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Your coffee service this evening may look terribly conventional. Indeed it is a cup of coffee with whipped cream and an Italian cookie. But in what forms are all these elements?

The coffee is actually an espresso créme brulée. Espresso combined with a velvety baked custard create a delightful hot and cold, creamy and crunchy version of the classic latté. The “foam” or “whipped cream” on top is a lightly sweetened mascarpone mousse with a touch of shaved dark chocolate.

The cookie is a cookie…but it’s also not a cookie: it’s lady finger ice cream. The ice cream is made and flavored with the classic Italian pastry. After freezing the lady finger ice cream, I used a homemade mold to reform it into the shape of the cookie to which it owes its flavor and inspiration. I made the molds using Silicone Plastique from Make Your Own Molds, a great online source for culinary mold-making.

Silicone molds of lady finger cookies freeze the ice cream into perfect cookie shapes

Beneath the ice cream cookie is a sprinkling of chocolate lady finger crumbs. These crumbs bear a striking resemblance to coffee grounds (a very happy coincidence considering I did not plan this at all), bringing the flavor and concept of this dish full circle.

Do all these flavor elements sound familiar? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your cup of coffee is tiramisu.

How do you make this classic yet modern dessert? Well, I’m happy to share my secrets! Simply sign up for the Garrett’s Table E-mail newsletter by clicking the link below and entering your e-mail address. I’ll include the recipe, including instructions on how to make your own ice cream molds, in my next mailing (March 1, 2010). All emails are confidential and you can un-subscribe at any time.

These stunning photographs were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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Egg nog is a classic and delicious cold-weather drink. Unfortunately in today’s consumer society it has been relegated to the flabby, un-compelling, pre-packaged versions available next to the half and half and only during the holiday season. The original classic is incredibly simple to make and tastes infinitely better than any store-bought nog. Usually spiced heavily with nutmeg and cinnamon and combined with cognac, bourbon, or rum, egg nog is certainly a heavy drink. However, it’s delightful weight matches perfectly with the cold winter.

I knew I wanted to make some eggnog and share it with my internet audience, but every audience needs a show. I needed to finesse the presentation to make egg nog even more exciting. In the glass is a bit of cognac that is deeply infused with nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. The egg is nested on some toasted pine branches, which provide a delightful and apropriate egg nog-drinking aroma. “But what’s with the egg?” you ask. Well it’s filled with egg nog of course! What better way to surprise your guests than to crack what appears to be an egg into their fine cognac, only to reveal your sleight of hand when luscious egg nog spills from the cracked shell!

Want to know how to create this stunning presentation? This recipe is exclusively for Garrett’s Table newsletter subscribers. Signing up couldn’t be easier though! Simply click the link below and enter your email address to sign up for the free monthly newsletter. I will include the recipe and procedure for this egg nog in the next email newsletter (February 1, 2010). All email addresses are confidential and you can unsubscribe at any time.

These stunning photographs were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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The sweet flavors of fall shine in this rich dessert. On the right is a spiced pumpkin ice cream sandwiched between two slices of chocolate stout cake. The cake has only a mild chocolate flavor and the stout adds a bitter quality that compliments the pumpkin ice cream. On the left is a liquid center cranberry truffle. A luscious cranberry puree is coated in a layer of white chocolate. My recommendation is to eat this in one bite, however the center is thick enough to make it a two-biter. Finally, the plate is blanketed in a toasted smear of molasses fluff.

For a complete recipe for both the ice cream sandwich and cranberry truffle, please subscribe to the monthly Garrett’s Table newsletter. Subscribing is easy! Simply click the link below and enter your email address. I’ll include the recipe in the next newsletter (1/1/10). All email addresses are confidential and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Photos by Justin Kern.

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Believe it or not, this is cheesecake. The flavors are all represented here in differing textures and (arguably) bizarre forms. The meat of the dish is a very light inflated cream cheese mousse. Set with agar and inflated using a cream whipper, the mousse, shown in the close up below, is very fluffy and porous, a very different texture than the traditional dense cream cheese custard.

One frustration I have with cheesecake is the graham cracker crust: It becomes dense and soggy after baking. Here the crust is appears in a powder and in large chunks to preserve its original flakey and crunchy texture. We also have some hand-made berries made from cherry and raspberry puree. You can eat the liquid-center orbs all at once and pop them in your mouth or puncture them to sauce the plate in a sweet and tangy fruit puree. Finally, for extra texture, flavor, and dramatic flare, crispy cherry leather is stuck into the cream cheese mousse.

For a complete recipe please subscribe to my newsletter. Simply click the link below and enter your email address. I’ll include the recipe, including the cherry-raspberry spheres, in my next mailing (12/1/09). You’ll receive a monthly update of the latest from Garrett’s Table as well as plenty of subscriber-only content. E-mail addresses are confidential and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Photos by Justin Kern.

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A very popular technique in modern fine dining is spherification. This technique allows us to encapsulate a liquid, such as cherry and raspberry puree, inside of itself. The key players are calcium and sodium alginate, which is a seaweed-derived gelling agent. When sodium alginate comes into contact with calcium it quickly forms a delicate but resilient skin that cannot be de-natured by freezing or excessive heating. However, when you apply light pressure to the orb with a fork or your teeth, the membrane breaks, releasing the liquid interior. This is illustrated in the photo below.

I made these orbs by first making a cherry and raspberry puree. I then thickened and seasoned the puree. I added calcium lactate to the puree and froze the mixture into spheres. Meanwhile I combined water, sugar, and sodium alginate to make a slightly sweet mixture. I boiled the mixture to expel the air bubbles and kept it warm. I dropped the frozen spheres into the warm alginate bath. The heat melted a thin layer of water on the outside which was immediately gelled. After a 2 minute soak, I carefully removed the orbs and rinsed them in a water bath. I then transfered them to a holding bath of cherry juice. Although the skin is resilient to heat and cold, it breathes and is permeable by the process of osmosis. Keeping the orbs in a flavored liquid adds to the overall flavor and prevents liquid migration from the orbs.

Top left to lower right: Frozen puree, spheres in hot alginate bath, spheres in water rinsing bath, spheres in cherry holding bath.

For a complete recipe with helpful information on where to buy and how to use sodium alginate and calcium lactate, please subscribe to my bi-weekly mailing list. Simply click the link below, enter your email address, and I will include the recipe in my next mailing (12/1/09). You can unsubscribe at any time and I will not flood your inbox. With each mailing you’ll receive a friendly update of what’s going on at Garrett’s Table with exclusive, subscriber-only recipes and content.

Stay tuned in the coming days to see how I use these cherry-raspberry orbs with the flavors of a classic New York pastry

Photos by Justin Kern.

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