Dessert ideas for 21st

I'd love to hear your ideas for desserts for a 21st. I plan to make a couple of pavs and maybe some choc ecclairs/cream puffs.
Does anyone have fabulous fail-proof recipies for the above?

Thanks

Hmmm, there are quite a few ideas of desserts posted over a period of time.

A suggestion for you is to peruse the whole Messageboard by using the Search function area to your left side of this web page or go to the bottom of each page and peruse all the threads personally.

If you have some thoughts of what you would like or better still of what those whom will be partaking in this 2ist would like and do a Google or Bing Search and add the letters NZ so ones come up are closer to home type recipes.

Finally, when is this 21st? And how many expecting? What do they love Like any fancy thoughts and are there any special dieting ones?
This may help in that final thoughts.

Basically this is what I do as noted above plus scouring other resources including the local library.

Create a list then think about these and either keep or eliminate until you know which ones you want and ask if you want certain recipes that you need help with.

Hopes this helps.

Editing typos.

TM Icing Sugar Pavlova

Pavlova. large
you put everything in the bowl, beat for 15 minutes.
easiest pav. you will ever make.
Beat until thick and smooth . approx 15 mins
6 egg whites,
3 Cups Icing Sugar,
2 teaspoons Cornflour,
2 teaspoons White Vinegar,
add 2 Tablespoons Boiling water. ,
Pile onto a baking Paper lined oven tray
Cook for 3 minutes at 200 degrees C, then turn down and cook a further
1 1/2 hours at 100 degrees C.
(Leave in oven to cool)

Chocolate Pavlova (Recipe from Davenport Chocolates in Auckland)

Delicious pavlova, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Ingredients:
Pavlova
6 Egg Whites
300g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
25g cocoa powder
50g Chocolates 56% cocoa solids callets
To serve:
500ml cream whipped
Assorted strawberries and blueberries for serving
Strawberry Coulis
500g strawberries
55g caster sugar
½ lemon
Chocolate Ganache
200g Chocolates 56% cocoa solids callets
200ml cream
To make the pavlova:
Heat your oven to 140 degrees Celsius fanbake.
Whisk your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. I used a cake mixer, it made this recipe so easily but an electric hand beater will do just as well.
Gradually add the caster sugar one spoon at a time, whisking well between each spoonful to ensure sugar dissolves. Once all sugar is added, whisk for a couple more minutes until the mix has a beautiful satin gloss.
Sift the cocoa and cornflour into the mix and add vinegar and chocolate callets. Fold everything in with a metal spoon until just mixed, no longer.
Cover a baking tray with baking paper and mark a 25cm circle on it.
Spoon your mix onto the shape, building up and smoothing the sides.
Place in oven for one and a half hours then turn off the oven and let pavlova cool in the oven.

To make the strawberry coulis:
Place chopped strawberries in a blender and wizz until smooth. Place in a saucepan on medium heat, add the sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice and stir until sugar has dissolved and remove from heat.
To make chocolate ganache:
Put cream in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling take off the heat, put chocolate in the pan and stir until chocolate is completely melted and cream and chocolate are completely combined.
This is how I served my pavlova:
This pavlova cracked but it has a nice chewy centre, so the cream is very important! In the middle of my pavlova I placed some strawberry coulis and covered it with cream. I topped the cream with chopped strawberries and blueberries and then drizzled it with strawberry coulis and chocolate ganache. Put the left over coulis and ganache in separate jugs so your guests can have extra if they like.
Voila – enjoy!

Chocolate pavlova recipe by kidspot
A deliciously decadent twist on an old favourite. This chocolate pavlova is topped with raspberries and cream. Find more on Kidspot New Zealand's recipe finder

Ingredients:
• 6 egg whites
• 300g castor sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa, sifted
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 50g dark chocolate, chopped finely
• 500ml double cream
• 500g raspberries
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a pizza or baking tray with baking paper.
In a clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites until peaks form and then continue to beat adding a spoonful of castor sugar at a time.
Add the cocoa, chopped chocolate and vinegar. Fold in gently with a metal spoon.
Pour onto the baking paper in a 20cm round mound. Smooth the top and sides gently.
Turn the oven down to 150°C and place in the oven. Bake for 60mins to 1hr 15mins. Pavlova will be done if it has a crisp shell but still looks a little soft in the centre.
Turn off the oven leaving the pavlova inside and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Leave to cool completely.
Invert pavlova on a plate and mound cream in a circle on top. Pile raspberries on top of the cream. Grate additional chocolate over the top.
Notes:
• This recipe is very sensitive to different ovens. Mine seemed to cook very fast. I recommend you keep an eye on it from around the 50 min mark so you don't burn it.
• This recipe was re-created from a Nigella Lawson recipe by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot,

This is yummy with the younger brigade, better than cream puffs or eclairs, especially when you can drizzle chocolate all over the top and allow to set, (use a nice chocolate ganache recipe).

