Alimentary, My Dear
More Just Desserts —
A Trip to Treasure Island
By Tamia Nelson
tamia@paddling.net
August 21, 2007
The wheel of the year has swung round again in Canoe
Country, and fall is in the air. The signs are everywhere. Days are shorter, the
graduating classes of goslings and ducklings have all earned their wings, and beavers are
busier than ever, storing food beneath the waters of their home ponds. Back in the
woods, bears
are fattening up on a bumper crop of berries in anticipation of the Big Sleep, while
smaller creatures scurry ceaselessly about, gathering and hoarding as much food as
they can before a blanket of snow shrouds the landscape.
For lovers of sunlight and warmth — and what canoeist or kayaker isn't,
when you get right down to it? — this is a
bittersweet time. Bitter, because it marks the beginning of the end of the
paddling season. Sweet, because the waters are still warm, the daylight is still
longer than the dark, and the bloodthirsty
flies are in retreat. Winter isn't here yet, in other words, and it will be a
long time coming. So let's make the most of what remains and see the summer out in
style. Sound good to you? Me, too. And there's no better way to do this than by
making time for …
A Trip to a Dessert Isle
No, I haven't been misled by my spell-checker. I meant to write "dessert." The
trip can be long or short: an afternoon on a local lake, a weekend getaway,
or a genuine expedition. Your destination doesn't even have to be an island,
though deserted islands do have a special appeal, I admit. But whether your
destination is near or far, a dessert picnic is guaranteed to please. The recipe
is straightforward. Make the main course something simple and easily prepared: satays, maybe,
or quesadillas, or
soup and bruschetta. Then
put all your effort into laying out a dessert spread that will daunt even the
heartiest eater in your group. Leave counting calories till another day, and
sternly repress your fear of fat. After all, you got here under your own power,
didn't you? You need to refuel. Preparation can be as easy — or as elaborate
— as you like. If you want, every one of your desserts can be store-bought,
at least on shorter trips. Just pack fragile delicacies carefully, and keep cold things
cold in a soft cooler. Once you've beached your boats on the dessert isle of
your choice, lay out the spread on a big towel, or use an overturned canoe as a
table. Nearly
everyone has a favorite sweet treat, of course, but not everyone likes the
same thing. So be sure to have a good selection. Imported chocolates always go
down well, as do fruit tarts or tartlets, carrot cake, and pastries —
napoleons, turnovers, fritters, even the humble donut hole. Don't forget fresh fruit, and
brew a pot of coffee or tea to whet your appetite and wet your whistle. And if
you're done paddling for the day, push the boat out a bit further (figuratively,
of course), finishing off your evening by sipping some VSOP brandy, a fine sherry,
a vintage port, or a good champagne.
Can't get your buddies to agree on a date and time for a dessert idyll? What
then? No problem. You'll just have to indulge yourself. Better leave the brandy
and champagne at home, I suppose, but almost anything else goes. A few fine chocolates and
some rich cookies, say, with a succulent sweet tartlet to follow. Then brew a
cuppa and settle back to watch the late-summer light play on the dancing waves. (A
hint: Whether you go in company or alone, pick a warm, sunny day for your picnic.)
What's that? Do ready-made desserts turn you off? Or maybe you live in a
culinary desert, where the only dessert pastries are the embalmed, chemically
enhanced offerings of the local HyperMart. (With the demise of many small-town
bakeries, this sad situation is now all too common.) Then it's up to you to
prepare the sweet feast. Keen bakers won't need any advice from me, but others may
want to begin the battle by surrendering. Is this a paradox? Not really. I'm just
suggesting that you make …
Sweet Surrender Sandwiches …
The heart of your spread. The name is my own coinage (I think), but the idea is
an old one, and there are numberless variations on the theme. Most can be made at
home ahead of time, though you'll want to wrap each one in waxed paper and plastic
film. Later, when you're packing for your trip, place the wrapped sandwiches
inside a rigid plastic box with a waterproof seal. Or would you rather assemble
your sandwiches on the spot, instead? Then use the same rigid boxes to keep the
cookies from being crushed.
But I'm getting ahead of my story. Let's go back and see how to ring the
changes, beginning with …
Cookie Whoopie Pies A variation
on classic whoopie pies, my cookie whoopie pies allow you to customize this
treat to suit everyone's tastes. For each personal pie, you'll need two large,
chewy cookies and a filling. Traditional whoopie pies are made from soft, cakey
chocolate cookies with a creamy, sweet white filling, but if you make your own,
the alternatives are limited only by your imagination.
Cookie candidates? Almost anything goes. Ginger, pumpkin, chocolate-chip,
hermit, spice, oatmeal — just make sure they're soft and chewy. You might
even find something at the HyperMart that fits the bill. For fillings, try
marshmallow spread (like Marshmallow Fluff®); ready-made cake frosting;
peanut butter (chunky or smooth); whipped, sweetened cream cheese; or marshmallows
heated till they're almost runny. Assembling each pie is easy. Turn one cookie
upside down, and spread a tablespoon of filling over the bottom, then place the
second cookie on the first so as to sandwich the filling between the two, bottom
to bottom. That's all there is to it.
