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Keeping Summer Dessert Sweet and Simple with Bruschetta Dolce

Posted by Amanda Clarke, July 23, 2008 at 3:30 PM

Anybody who has eaten in a contemporary Italian restaurant is likely to be familiar with the tasty simplicity that is bruschetta. It's little more than toasted slices of bread topped with flavorful combinations of whatever beans, vegetables, herbs, and cheeses suit the mood or happen to be on hand. For Italian chefs and home cooks alike, bruschetta is an easy and infinitely versatile preparation for delicious canapés, appetizers and accompaniments that look attractive without being expensive. By substituting pound cake for the bread and crowning it with sweeter, fruit-based mixtures, you have bruschetta dolce. It's a a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of beautiful summer fruits and the residual heat of the grill, and it makes the ideal finale to your next summer barbecue.

What to Put on Your Bruschetta

Although it's not a classic Italian preparation, bruschetta dolce is nonetheless at its best when prepared according to the basic tenets of classic Italian cooking—freshness, flavor and simplicity. Select only one or two key flavors, perhaps a perfectly fresh fruit and a creamy, mild cheese, and then choose a few simple accents, like toasted nuts or fresh herbs, that will enhance and round out the base flavors and textures. Bear in mind that the same tricks used to make simple savory bruschette so satisfying apply just as well to bruschetta dolce, so don’t be afraid to use them. Add smoothness and aroma with a drizzle of spicy olive oil; bring out overall flavors with a pinch of salt; make fruit flavors stand out against rich, fatty backgrounds with a dose of citrus juice or a complementary vinegar.

How to Build Your Bruschetta

Because these two- or three-bite morsels are meant to be eaten casually and, more or less, tidily out of hand, there are a few structural points to keep in mind when conceiving a bruschetta dolce masterpiece. Use pound cake sliced thinly enough so that it doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors and textures of the bruschetta, but thickly enough to endure toasting without falling apart and to support toppings and absorb their juices without going limp—somewhere between 3/8- and 1/2-inch generally works well. Though bruschetta dolce can be as simple as a little seasoned fruit on top of pound cake, it is important to drain the fruit of any juices that may have collected before placing it on the toasted cake to prevent sogginess. A base layer of a dense spread—such as drained ricotta, blue cheese, or nut butter—can also help to protect the cake from structure-threatening juices while simultaneously serving to hold toppings in place and add flavor.

Beyond these guidelines, the possibilities for bruschetta dolce are limited only by your imagination. The recipes below have been included solely as inspiration. I encourage you to use whatever beautifully ripe, flavorful fruits you can find and have fun playing around with the rest.

About the author: Amanda Clarke is a recovering restaurant pastry chef with a background in architecture. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she writes, tests, and develops recipes and works on freelance food-styling gigs between walkings and feedings of her two dogs and husband.

Cherry-Hazelnut Bruschetta

- makes 16-20 bruschette -

Lightly sautéing the cherries in this recipe brings out their juices and gives them a supple, luxurious texture. A touch of balsamic vinegar brightens their flavor, making them stand out against the rich backdrop of Nutella. Toasted hazelnuts add crunch, visual interest and another layer of hazelnut flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 pound fresh sweet cherries
1 1/2 teaspoons butter (7 grams)
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar (8 grams)
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch salt
16 - 20 pieces pound cake*, approximately 2" x 1.5" x 3/8"
Melted butter
3 tablespoons nutella
About 2 tablespoons toasted blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Procedure

1. Rinse, stem, pit, and quarter the cherries.

2. Place a small sauté pan over medium-high heat and add butter. When butter has completely melted and begins to foam, add cherries. Sauté, tossing regularly to ensure even cooking, for one minute.

3. Sprinkle the cherries with the brown sugar and continue to sauté for a few more seconds, just until sugar melts.

4. Remove the pan from the heat, add vinegar and salt, and toss cherries to distribute. Pour mixture into a wide, shallow bowl to cool.

5. Brush pound cake slices lightly with olive oil; place on the grill until toasted (alternatively, you can place cake slices in a grill or sauté pan or under the broiler). Remove toasted cake pieces to a paper towel-lined tray to cool completely before assembly.

