Salad Brain Exercise–Pot de Creme, Pound Cake, Fruit

by Min Merrell

The platter salad is a creativity platform.

These exercises use the platter, rather than the typical deep salad bowl, as the canvas for creation and a means to illustrate the universal process of creative thinking and design. No matter the field, the steps of creativity are the same. Here we’re using salads because we all have some experience with salad, a low stakes, easy medium for practicing everyday creativity. Plus, your installation eats will feed you beautifully and well and shouldn’t we all be eating more salads anyway?

 We call it PLATTERAL THINKING!

For an introduction to platter salads, read Welcome to Platter Salad Creativity.

INGREDIENTS:

Pound Cake Squares

Oranges

Pecans

Pot de Creme in little espresso cups

Blackberries

Raspberries

PLATTERAL THINKING:

Yes, expand your salad brain to desserts on a platter.  This kind of presentation is my favorite because just like a platter salad,  the dessert platter provides all the same goodness like beauty that leads to a chorus of oohs and aahs at the table, an instigator for great conversation, interactive sharing, and flexible servings.  Take as little or as much as you like. Have a little more.

Here the cups of rich chocolate pot de creme (a super easy recipe on this website)–strong circular shapes with deep brown–are surrounded by an assortment of citrus, black and red berries, toasted pecan halves and cubes of cake (an easy stir it all up in a saucepan and bake in a 9 x 13-inch pan recipe).

Serve with bamboo skewers so everyone can stab their own accents.

WHAT IF?

What other fruits would work–pineapple, banana, coconut. pomegranate seeds? How would you like a “salad dressing” like passing a pitcher of caramel or creme Anglaise?  How about a raspberry sauce. What other shapes would be nice? Change up the nuts–hazelnuts, peanuts, macadamia, pistachio, walnut.

Related Posts