Spring berries brighten dessert menus

Berry desserts are as much a springtime tradition as daffodils and college basketball championships.

Raspberries are in about a quarter of the berry desserts offered in March, April and May, according to the latest information from menu research firm Datassential. But strawberries dominate when it come to these seasonal treats, being used in about half of them.

In particular, classic strawberry-rhubarb combinations are in abundance this year, thought not necessarily as a traditional pie.

At Oceana in New York City, executive pastry chef Joseph Gabriel is serving up a strawberry rhubarb float. He starts by making a strawberry-rhubarb soda in house, and drops a scoop of lemon verbena sorbet in it. He serves it with a side of warm dumplings filled with warm berry gelée for $14.

Greg Hardesty, chef-owner of Recess in Indianapolis, serves a strawberry rhubarb pie, but makes it his own by topping it with a streusel made with brown butter and pistachios. He also makes a strawberry rhubarb tiramisu. Either one is available as part of his $54 four-course menu.

Drew Van Leuvan, executive chef of Seven Lambs in Atlanta, just put his strawberry & white chocolate financier with rhubarb preserve and tres leches sorbet on his menu.

“The dessert has been highly received and it is still on the menu at One Midtown Kitchen, where I was previously executive chef,” he said.

A riff on a classic financier — a corn cake with whipped egg white — he flavors it with brown butter, toasted almonds, strawberries and white chocolate.

The sorbet is derived from Mexican tres leches, so named because it is soaked in condensed, evaporated and whole milk or cream. “I use the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk as the sweeteners instead of sugar,” Van Leuvan said. “All of the flavors truly work together and are a wonderful way to end a meal.” The dessert is $5.

Patricio Sandoval, chef of Mercadito in Chicago, puts a seasonal spin on his own $8 tres leches cake by serving it with rhubarb-strawberry marmalade.

Other dessert classics are getting seasonal treatments this spring, such as the lemon trifle at the Grand Cascades Lodge at Crystal Springs in Hamburg, N.J., offered for $9.

“I wanted to try lemon meringue pie as a trifle, served in glass,” said pastry chef John Sauchelli. He layers lemon custard with fresh blackberries, blackberry preserves spiked with ginger, citrus meringue and poppy seed cake.

Berry sundaes also are popular this spring. At Juvia in Miami Beach, Fla., pastry chef Gregory Gourreua pipes chocolate whipped cream over raspberry and strawberry juice for his $19 sundae. The next layer is a jam made of raspberries, cherries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. A chocolate almond crumble and a granité of raspberries and strawberries goes on top of that.

Julie Elkind, the new pastry chef at Delicatessen in New York City has put a blueberry pie sundae on her menu for $10, made with Greek yogurt gelato and topped with crumbled pie crust.

And although berry desserts with herbs aren’t as trendy as they were a few years ago, some pastry chefs are still using seasonal lavender in berry desserts this spring.

For example, at Pain D’Avignon in Hyannis, Mass., executive pastry chef Else Rhodes simmers blackberries with lavender to make a compote that she puts in tart shells. She pipes frangipane over that, bakes it and sells each one for $4.50.

At Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder, Colo., chef Steve Redzikowski tops his $9 lemon ricotta cheesecake with stewed blood oranges and strawberries that have been steeped in lavender syrup. It’s also garnished with pistachios and an Italian grape juice reduction called saba.

Contact Bret Thorn: [email protected]
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