Dessert for competition?

[TMB]

OK, now that I stuck my size 10.5 (4-d width) boot in my mouth and joined a cooking competition with TestRocket and my really close friend Steve O.   I was thinking of tossing my hat in the ring for dessert as well. 

I'm thinking in the line of monkey bread with a version of my Smokey Hollow sauce (AKA - Bourbon sauce but with a touch less bourbon)

I'll cook it in TBE with a cast iron pot so everything is being cooked in a Big Easy or SRG!
   
Any thoughts will be great since I have never cooked dessert before for comps!  ;D

[hal4uk]

I'm thinkin.. (and that's a dangerous thing...)
But.. I'm thinkin...  DO WHATEVER DEB TELLS YA.

[ronbeaux]

#1
Make sure it is something that people know what the hell it is

#2
Don't screw it up like the time we did chocolate cobler and the Mrs forgot the self rising flour and we tried to make it with the flour that is not self rising. It tasted good but looked like hell.

[deb415611]

I'm thinkin.. (and that's a dangerous thing...)
But.. I'm thinkin...  DO WHATEVER DEB TELLS YA.

Deb's never cooked in a comp  ??? so I don't know how much help she would be....

If you do the monkey bread I would use a slightly sweet dough rolling the dough balls in butter then cinnamon & brown sugar .  There is a restaurant in Baltimore that has Monkey Bread on the menu for breakfast and it looks great but I can' quite remember how it's presented..... I think they do bananas, pecans & chocolate.....  the chocolate might be in a cup in the center ...  it's done in a bundt or angel food pan I think

For the dough - I'd use a little tiny bit of orange & lemon oil (a little goes a long ways) and vanilla  or some of King Arthurs fiori di sicilia.   If you use cinnamon - use a good quality cinnamon - it makes a difference

The bourbon sauce sounds awesome-  do you think it's mainstream enough?  If you aren't drizzling it on maybe you could offer a choice with a good chocolate sauce to catch the taste of everyone judging....

Have you used the cast iron pot for bread in TBE,  I have only used my tbe a few times so I don't know how it cooks that well -- I wonder if you might have problems with the center cooking - if you do you might need something in the middle for a heat sink - maybe an angel food pan insert would fit

Good luck, sounds fun!

[BuyLowSellHigh]

I'll throw this out there as another one for you to think about, not much more difficult than Monkey Bread and goes very well with a Bourbon Sauce ... Bread Pudding.  There are many variations on it, banana, chocolate chip, etc.,  and all of Deb's ideas sound great.

[TMB]

I'm thinkin.. (and that's a dangerous thing...)
But.. I'm thinkin...  DO WHATEVER DEB TELLS YA.

Deb's never cooked in a comp  ??? so I don't know how much help she would be....

If you do the monkey bread I would use a slightly sweet dough rolling the dough balls in butter then cinnamon & brown sugar .  There is a restaurant in Baltimore that has Monkey Bread on the menu for breakfast and it looks great but I can' quite remember how it's presented..... I think they do bananas, pecans & chocolate.....  the chocolate might be in a cup in the center ...  it's done in a bundt or angel food pan I think

For the dough - I'd use a little tiny bit of orange & lemon oil (a little goes a long ways) and vanilla  or some of King Arthurs fiori di sicilia.   If you use cinnamon - use a good quality cinnamon - it makes a difference

The bourbon sauce sounds awesome-  do you think it's mainstream enough?  If you aren't drizzling it on maybe you could offer a choice with a good chocolate sauce to catch the taste of everyone judging....

Have you used the cast iron pot for bread in TBE,  I have only used my tbe a few times so I don't know how it cooks that well -- I wonder if you might have problems with the center cooking - if you do you might need something in the middle for a heat sink - maybe an angel food pan insert would fit

Good luck, sounds fun!

I bake in my Big Easy all the time.  I have made bread, pizza, pie's and even Beef Wellington!  Love that little cooker

[standles]

Maybe you can get some ideas from here.  I have made several of them and they work creat.

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-recipes.htm

[Caneyscud]

It seems around here many of the winning desserts are decadent butterscotch with nut creations. 

Monkey bread - sweet dough  Maybe with some Dolce le Leche sauce (slightly caramalized sweetened condensed milk) soaked in (punch some holes in the baked bread so the sauce soaks in good) with a good drizzle of a somewhat hard butterscotch or caramel sauce sprinkled with walnuts and topped with a hard bourbon sauce.  Chocolate shavings wouldn't look bad either. 

Or I've had some tastes of some great things made with a gooey butter cake base - Paula Dean has a great recipe that I haven't made but have sampled - eyes rolled up into your head good!  I could see some poached pear or some pear or fig preserves paired up with the butter cake with maybe a cream cheese layer. 

Or maybe a lemon cake concoction  - a layer of lemon cake drizzled with heavy cream with lemoncello, a layer of lemon mousse of cream cheese and cream - another layer of lemon cake drizzled.  Top it with a fluffy cream cheese/lemon icing or the mousse or whipped cream - served with a creamy lemon sauce.  The cake can't be a box mix - it need to be heavier to stand up to the drizzle/soak.

[TMB]

Thanks guys and gals for the info!   I'll be cooking this weekend with TestRocket and I'll put some of these ideas to good use.

I love this forum, if you need info just ask!!   ;D

Hard to beat the help y'all give. 

I promiss one day I will own a Bradley (Just have to talk the wife into it!)  ;)

[Habanero Smoker]

Give some thought to adapting your recipe so that you can bake it in an muffin pan, lined with cupcake papers. That way each judge can get their individual portion, and the presentation is generally more eye appealing.

An after thought, cinamon rolls with a sticky topping would proably work in large size muffin pans

[TMB]

Give some thought to adapting your recipe so that you can bake it in an muffin pan, lined with cupcake papers. That way each judge can get their individual portion, and the presentation is generally more eye appealing.

An after thought, cinamon rolls with a sticky topping would proably work in large size muffin pans

Good idea, but a muffin pan may not work in an SRG.  I'll try to see how a pan fits and take it from there, if it won't  can always go with those little aluminum pans.   If that won't work then I'll try to come up with something else. 

I did think that a cast pot would be the best but for presentation it might not work. I wonder if you can by steel cups cheap somewhere?

[deb415611]

Silicone baking cups might work



Pop the bread out and then top with your sauce

[TestRocket]

Call 911...I think I'm going into a sugar coma ;ZKUHSG"fljakm,'slrvregpk:'s;zzzzzFDK:LJH'lkbd vcfxmb

[TMB]

Silicone baking cups might work



Pop the bread out and then top with your sauce

Sorry, silicone wont work with infrared. It takes metal or aluminum to bake it the Big Easy.

[Habanero Smoker]

Debbie;

Those desserts look good.

TMB;

Maybe you can go with small disposable aluminum bake ware; something like this:
Disposable muffin mold

They have other disposable molds on that site, but you have to buy in bulk. If you have a kitchen supply store nearby, they may carry some small disposable pans. I purchased some very small pie pans from one of these stores.