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The Ten Principles of Dessert Composition

Appears in
The Elements of Dessert
The Elements of Dessert

By Francisco Migoya

Published 2012

  • About
So far, you may have read about all of the methods, pastry preparations, flavors, and textures that are available. Based on that, these are ten points you must keep in mind when composing a dessert.
  1. Bells and whistles are just that. They are not necessary. Keep it simple, but not too simple. Less is more, and more is just more.
  2. Think about what you want to convey. What is your vision? What do you want the guests to experience? What is it that they will take away from your dessert?
  3. Use three frontal flavors maximum: No one can detect more than that. You can use mild or background flavors to enhance the frontal flavors, but don’t get too carried away. Too many mild flavors can turn into one big muddled flavor.
  4. Use two textures at least, unless the nature of your dessert is that of a single texture such as a hot soufflé or a tiramisù, both of which are soft desserts. A wide variety of textures is extremely pleasant to the palate.
  5. If possible, incorporate more than one temperature. Hot and cold or freezing are very desirable contrasts, but only when they are done correctly and if they make sense.
  6. Tempered food has the most pronounced flavor. What happens when you chew food, besides breaking it down and combining it with saliva, is that your mouth brings the temperature of what you are eating down or up to your body temperature. Hot foods or cold or freezing foods will not offer their peak flavor until they are tempered. Having said that, if you can temper your cold and frozen desserts (but not so much that they are not frozen any more) for a few minutes before serving them, you will be doing your guests a great favor.
  7. Rein in the sugar. Sugar can overwhelm and disguise flavors–and mistakes, too. Overly sweet desserts are not desirable.
  8. Use what is in season. It is more economical, and the product will be at its best.
  9. Keep it small. Keep pre-desserts even smaller.
  10. Make sure your desserts make sense with your environment, your chef, and your style.

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