Welcome to Lesson 3 of our monthly ‘menu deconstruction’. Today we’re focusing on cakes and deserts. Don’t forget to keep an eye on these posts as we’ll soon be testing your knowledge in the form of an exciting competition! 

GATEAUX [pronounced ga-TOE] – any of various elaborate cakes, usually layered with cream and richly decorated

PANNA COTTA – [PAHN-nah KOH-tah] – Italian for “cooked cream” panna cotta is a light, silky egg custard, which is often flavoured with caramel. It’s served cold, accompanied typically with fruit or chocolate sauce.

MACARON [pronounced mak-uh-ROON] – a macaron (French spelling) or macaroon (English spelling) is a delicately refined meringue-based confection made of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, and filled with ganache, buttercream, caramel or fruit jam.

PAVÉ [pronounced pa-Vay] – a square or rectangular dessert consisting of several layers of sponge cake filled with butter cream or other filling and coated with frosting/icing.  In savoury terms, pavè refers to a square-shaped, aspic-coated mousse made of meat, fish or poultry, usually served cold. It can also be made with a sweet mousse.

PAVLOVA [pronounced pav-LOH-vuh] - the Pavlova consists of a base made of a meringue crust topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits such as kiwis, strawberries, etc.

SOUFFLÉ [pronounced soo-flay] – soufflé is taken from the French word “souffler” meaning to “blow or puff up.” It is a light, foamy concoction made from egg whites which are folded into a sauce of egg yolks, milk, and sometimes flour. The air beaten into the egg whites expands in the heat of the oven making the soufflé light and puffy. They are either baked or steamed. It is usually a dessert, although there are also fish, meat, poultry and vegetable soufflés

FINANCIER - a small cake or cookie that is made with ground nuts and whipped egg whites. These are soft like sponge cake and have a rich flavour of nuts.

DACQUOISE [pronounced da-KWAHZ] – a dessert of disc-shaped, nut-flavoured meringues stacked and filled with sweetened whipped cream or butter cream. It’s served chilled, often with fruit.

PARFAIT [pronounced pa-fay] – French for “perfect”. Originally the word referred to an iced sweet flavoured with coffee. Today it is a rich, frozen dessert made with egg whites, whipped cream or gelatin which forms a setting agent.

CROQUANT [pronounced kroh-KAWN] – French for “crispy” or “crunchy”.

Now that we’ve demystified desserts and cakes and given you a few dessert ideas, why not book a table at Signal Restaurant? If it’s a special celebration, order our truly decadent signature Cape Grace chocolate mousse cake. To book, call 021 410 7080 or email signal@capegrace.com.  

 Look out for our Lesson 4 in October!