verrines

After drooling over the upcoming class at The French Pastry School in Chicago on Incredible Ice Creams, Sorbets, Gelatos, and Frozen Cakes, I came across the concept of the verrine. My good friend and Parisian coworker Claire informed me that verrines are one of the newest and most popular concepts in French cuisine. Essentially, a verrine is a small treat containing many layers of ingredients, that can either be sweet or savory.

Identifiable by the recent cake pops at Starbucks, Mini desserts are one of the fastest growing trends in prepared food in the US. Curious to see if the editors at Martha Stewart had picked up on the verrine trend, no search results were found on the site.

On the other hand, a Google image search for verrine returns an incredible array of colorful and creative images. I was so inspired by the concept that I thought it would be fun to attempt by own mini fusion of taste.

Most verrines broach the subject of amuse-bouche or dessert. I thought it would be fun to push the envelope with a breakfast theme. The result: raisin French toast verrines with kiwi, strawberry and coconut cream cheese dressing, drizzled with warm real maple syrup. I mixed it up by serving them in antique crystal stemware.