MAKING DESSERT SAUCES An artfully plated pastry or dessert always offers contrasts in color, texture, and flavor. See Figure 7-1. Dessert sauces made from fruits, sugars, chocolates, creams, wines, liquors, liqueurs, and a variety of thickeners offer ample opportunity to provide all kinds of contrasts. A dessert sauce is thicker than a syrup and should nappe the back of a spoon. If a dessert sauce is too thin, the sauce will not hold its shape and will run all over the plate. If a dessert sauce is too thick, the sauce will run slowly or not at all.
To produce quality dessert sauces, it is important to understand how various thickeners are used to obtain the proper viscosity, or flow factor. Some dessert sauces can be brought to the proper viscosity simply by being puréed or reduced. Many dessert sauces require the addition of cornstarch slurry, arrowroot slurry, egg yolks, or powdered pectin to achieve the proper viscosity. Note: Thickeners such as tapioca, potato starch, and instant modified starch are not often used to make dessert sauces. Purées. A food that is crushed or ground until it becomes a thick liquid or paste is simply referred to as a purée. A purée can be made into a fruit dessert sauce by pushing it through a strainer to attain the desired smoothness. See Figure 7-2.
Daniel NYC / E. Kheraj
Figure 7-1. An artfully plated pastry or dessert offers contrasts in color, texture, and flavor.
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Pastry & Dessert Techniques