6. To assemble: Spread each cooled cake base sparingly with about 1/2 teaspoon of Nutella. Arrange about a teaspoon and a half of the cherry mixture, reserving juices, over the Nutella on each base. Sprinkle each bruschetta with a few pieces of toasted hazelnut. Arrange on a serving tray, drizzle each with some reserved juice, and serve immediately.

* Use your favorite pound cake recipe or the Basic Pound Cake recipe provided, or try store-bought pound cake in a pinch. Guild the lily by using marbled or chocolate pound cake bases.

Black Raspberry and Nectarine Bruschetta

- makes 24 bruschette -

Overnight draining removes excess moisture from the ricotta. The result is a dense, creamy mixture with a more intense milky flavor that won’t leave the pound cake base of these summery bruschette soggy.

The purpose of lime juice in this recipe is two-fold, adding intensity to the fruit mixture and preventing the cut nectarine from turning brown.

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
Pinch kosher salt
4 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 large ripe nectarine, diced with skin on
1/2 cup whole black raspberries or halved blackberries
24 pieces pound cake*, approximately 2" x 1.5" x 3/8"
Olive oil

Procedure

1. Line a wire mesh sieve with a double layer of cheese cloth. Set the sieve over a bowl, leaving room beneath the sieve for liquid to collect. Spoon the ricotta into the lined sieve. Fold the corners of the cheese cloth over the ricotta. Place a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the sieve, covering the cheese-cloth bundle. Place a few glass or ceramic bowls on top of the plastic to gently weight the cheese down and place the whole setup in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Remove the weight bowls and turn the ricotta out of the cheese cloth into a clean bowl. Discard the cheese cloth and the liquid that drained from the cheese overnight. Add the salt and 2 teaspoons of honey to the pressed ricotta and stir well to combine. Cover the mixture and refrigerate until needed.

3. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the remaining 2 teaspoons of honey, lime juice and thyme leaves. Add the nectarine and berries, and gently toss to coat with the honey mixture. Cover and set aside until needed.

4. Brush pound cake slices lightly with olive oil; place on the grill until toasted (alternatively, you can place cake slices in a grill or sauté pan or under the broiler). Toasted pound cake pieces may be used immediately or placed on paper towels in a single layer to cool for later use.

5. To assemble: Place a generous dollop, about 1 teaspoon, of the ricotta mixture on each pound cake base, and spread toward the edges. Scoop up the nectarine mixture by the teaspoon, pressing each spoonful gently against the side of the bowl to allow juices to drain away before placing the fruit on top of the ricotta topped pound cake bases. After assembling all of the bruschette, arrange them on a serving platter, drizzle each with a little of the reserved fruit juice mixture, and serve immediately. (As an alternative, serve the components—toasted pound cake, cheese and fruit mixtures—individually so that guests may assemble their own bruschette.)

Basic Pound Cake

- makes 1 loaf or about 36 bruschette -

With an extremely heavy batter lacking any leavening, aside from that provided by the aeration of the butter and sugar, this pound cake tends to rise and fall during baking, yielding an air space between the baked cake and a fragile shell of an upper crust. If you’re looking for picture-perfect slices to serve with tea, this is not your pound cake. It is, however, the perfect choice for bruschetta dolce, with a dense, solid crumb that stands up to toasting and juicy toppings better than its spongier, leavened counterparts. Before slicing the cake, just break the fragile upper crust off of the loaf and store it in an airtight container for use in trifles or as an ice cream topping (or just eat it as is—it’s delicious).

This pound cake, like most, keeps extremely well in the freezer. Leftovers can be sliced, stacked with double layers of parchment in between, and wrapped tightly, ready to be used in your next bruschetta dolce.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small chunks (110 grams)
7/8 cup sugar (185 grams)
1 cup flour (120 grams)
2 eggs
1 yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 5" x 9" loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. Add half the flour and mix to combine.

4. Add eggs, yolk and extract and beat until smooth and uniform..

5. Add remaining flour and mix to combine.

6. Turn batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Gently rotate the pan a few times during baking to ensure even cooking.

7. Allow the cake to cool completely. If necessary run a knife along the edges of the cake to free it from the pan. Remove loose upper crust. Turn cake out onto cutting board and slice.

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