Bella Donna 2010 Spring Launch Party

I LOVE SHANNON!

Shannon of Flourish brought her camera and took the following amazing pictures of the desserts that were served at the Bella Donna launch party. Lots of fun, pretty dessert options, perfect for January!

As a pastry chef I've always found it difficult to sell panna cotta. Anytime you mention "milk jello" people wig. It's an excellent dessert, but after years of playing around with different ways of describing it, I've come up with the following... just call it cream! Peaches and Cream, Strawberries and Cream, Creamsicle... you get the idea! In addition to being striking, it's yummy too (everyone who at this version gobbled it up and had nothing but good things to say!).
(Vanilla Panna Cotta with Pink Grapefruit Gelee and Candied Grapefruit & Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee with Fresh Raspberries)

In addition to getting the attendees to venture out of their comfort zone, I provided the ubiquitous creme brulee. An amazing custard is a must for any decent pastry chef, and I have to confess, even though I've made over 10,000 of these puppies, they are pretty dang good!


Nothing says winter dessert to me more than poached pears. mmmmmm and the creamy champagne sabayon was bliss. Just a little bite, but just sweet enough and just boozie enough to be satisfying. Also, is there anything cuter than a Seckle pear? I don't think so, and when they are poached they are even more amazing!



Last, but not least were the peanut butter truffles (and in the distance you can see the salted caramel tartlets, which, if you've been following this blog, you've probably seen before!). I used a food spray to make them a shiny silver. How fun! I also placed them on a bed of Valrhona crunchy chocolate pearls. Fun, different and tasty!

I also wanted to point out the dessert tags... how cute are these little guys. I shamelessly stole the logo from Bella Donna and used it to personalize the tags. I just love their pretty French blue color!