Pat’s Yummy Slice like a Cheesecake but nicer
1 Packet (250g) Plain Biscuits Crumbed
125 to 150g butter softened and mixed with biscuit crumb and to form the base by pressing into a greased tin.

When preparing the tin, line it with baking paper greased, but to allow a little to overhang each side of the tin, so when ready to cut and serve, just use the this overhanging paper to lift out of tin, place onto a nice serving dish or board, peel down the sides with the paper and use a nice long thin knife (like a Ham knife) and cut into nice serving portions.

This is far better than trying to dig out that first piece or two. Refrigerate for an hour at least.

Beat about 900grams to 1kg Sour Cream (or yoghurt, or a Ricotto and sour cream combination and to be blended).
Add enough castor sugar say about 350 to 400 grams, mixed in and dissolve, check taste and add more sugar to suit taste.

In a separate bowl, mix 4 tsp gelatine in some boiling water to dissolve clear.

Likewise – ½ packet flavoured Jelly Mix (Raspberry goes well with Strawberries) in hot water and dissolve.

Allow both to cool, then mix all together and spread over base. Mixture is quite runny.
Refrigerate to set or near setting.

Topping is made of 1 to 1 ½ tsp gelatine plus the other half of jelly mix dissolved in enough boiling hot water. Once again allow to cool near setting but not set!

If Strawberry topping then slice some strawberries in half lengthwise, placed on top of filling cut side down then spread the topping over.

Allow to set in the fridge covered.

Option of drizzling choc over all of the topping and allow to set.

I cheated recently and bought mini cream puffs from the supermarket (frozen section). They saved me the hassle of making and filling them. You can eat them from frozen, but they only take a few minutes to thaw and are bit sized.
Cheesecake often goes down well too as does fresh fruit on skewers with or without the marshmellows

From the Old TMC Website
Chocolate Eclairs & Cream Puffs

Postby Eden.M on Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:01 am

Chocolate Eclairs/cream puffs
100g butter, 1 C water, 1 C standard flour, 3 eggs. Whipped cream & Choc icing. Preheat oven t0 200C. Combine water and butter in saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and quickly add flour, beating with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. (I often add more egg - the egg is what makes them puff up, the mixture should fall easily from the spoon but should still be stiff enough to pipe. so add an extra egg if needed.) Eclairs - Pipe strips onto baking paper, Puffs - pipe or spoon heaped teaspoonfuls. Bake for 30 mins or until puffed and golden, lower heat to 120 and bake for abt 15 mins until dry. Don't open the oven door while they are rising/during baking or they will sink. Cool thoroughly. Once cool, slit, fill & ice tops. btw. you can freeze the shaped raw dough and bake from frozen. so they are fresh and crisp to serve.
posted by jaybee2003

Diabetic Cream Puffs
These wonderfully light cream puffs really are simple to prepare . They can be filled and topped with a variety of tasty treats . We suggest a frozen yogurt filling topped with a sauce of your choice. 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup solid margarine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 tbsp (15 ml) Splendor Granular 2 eggs Place water and margarine in saucepan. Bring to boil. Stir in flour and Splendor all at once, stirring well to combine. Cook until mixture forms a ball in centre of saucepan . Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth and satiny. Spoon tablespoons of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 450° F for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300° F and bake 15 minutes longer . Cut a small slit in sides of puffs, return to oven for 5 minute s. Cool. Store in airtight container. To serve, cut puffs in half. Fill with a scoop of frozen yogurt and top with sauce. posted by countrybumpkinz

Gluten Free Chocolate Eclairs
250 gm buckwheat flour 120 gm butter little cold water 1 egg beaten 600 mls cream 1 bar dark GF chocolate Melt butter in saucepan, mix in the flour and stir, add beaten egg and a little cold water until the mixture is glossy and creamy . Pipe the mixture onto a baking tray covered with tin foil. Bake 200 degrees for 10 -15 minutes until well risen. The mixture should make 6 big eclairs. Take them out and pierce the end of each and allow to cool. Pipe whipped cream into each eclair, dip each eclair into melted chocolate covering 1/2 of it. posted by melford

Old TMC continued.

TOP TRICKS of the TRADE are
• sift the flour before measuring, it will incorporate more easily into the liquid mixture. • a small amount of sugar in the dough adds flavour and helps in browning. • It helps the final product if your eggs are at room temperature before you begin making the pastry. • you'll get a far more tender final texture if you beat them in well with a hand-held electric mixer or food processor • After all the eggs are incorporated; the dough should be stiff enough to hold a peak when a spoon is lifted out of it. • dough is best quickly spooned or piped into puffs and immediately baked to ensure the greatest expansion and lightness. • salt in the recipes keeps the puffs from cracking. • Spraying or brushing the pastry sheet with water to create steam during baking will help the puffs rise. • With a wet finger or a spoon, smooth any points or rough edges of paste, which may burn before the pastries are fully cooked.

