Help! I'm supposed to make a decadent dessert for a fundraiser

[fight4my3sons]

at my son's school. I am by no means a chef. Any suggestions? (other than go to the local bakery):D

[displacedtexan]

1. More info needed

How many will it serve?

What's your budget?

[fight4my3sons]

2. A little more info...

It is an "over the top" decadent dessert silent auction. The desserts will be on display during a student/teacher art show at the school. There was a similar event at a neighboring town's school that was very successful and that is why we are going to give it a try. No cookies allowed. I guess the desserts can be as big or as small as you would like, but I would think that the PTO wants to bring in as much money as possible. That said we do live in a little coastal town in Maine, heating costs have taken a toll this winter. I don't want to spend too much, we are a single income family right now with a tight budget, but I do want to make something nice especially since I am a member of the PTO.

[displacedtexan]

3. How about a mock Pavlova?

Beautiful presentation, and not very expensive:

Draw 10" circles on parchment paper and lightly moisten the
insides of the circles with water.

Pipe Italian or Swiss
Meringue discs inside the circles. (Both of these meringues
are egg white-temperature safe.)

Bake for an hour at 300F, then turn the oven off
and let the discs dry out overnight.

Gently peel the discs from the parchment (moisten with water
underneath the parchment to loosen) and plate the bottom layer.

Dollop whipped cream on the first disc and decorate with strawberries
(or a fruit medley-- or your choice of fruit).

Place the next disc on top and repeat.

2 layers are beautiful. 3 are divine!

[fight4my3sons]

4. sounds beautiful!

thank you :) :hug: I am so grateful. I had no idea what to do and was scared to death to attempt something. I'll let you know how it turns out! The event isn't until the end of March.

[sandnsea]

10. I made Pavlova eons ago, with kiwi

We were doing a girl scout project and needed a dessert from Australia. It was so good, and not very hard either. Really good idea. Here's another recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Pavlova/Detail.aspx

[fight4my3sons]

12. thanks sandnsea!

sounds great - I love kiwi :)

[japple]

8. Chocolate Cobbler or Hot Fudge Cake

This is an old recipe from the 1950s (Betty Crocker cookbook). It's also on Allrecipes.com, which is where I copied it. It's very easy, extremely chocolatey, and rather inexpensive to make. I always add pecans or walnuts. It produces a chocolate brownie-like cake on top with a thick chocolate fudgy sauce on the bottom and is heavenly with ice cream or whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS:
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons
unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt butter in an 8x8 inch baking dish while the oven preheats.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Spoon this batter over the melted butter in the baking dish.
3. Stir together the remaining cup of sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Sprinkle over the batter. Slowly pour boiling water over the top of the mixture.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until set. Serve slightly warm with ice cream.

[fight4my3sons]

13. ok, that might be something I have to make for myself

:9 that sounds so good! definitely decadent! thank you!

[Warpy]

5. You want something that will be stable at room temperature

and at variable humidity. I'd suggest a flourless chocolate cake, about the richest you can make, split into 2 layers with a layer of jam between them. Drizzle ganache over it and let it set. Garnish with the same fruit that was in the jam. (I hate raspberry, but that's what most people use)

You could also consider cheesecake. There is nothing more decadent than cheesecake except a "chocolate pizza," something I found decadent to the point of inedibility.

Then there's the fruit tart, something that's really easy if you use store bought puff pastry. Glaze it with a mixture of apricot jam and water cooked together to make a syrup. The decadence comes from the fact that nobody else ever thinks of doing one and never takes the time to arrange the fruit slices in a careful pattern.

[fight4my3sons]

14. chocolate pizza

:wow: now I know I need to come to this group more often :) I think if I brought my mother a chocolate pizza I could push her over with a feather.

Thank you for your suggestions. The fruit tart is a good idea and no one would probably do it around here.

[yellerpup]

6. How about a Peanutbutter Cheesecake in a Chocolate Brownie Crust

all tarted up with Chocolate Ganache so that it looks like a giant Reeses? My guests always find it irresistable, the ones who live nearby invent reasons to drop by for days (beginning the day after the party) on one pretense or another always beginning with: "Do you have any of that cheesecake left?" I took the original recipe from BonApetit at least a decade ago, but the frosting idea was mine. This may not be as elegant as you wish, but if the idea appeals to you let me know & I'll get the recipe to you.

[fight4my3sons]

15. sounds heavenly

is it hard to make?

[yellerpup]

19. I've made it so many times that my initial impulse was to say 'no'

But, I did struggle with it the first time I made it. Although you don't have to add the ganache frosting at all, that can be tricky too because you have to watch the temperature so you can work with it. It is pretty complicated, I guess, but very impressive when it's done. I should have paid closer attention to the OP. This is not a simple 1-2-3 you're done concoction.

[hippywife]

7. Easy, decandently rich and

reasonably inexpensive is the Texas Sheet Cake. I just made a 9x13 version of this one last week. I leave out the pecans because the DH doesn't want them (dental issues!)so that makes it even cheaper and just as good!

http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocolatecakes/r/bl10731d.htm

[fight4my3sons]

16. sounds great

I love pecans. Lived in Texas for a while as a child. My mom's family is from Texas.

