Spring is the time to clean and streamline, so the six remaining competitors make minimalist creations that are both flourless and flower-less. Then the bakers choose a crafted item from a funky yard sale and use it as inspiration for a gorgeous dessert.
Time to clean out those closets for a little spring clean! And this means going back to basics; removing all the frills and twills of a complex plated dessert. The flour has been removed from the stations.....say what! What are we going to bake with? You guessed it - nut flours. Each of us have a different nut flour, and I have pistachio flour. I have a trick up my sleeve. The cake I'm making can use any nut flour in it but pistachio has such a nice flavour. I make a cake that takes equal amounts of the following: butter, sugar, eggs and pistachio flour. I bake this and then pipe a whipped cream cheese on top and decorate it with sliced strawberries. There is only suppose to be one garnish on this dessert. As I add the strawberries on top, I keep adding and adding, its like I can't stop myself.
For the main heat we are tasked with the challenge of making a dessert that is representative of the yard sale item that we got. I got a heart shaped sign with vines, flowers and a scripture saying "Home Sweet Home." This sign looks like it came right from Nancy's farm house! For this challenge I make a passion fruit mousse with almond insert on an earl grey (my twist element) shortbread. I make this in a dome shape, glaze it in a pink colour to match the flowers on the sign and place it on the shortbread. I decorate the dome with little hearts, and my plate with mint coulis, piped to resemble the vines on the sign and place little flowers blossoms. The plated dessert looks like it is inspired by my sign!
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