Tuesday, June 23, 2009

TWD: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

In honor of this week's TWD recipe, a coconut-roasted pineapple dacquoise, I have composed an original song. Sing with me now:

If you like pina colada,
and making egg white meringue
and placing chunks of pineapple
under an open flame,
Even if fancy french dessert names
tend to stick in your craw
You will like this week's pick of
Coconut-Pineapple Dacquoise!*

*recipe name shortened because the lines already had enough trouble scanning as is, thank you
Yes, folks, this week's dessert made me want to sing. It's hot, it's officially summertime, and what better way to celebrate than with a fruity tropical dessert? Never mind the 3+ hours of baking time to cook the dacquaoise layers, the oven temp is so low it's *practically* like it's not even on! (Riiiiight.) Seriously, though, all that baking in the heat was worth it because this was delicious!

A number of people on the TWD blog commented that the white chocolate ganache either failed for them, or was really too sweet for the rest of the dessert. I took their advice and skipped the ganache and filled my coconut dacquoise layers with a simple whipped cream instead. It was the perfect touch, but I definitely went too heavy on the cream--look at how thick it is! Next time I'll hold way back so that the cream doesn't overwhelm the rest of the dessert.

The oven was taking too long to roast the pineapple and give me my nice caramelized color, so I brought out my butane torch to do the job for me. You remember Old Sparky, right? He joined my kitchen family for the creme brulee challenge, and he's been teacher's pet ever since. I have one other regret with this dessert. I was kind of hypnotized by the picture of the dessert in the book, and like a good sheep I blindly mimicked the precise rows of roasted pineapple in the layers and on top. It looks good, but it wasn't enough pineapple for me! Along with decreasing the amount of whipped cream, I would definitely increase the roasted pineapple next time.

These leftovers are what I want my next attempt to look like:
Other than that, I loved this one. Tangy, juicy fruit, rich cream, crispy coconut meringue melting together in one dish...definitely song-worthy!

17 comments:

  1. Looks absolutely fabulous.

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  2. I love he song and all the pictures..very nice looking dessert! So glad you liked it!

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  3. Anonymous12:27 PM

    Your original song made me smile! The dacquoise looks amazing! I just got back from getting all the ingredients...
    Love the picture with your teacher's pet! Hee hee!

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  4. It looks delicious! All the photos I'm seeing are making me regret not making it. I made a TWD rewind instead and a turtle cheesecake. All good, but I will for sure try this one someday!

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  5. Ahhh, I wish I'd thought of torching the pineapple slices that didn't brown. Great idea!

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  6. Hahaha I love the short poem!! your dacquoise looks amazing, and though I can see where you went overboard with the cream, but I'm sure it tasted delicious nonetheless

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  7. Yours is definitely the prettiest I've seen. And I love the ones that have the pineapple piled on top.
    Glad you enjoyed!

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  8. Anonymous1:57 PM

    Wow! Your dacquoise looks perfect. I'll have to try it with whipped cream.

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  9. Looks amazing! The white chocolate/coconut is what stopped me from making it.

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  10. Fabulous, superb, marvelous Liz! You got it to look perfect with a capital P! ...ahhh! I love how you love your blow torch!!! LOL LOL Cool!

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  11. Beautifully done! I think it's a good idea about the cream only - I think I will do the same next time I make it.

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  12. I think torching was the way to go as all the slices look nicely colored...I did the broiler and half were starting to burn by the time the other half was going. I would also put more of them on next time as I lined them all up, too. Yours looks perfect. I like the leftover bowl, too...all those pineapples, yum! Very lovely, fun to read you post, and yes, I sang along with the song!

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  13. It looks so very perfectly pretty. I agree with you, next time I'll add more pineapple to the dessert. I also love the whipped cream. There might be a lot of it, but look how beautiful and even it is? Gorgeous!

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  14. I whipped out my torch for the pineapple, too! I just didn't have the patience because it wasn't roasting! I love that you used whipped cream instead of the white chocolate! It looks so good!

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  15. I LOVE the song! I thought the roasted pineapple really made this one come alive. It looks like you (in true pastry chef fashion) trimmed the ragged edges off of yours, which makes it looks so clean and beautiful.

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  16. The song is perfect. And the lines DO fit the tune..... Funny!!

    Your cake looks luscious. I like the thicker layers. Yummy!!!

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  17. Oh, good for you, ditching the white chocolate ganache. That was nothing but (sickly sweet) heartache for me. The whipped cream would be terrific, and I totally agree about the pineapple - lots is necessary to match the richness and sweetness of the other elements.

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