The hottest new dessert ingredient isn’t from some exotic tropical fruit or impossible-to-source spice. Take a peek in your coffee and tea pantry to find the add-in that can perk up even the most mundane dessert with a jolt of caffeinated excitement. Since these drinks became part of the human experience millennia ago, pastry chefs have been reaching for the tea tin or coffee canister when they want to charge up their traditional desserts.

Tea time

“Tea adds a light flavor to desserts by itself or when paired with fruit flavors like lemon and blueberry,” says Jana Mann, director at foodservice and consumer product goods research firm Datassential. “Varieties with a grassier or smokier profile can add depth and an interesting flavor twist.” In addition, tea’s many health benefits can lend a “health halo” even to desserts that might otherwise be seen as too indulgent. Tea-infused desserts (excluding ice cream) have grown on menus by 47% over the past four years to include green tea-infused cheesecake, cupcakes and even crème brulee.

Chai is another popular twist on the tea craze. The flavored tea, which originated in India, traditionally includes black tea leaves, green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger and black peppercorns. Sandwich chain Pret a Manger offers a Chai Chia Pot, a chai pudding which is a blend of chia seeds, almond milk, crushed cashews and chai tea, topped with fresh pomegranate seeds.

Coffee break

“With coffee consumption and coffee shop popularity at an all-time high, the flavor continues to move from the beverage menu to the dessert menu,” Mann says. “Pastry chefs also use coffee as a hidden ingredient in chocolate desserts to intensify the chocolate flavor.” Italian chefs are famed for tiramisu, an espresso-laden dessert whose name translates to “a pick me up,” and affogato (translation: “drowned”), a coffee-based dessert made from a scoop of vanilla gelato or ice cream topped with a shot of hot espresso.

These days, coffee flavor can be found in ice cream and gelato, brownies, cakes, cheesecakes and crème brulee. The Remington Restaurant in New York’s St. Regis Hotel offers a Cinnamon Coffee Crème Brulee, served in a crisp pastry shell with raspberry sauce.

Caffeinating your menu

“Including tea or coffee in desserts is a great way to upgrade them for folks who want a caffeine-kick,” Mann says. “It’s a good idea for an operation with a significant morning crowd. It can also make a dessert standout with ingredients already in the pantry.”

Read more

Nation’s Restaurant News talks to chefs around the country about incorporating coffee and tea to give desserts a kick.

Pret a Manger

Recipe

Caramel Mocha Coffee

At the recent International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) conference in Maine, a luncheon sponsored by Real California Butter and the California Milk Advisory Board included a breadbasket with a trio of butters: sweet/spicy gochujang, shallot compound butter and lemon caper blend. Butter, what’s happened to you? You used to be the pale, chilly accompaniment to our bread, often served in gleaming gold-paper rectangles. Now you’re a globe-trotting, risk-taking superstar, giving us glimpses of greatness as we slather you all over our dinner rolls (could someone pass the breadbasket, please?).

Many operators are including compound butters as a “next level” addition that unifies a menu and sets it apart from the ordinary. When served alongside an upscale breadbasket, compound butters can reflect overall menu themes and offer fresh new flavors in every bite. Of course, warm Sister Schubert’s® dinner rolls make a perfect complement for these of-the-moment slathers.

Robin and Martha (and lots of great butter)

Robin Selden is Managing Partner and Executive Chef of the company her mother founded, Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning, based in Stamford, Connecticut. “Compound butters have been part of our offerings for quite a while,” she says. She recently supplied the recipes for an article in Martha Stewart Weddings, including Asian Nori, Sesame & Ginger Butter, Turmeric & Mustard Seed Butter, and Smoked Chipotle & Lime Butter. And her ideas keep coming: “Every time our kitchen staff finds a new flavor we like, we ask, ‘can we make a compound butter out of that?’”

New ideas

“Lately, we’ve been sautéing capers until they get crispy and pop. We blot them on a paper towel until dry, then mix them into butter with fresh dill,” Selden says. “It’s an intensely briny flavor that’s great on smoked salmon.” Savory choices aren’t her only focus, though. “One fruit butter I really love starts with cooked, mashed strawberries, strained, then added to butter. We drizzle in a balsamic glaze, but we don’t overmix, so you can still see those distinct lines of glaze, with the pink and the dark brown giving it a marbleized look.”

Prep tips

Once butters are mixed, they’re rolled in plastic wrap into logs and chilled. When it’s time for slicing, a hot, thin knife ensures the cleanest edge. “We create 1 ½-inch diameter coins, then stack one or two on individual bread plates, with a small plate of one or two extra slices for the table. It’s important never to stack them, because they’ll stick together or melt,” she says. That proviso brings about an irresistible image: rapidly melting compound butters, tempting diners to lick their plates clean, just to get the last of that buttery goodness.

Resources

Marcia Selden Catering

Read more

Martha Stewart Weddings’ feature on Robin Selden’s compound butters

More ideas from Flavor & The Menu, including prep suggestions from Nate Pollak, CEO & Founder of San Francisco’s American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

Check out our breads and rolls options – Perfect vehicles for compound butter!