Eggplant for Dessert?
Have you ever had a dessert involving eggplant? The Kitchn posted about Gourmet's unique tarte Tatin recipe that calls for sliced eggplant instead of fruit. Other eggplant-flavored desserts include Italian eggplant and ricotta pie and eggplant bread pudding.
We can't vouch for any of these desserts not having eaten a sweet preparation of eggplant before, but if you have any input let us know!
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14 Comments:
I've had tart tatin but never with eggplant. I have to say I'm not the world's biggest fan of the dessert even with fruit, though, so I'm not sure I'd enjoy it too much with eggplant either.
That said, I have nothing against eggplant! When I was a child my mother used to make eggplant casserole at least once a week. It was one of my absolute favorite meals. They say your taste buds change every seven years - if that's true, I'm thankful that I haven't lost my taste for eggplant.
Actually one thing that might be worth trying is eggplant with Nutella fondue (I'm a huge Nutella fan: I've even just started a Nutella Recipes blog - I'll link to it at the end). A short couple of seconds in the microwave and Nutella becomes creamy and easy to stir. I usually dip strawberries in but sliced eggplant and strawberries on a skewer might be even more flavorful and delicious. It is an experiment I think I will try this weekend. If I have a chance to get around to doing that, I'll write about the results on my blog, and I'll comment here too. Thanks for inspiring the idea with your post!
...and the obligatory link to the blog:
http://nutellarecipes.blogspot.com
If you have any recipes involving Nutella, please come by and share them!
ydb84 at 7:50PM on 10/22/09
French fried eggplant is traditionallyserved with powdered sugar at Galatoire's in New Orleans, and other places, althoug it is considered an appetizer rather than a dessert. And if we can have torte de blette, which is a dessert with Swiss chard in Provence and the Riviera , why not eggplant?
lemons at 8:22PM on 10/22/09
I've heard of fried eggplant drizzled with melted chocolate, haven't had it myself but it sounds interesting.
ag3208 at 8:40PM on 10/22/09
Is this an Iron Chef challenge? Mori Moto would rule, I'm sure.
dhorst at 9:31PM on 10/22/09
I know that squash custards are popular as a dessert and that bitter melon is the basis for desserts as well, so this isn't that far fetched. I don't like eggplant, but would like to hear how this combination works from someone who does
firni at 9:58PM on 10/22/09
I love eggplant but using it in a dessert sort of creeps me out. Call me conventional!
nithya at hungrydesi at 10:40PM on 10/22/09
I had a load of eggplants that would otherwise go bad and I made sweet eggplant bread--as someone who does not enjoy super sweet things it was excellent
namelt at 3:27AM on 10/23/09
My mom recently made eggplant marmalade, that's definitely more sweet than savory. It's really yummy on a slice of bread with some butter or even a little peanut butter.
Grainiac at 9:42AM on 10/23/09
i believe almost any ingredient can go both direction - savory or sweet. It's just that we're fixated by the norm of using a specific ingredient for a specific taste.
gargupie at 9:48AM on 10/23/09
@dhorst - thats what I was thinking! Batali might have tricks up his sleeve for this concept too. I would think that it woulldn't be difficult to use eggplant in a dessert because it's a pretty mild veg.
@grainiac - Im interested in this. Do you have a recipe you'd be willing to share?
hungrychristel at 10:06AM on 10/23/09
@hungrychristel - She found the recipe on this site: http://www.roccoeisuoifornelli.it/2008/10/05/marmellata-di-melanzana/ (it's in Italian).
The ingredients are:
500g of eggplant, peeled and diced
500g of sugar
some grated ginger
grated lemon zest (2 lemons worth)
grated orange zest (2 oranges worth)
2 or 3 sprigs of mint, julienned
In pan, combine all of the ingredients, except for the mint, and cook on low heat for at least 2 hours. Add the mint and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
It's really tasty! Enjoy!
Grainiac at 9:25PM on 10/23/09
I ate a fantastic chocolate-covered fried eggplant dish in Rome several years ago. Here's a picture: http://bit.ly/4okofs
AHNY_Arthur at 11:57AM on 10/26/09
grazie grainiac :) cant wait!
hungrychristel at 1:33PM on 10/26/09
@ AHNY_Arthur: That looks really good!
Grainiac at 6:59PM on 10/27/09