[grasswire]

9. here's a thought

You could make an easy version of a croquembouche. A croquembouche is a tower of filled cream puffs, drizzled with something.

Cream puffs are INEXPENSIVE to make. The only skill required is stirring hard for a few minutes.

A filling I have used with great success is this: Vanilla pudding mixed with whipped cream and some orange marmalade and a bit of orange liqueur. Then I drizzled melted chocolate over the cream puff. The chocolate would stick the puffs together for the tower in a croquembouche.

People absolutely loved these puffs.

So, you would need eggs and flour and butter, pudding and cream for whipping, orange marmalade and an inexpensive small bottle of booze. (Or you could leave out the booze and add some vanilla.) Then some chocolate for drizzling. I like Paul Newman's orange-chocolate bar.

You could decorate with chocolate shapes you've made on waxed paper and cooled, or any number of other pretty things.

Showy, easy, inexpensive.

Here's a croquembouche stuck together with caramel and spun caramel:

[fight4my3sons]

17. I love cream puffs

I always thought they were really hard to make. I think I would have to leave out the liqueur since it is a school function and I live in a mostly Republican area. I can hear it now, "That awful Democrat made those booze filled cream puffs for the silent auction at the school." :rofl:

[supernova]

11. Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

No, I'm not kidding.

I had this for dessert at the local gourmet emporium this evening. Decadent, rich, and pretty darn simple.

Croissants torn apart and interspersed with semi-sweet chocolate chunks. And I guess with a little butter drizzled over to make it congeal together.

Served warm, it was delish!

[fight4my3sons]

18. if I could live on croissants and chocolate

I would :)

oh, and coffee

sounds like it was wonderful!

[hippywife]

20. All of the suggestions in this thread

are marvelous! And tempting! :D

[Mind_your_head]

21. Spiced Pecan Cake With Pecan Icing - This is the most delicious cake I've EVER had

This cake comes from Paul Prudhomme's first cookbook, the one that started the whole international Cajun cooking craze. Its alot of work, but worth it. Regardless of quoted times, this takes all day to make.

Cake
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted unbleached flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup milk, plus
2 tablespoons milk
3 egg whites, room temperature (save yolks for frosting)

Cake Glaze
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
8 egg yolks, room temperature (lightly beat all but 3 extra whites with pinch salt and freeze for other use)
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, cut into pieces,room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
heavy cream, if needed to thin
pecan halves
6-8 servings
2 hours 30 minutes
1 hr prep time

Cake:

Position rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. To candy pecans, place on a large ungreased metal baking sheet. Roast 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup butter, and stir in hot pecans to coat thoroughly. Return mixture to pan and roast 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Mix in 2 Tbsp vanilla, and roast another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Cool candied pecans to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8" round cake pans. Cream remaining 3/4 cup butter with 1-1/2 cups sugar in large bowl of electric mixer at high speed until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Sift flour and baking soda into another bowl. Combine milk and remaining 1 Tbsp vanilla in measuring cup. Add dry ingredients and milk mixture alternately to butter mixture, beating at high speed until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.

Gently stir in candied pecans. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar 1 Tbsp at a time, beating at high speed until mixture is stiff but not dry, about 2 minutes. Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter in three additions. Divide batter among prepared pans, forming a slight depression in the center of each. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then invert onto wire racks, and cool to room temperature. Cake Glaze: Heat water and sugar in heavy small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves, swirling pan occasionally.

Increase heat, and bring mixture to a full boil. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Immediately brush hot glaze over top and sides of each cake layer.

Frosting:

Heat sugar and water in heavy 1 quart saucepan over low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until mixture registers 230 degrees F (thread stage) on candy thermometer, swirling pan occasionally, about 15 minutes. Blend egg yolks in the large bowl of an electric mixer at high speed for 5 seconds. Decrease speed to low, and add hot syrup in a thin stream, and then beat at high speed until cool, about 10 minutes. DO NOT SCRAPE DOWN SIDES OF BOWL.

Gradually add butter or margarine, beating at medium speed until smooth, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and blend in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add chopped pecans and beat at high speed until mixture is very thick. Thin frosting with cream if necessary. Stack cake layers on a serving platter, spreading 1 cup of frosting between each, refrigerating frosting as necessary to keep it firm. Smooth remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Arrange pecan halves around top edge. Serve at room temperature.

Note: If this does not sound rich enough for you, it can be made even richer. To do so, increase all ingredients used to candy the pecans by one half. After cooling, reserve one cup of the candied pecans and add these to the icing at the same time as the toasted pecans are added.

----------------------------------

Someone made this for our Gourmet Group one year - it is absolutely FABULOUS! FABULOUS! I made it once for a very special occasion, and it DOES take all day to make - but it is an extraordinary cake.

You've got lots of good suggestions here. Good Luck with your with the fundraiser! Report back and let us know what you and some of the other bakers ended up making! :-)

[housewolf]

22. Oh YUMMMMM

Boy, does that ever sound WONDERFUL! Thanks so much for posting!

I love spice cake, and then to add pecans... mmmmmmmm