Éclairs
1/2 cup butter 1 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 4 eggs Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Pipe strips 10 by 3cm lengths, 1 1/2 cm high, about 7cm apart on the baking sheet. If using a spoon, use a damp metal spatula to spread them into shape, making the ends slightly wider than the centres Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry. tips and recipe posted by pam.delilah

Chocolate Cream Puffs
1 cup water, 125g Butter, 30g dark cooking chocolate, 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 4 large eggs. Heat water, butter and choc in medium saucepan stirring often until boiling. Add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until dough cooks and leaves sides of pan forming ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs one at a time beating on medium speed after each addition. Spoon dough into 12 moulds on greased baking tray leaving room for expansion. Bake at 220c for about 25 minutes until puffs look dry. Poke sides with sharp knife to allow steam to be released. Cool on rack. One can then slice a top partly off and put in a cream filling or a nice Chocolate orange filling. replace tops and drizzle with Chocolate syrup.

Chocolate syrup for above puffs
1 Cup sugar, ½ cup cocoa, 1 tablespoon cornflour, 2 cups hot water and 2 teaspoons vanilla essence. Put all the dry ingredients into a saucepan and stir well. Mix in the hot water and vanilla essence. Heat until boiling stirring constantly. Boil for 3 minutes.

Chocolate Orange Filling for above puffs
1 cup dark choc chips, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, 1 cup whipped cream, 1 tablespoon Grand mariner and 1 tablespoon orange marmalade. Heat Choc chips and Evaporated milk in small saucepan on low heat stirring often until melted and smooth. Cool to room temperature. Beat whipped cream and Grand Mariner in medium bowl until stiff. Fold in marmalade then fold into choc mixture until no streaks appear.

Now for a grand presentation at a gathering etc
Make the Choc Puffs half size, fill with the filling of choice or do half of each. Then drizzle with choc syrup. Then put each one together on a platter and then build a nice little mountain ( one on top of each other. To finish of, drizzl;e some more syrup over the whole heap, Not too much and top with finely grated Chocolate. It truly looks very awesome. One then helps themself/ves in taking one or two or three etc etc. It is an awesome desert dish that can be shown of as well. Cheers

Thanks so much for your help.
21st is Saturday night. I have to prepare and take food 1hrs drive :-)

Gee, that's not much time, suggest cgvl advice re supermarket ones and also this.

Make Naploeons, those light flaky pastry slice fingers with cream and strawberry or raspberry jam in the middle sandwiched with a nice strawberry or raspberry icing on top and do a twist to these greats by adding actual fruits instead of jam or both.

People are not eating sweets like they did a few years back. I would suggest you keep it fresh and simple.
A dessert cheese platter, with lots of fresh fruits and a scattering of nuts, would be my suggestion as an option for those who have cut sweets from there diet.

What would be the birthday persons favourite dessert? My son is 21 - he might not eat dessert very often but when he does he knows what he likes and for his birthday he would definitely think that warranted one of his favourites - tiramisu, cheesecake, banoffee pie or his favourite chocolate cake

Have you thought about finger food (with a plate) for dessert.

So
mini pavs
Mini eclairs
Mini Neenish tarts
Mini lemon tarts

?

That's a good idea - easy to eat and plenty of variety

Mini chocolate bars such as mars bars are great wrapped in filo pastry and baked. Serve hot or cold.

What a great idea. Or conversely one could just put out a big bowl of mini chocolate bars just as they come. How simple would that be? They would probably prove to be very popular with the after function teas and coffee.

Fruit kebabs are always a success, can put half marshmallows in as well.
As there were so many young people I ordered in small pieces of fish, small chicken pieces and bought a ham. Friends helped with salad making and I can still remember making trays and trays of chocolate eclairs.

I wouldn't be worrying too much about dessert, feed them up on something more solid, and plenty of it. 21'sts don't always go the way you might hope they will. and wear your armour!

It's too late now but dessert platters are good too - just discovered a dessert dip (cookie dough dip) and it's great served with malt biscuits, pretzels or kit Kat. Could add fresh fruit, small sweet tarts and other lollies to the platter - I'm plannng to do this for Christmas but may add M & Ms instead of chocolate chips to the dip ifi can find the mini Christmas ones

http://www.justataste.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-dip-recipe/

Ambrosia

yoghurt, cream to taste, throw in some marshmallows, choc buttons grate some chocolate on top and you have a dessert, options are endless fruit bits, pineapple lumps cut up instead of choc button, broken up meringues also added in. easy stuff

lovely creme puff recipes etc from TMC thanks Valentino for reviving these