The tristar strawberry, pear sorbet, and goat froyo desserts are variations on a theme. Every pastry chef and department has a successful formula to piece flavors and textures together into desserts. This is ours: ganache + sorbet + textural element = plated dessert. These types of desserts highlight the way that Milk Bar components, which might seem kind of jokey (like Ritz crunch) or weird (like pumpkin ganache), can be brought together in unexpected ways as thoughtful, delicious, grown-up desserts. The composition of these dishes can be looked at as guides for ways to put together fancy-looking plates at home. If you are baking out of this book a bunch—making liquid cheesecake or crunches or cakes and ending up with leftovers—you will see that plates like these are actually quite easy to assemble just from your scraps. Think of these recipes as your Milk Bar final exam for all things sweet yet savory. Bonus points if you use chilled plates to serve the desserts.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 4

　　1 recipe Celery Root Ganache (page 209)

　　1/2 recipe Ritz Crunch (page 53)

　　1 recipe Macerated Strawberries with Lovage (recipe follows)

　　1 recipe Tristar Strawberry Sorbet (recipe follows)

　　

Step 1

Schmear (see page 29) the ganache across 4 small dessert plates or up the sides of bowls. Scatter the crunch about the ganache. Arrange 8 to 10 strawberries around and on the schmear, leaving room in the middle for a generous scoop or quenelle (see page 28) of strawberry sorbet on each plate. Serve at once.

　　

notes

Step 2

Tristar strawberries are little gems from heaven. They are our favorite breed of strawberry, the hot commodity, if you will, for any pastry chef strolling through the Union Square farmers’ market in search of seasonal revelation. Known for their unbelievably deep flavor and color, the tristars we hoard all summer long are from Rick Bishop at Mountain Sweet Berry Farm in Roscoe, New York.

　　Reprinted with permission from Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi with Courtney McBroom. Copyright © 2011 by MomoMilk, LLC. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Christina Tosi is the chef and owner of Momofuku Milk Bar, called "one of the most exciting bakeries in the country" by Bon Appètit. As founder of the desserts programs at Momofuku, including Noodle Bar, Ssäat;m Bar, Ko and Má Pêche, Christina was most recently shortlisted for a James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef Award. Christina and her confections have appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and Live! with Regis and Kelly, among others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her three dogs and eats an unconscionable amount of raw cookie dough every day.