because there are so many egg yolks utilized in the kitchen for crème brûlée, custards, sauces, Hollandaise and Béarnaise sauce, to name a few. We often had buckets of egg whites within a day or two of kitchen activities. Since there are only so many egg white omelettes you can make for the spa menu, using egg whites in cookies or desserts was popular – and fun! I had quite a repertoire of recipes available to use these extra egg whites and I will share some ideas with you to use in your own kitchen.

Blackberry Lime Curd in Crispy Meringue Nests

In this article, I will give you some ideas how you can use extra egg whites as well giving you as a recipe for meringue nests. On this blog, you will find recipes for Italian Almond Macaroons, Rice Flour Tuile Cookies, Earl Grey Chiffon Mini Cakes, Colourful Meringue Cookies, Chocolate Financier Cookies and many more. Making meringues are another way to use egg whites to create all kinds of excellent dessert options.

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White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Mini Cheesecakes with Gluten Free Crust

By Denise Pare-Watson

I love cheesecake! Just about everyone in my circle of family and friends will answer “cheesecake” when asked what their favourite dessert is. I like to make sure that no one is left out due to dietary restrictions, so I developed this recipe for White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Mini Cheesecakes with a Gluten Free Crust. Even the folks that could eat foods with gluten loved this cheesecake.

Although this delicious white chocolate cheesecake recipe will feed a crowd (9-inch springform pan), I prefer to divide the cheesecake custard to make mini cheesecakes (18 – 24 mini cheesecakes). The crust I created for this particular cheesecake is a gluten-free rice flour crust that is pre-baked for just a few minutes before the cheesecake custard is poured in.

For these dainty little cheesecakes, a simple garnish is all that is required. Top each mini cheesecake with a quarter wedge of strawberry or other perfect berry and you will have an impressive dessert for a buffet or dessert tray. Bonus Technique: I have included a simple technique to make your own white chocolate garnishes as pictured in the photographs below. I hope you will enjoy trying these White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Mini Cheesecakes.

White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes | urbnspice.com

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