Recycled Dessert

Yeah, "recycled" is probably not what you want to hear when someone hands you a dessert. Unless you're me, in which case there isn't much that could dissuade you from eating a dessert, but then I am hardly the norm. So we're agreed that it's a less than appealing name. Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything more apt since I basically reused the leftovers from a dessert I made last week. At least I took the time to re-imagine it in a way never anticipated by the creator. That counts for something, right?

I didn't blog about the original dessert because I made it in the midst of baking for the cupcake competition and in an effort to use up the leftover egg yolks before leaving on vacation. Needless to say it was a hectic time. When I first saw The Pioneer Woman's recipe for Blackberries With Sweet Cream I was aghast at the number of egg yolks it called for. Ten?! Why, that's nearly a dozen! (Yes, my math skills are that good.) What the heck am I supposed to do with the ten egg whites I'd have left?! Then I paid attention to the rest of the recipe and realized that anything that calls for an entire pint of heavy cream is probably not designed to be eaten by just two people. Coincidentally I happened to have five egg yolks left from my cupcake baking escapades. So a half batch it would be!

Turns out even a half batch results in an insane amount of dessert. Not that you heard anyone in my house complaining as we worked our way through half of it. It was superb! Really. Go make it now and pair it with whatever fruit happens to be in season. You can thank me later. I popped the rest in the freezer hoping it would emerge intact. I then got to thinking about how the strong vanilla flavor is similar to crème brûlée, how the texture is like a more fluid version of the same, and how everything tastes better with a crispy layer of burnt sugar on top. A plan for how to use the leftovers was formulating in my tiny little brain and my inner pyromaniac couldn't wait!


I began by whipping up a small batch of white chocolate ganache. I wasn't terribly precise in my measurements but how can you go wrong by combining cream and chocolate? Each of two individual portion-sized serving dishes got a generous layer of ganache spread along the bottom. I popped them in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. It would have been nicer if they had chilled longer but I was too eager for dessert to wait. Then an even more generous helping of leftover sweet cream sauce topped with sprinkles of granulated sugar. After a little blow torch action the treats were ready to go!

Recycled Dessert
(feel free to use a different name when you serve it to your friends)

1/4 batch of sweet cream sauce from The Pioneer Woman's Blackberries With Sweet Cream recipe
Heaping 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Heaping 1/8 cup heavy cream
Approx. 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Whatever fruit you have on hand

In a heavy saucepan boil the heavy cream over medium-high heat. Place white chocolate chips in a stainless steel bowl and pour boiled cream on top. Let sit three minutes until softened. Stir until completely smooth. Evenly divide ganache between two individual-sized serving dishes. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Remove from fridge and top each with approximately three tablespoons of sweat cream sauce. Sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and cook with a chef's torch until crisp layer forms.

Serve with any fruit of your choice for a dose of healthiness but be sure to hide the bathroom scale for at least a week. Just in case.