Open-Faced Cookie
Sandwiches These are whoopie pies on the half shell. Spread
a topping (the choice is up to you) on large, soft cookies (ditto). Or pack some
cups of no-refrigeration-required pudding — look on the shelves of the local
HyperMart — and spread the pudding over the cookies. Then finish off with
nuts, candy sprinkles, or chocolate chips.
Brownie Sandwiches Large, thick
brownies work best, and they can be either cakey or fudgy, as you wish. To make
one sandwich, carefully slice a brownie in half on the horizontal. Then add
filling. The whoopie pie fillings will work fine, as will mint jelly, raspberry or
strawberry jam, and all manner of fresh berries. A crushed-nut-and-peanut-butter
combination is also delicious, and some paddlers will want to go further,
revisiting their childhood by spreading marshmallow creme on top of the peanut
butter. Or maybe you'll want to wow your buddies with …
Ice Cream Sandwiches Yep. Ice
cream. If your dessert isle is only a short distance from home, you can
carry ice cream in a cooler or pre-chilled thermos. Or — if you plan ahead
— you can
make it on-site. Either way, assembly is straightforward. Spread ice cream
thickly between a pair of cookies or brownie halves, just as you would for the
whoopie pies or brownie sandwiches. To add a decorative touch, roll your
sandwiches pinwheel-style through crushed nuts, chocolate or candy sprinkles, mini
mint-chocolate chips, or tiny cinnamon hots. Not enough choices? OK. How about
crushed peppermint candies, malted milk balls, or crispy chocolate wafers?
Now let's move on from sandwiches to soup (so to speak) — desserts you can
serve in a cup, bowl, or plate. If I say so myself, this end of the dessert spread
is …
A Trifle Delicious!
Trifles are traditionally built from several basic elements — cake cubes
or slices, thick custard, fruit, fruit juice, and whipped cream — all of
which are then artistically arranged in layers in a deep glass bowl that allows a
better appreciation of the trifle's beauty. But you probably don't want to lug a
glass bowl on a paddling jaunt, do you? And whipped cream isn't a very good
traveler. (It's not easy to whip heavy cream in camp, either. Both cream and bowl
have to be very cold.) Still, a good pastry chef is always prepared to
improvise, as the following example shows.
Pound-Cake Trifle Though you can
go the whole hog and prepare the individual components yourself, it's easier to
compromise and buy the ingredients at the HyperMart. Here's the shopping list:
- Pound cake
- Chocolate fudge sauce, bottled or canned
- Berries, either fresh or frozen, or canned fruit
- Vanilla pudding
Use any berries or fruit you like. If you buy a box of frozen berries in syrup,
they'll thaw slowly en route in the cooler and be ready to use when you make
landfall. Pudding is best purchased in individual-serving cups. Try several
varieties at home first. Some taste like a sweetened slurry of chalk and sawdust
suspended in water. Others are surprisingly good. Take care to pack the pound cake
so it won't be crushed, and if the fudge sauce came in a glass bottle, repack it
in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.
Once you've reached your dessert isle, you can assemble your trifle in a pot,
or make single-serving trifles in individual bowls or cups. Slice the pound cake
into half-inch slabs, then cut each slab into quarters. Place a foundation layer
of quartered cake in the bottom of the pot (or the bottoms of the bowls), and
don't worry if there are gaps. Then sprinkle some berries or fruit over the cake.
If you're using thawed berries or canned fruit in syrup, drizzle some of the sweet
liquid over everything. Next, drop spoonfuls of pudding over the berries, and
follow up with dollops of fudge sauce. Now repeat the sequence — cake, fruit,
syrup, pudding, sauce — until there's no more of anything left. Finally, let
the assembled trifle sit somewhere shady until the cake absorbs most of the
liquid. Serve by handing round individual cups, or by scooping out full-thickness
portions from the community pot. Enjoy!
For yet another variation (one of many), consider …
Shortbread Trifle Layer coarsely
broken shortbread cookies in the bottom of a pot, adding fresh berries (or thawed
frozen berries and syrup). Follow on with a layer of vanilla or chocolate pudding
and some chocolate-chip morsels. Repeat until all stores are exhausted, finishing
off the edifice with a drizzle of hot fudge sauce. You can also use canned fruit
and syrup instead of berries, if you prefer. Now dig in. Warning: Desserts like
these are not to be trifled with!
We can't stop the wheel of the year from turning round — and what paddler
would really want to? — but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make the most of
the waning days of summer. So instead of giving way to moping and melancholy when
you see the first hint of scarlet in the maples, why not celebrate the ceaseless
change and infinite diversity of the natural world with a feast, instead? After
all, winter's coming. And you worked hard to reach your dessert isle. So it's time
to emulate the bears and beavers and get ready for the lean months ahead. Eat up!
What did I tell you? Sometimes surrender can be sweet.
Copyright © 2007 by Verloren Hoop Productions. All rights
reserved.