This week's desserts at home...

On Sunday, we had our bi-weekly Bible study with Mrs. A and her two children over.

The berries were on sale that week, so I wanted to make a dessert that will put those fresh berries to use. I've made fruit tarts before...so I decided to make flans, which I haven't made for a long time.

In Japan, the flan is called purin, a mispronunciation of "pudding". It is often served a la mode (i.e. with ice cream), and is quite popular. The kids and my Dad wolfed this down pretty quickly.

Monday Dessert: Baked Alaska. I made it to practice making Italian meringue, since I've yet to make it correctly at home. I know, I hate to admit it, but I've had the hardest time making Italian meringue. The first time, it turned out way too soft. Then I switched to using a stainless steel bowl. Lo and behold, it worked. I've been using a glass bowl the entire time, and that apparently prevented the whites from being whipped properly. This turned out pretty nicely, with the vanilla ice cream filling.

Tuesday Dessert: Peach Mousse w/Lemon curd and caramel sauce. Made with Italian meringue I made the other day. The texture was spot on--moist, smooth, and airy. Too bad the lemon curd overpowered the peach flavor. Maybe I'll just serve this with peach sauce instead.

Wednesday Dessert: Flan a la mode...? If something is served with a sorbet (in this case, peach) instead of an ice cream, is it still called a la mode? It's a mystery...