Dessert Poutine

Ricardo Larrivée – or simply Ricardo to his fans – is Canada’s most successful bilingual celebrity chef. He studied hotel management in Montreal, but never actually trained as a chef or even worked in a kitchen for that matter.
Ricardo has been called, "Quebec's answer to Jamie Oliver.” He hosts two television shows, Ricardo in French and Ricardo and Friends in English. He has just published his second cookbook and also has his own magazine also called Ricardo.

His recipe for a dessert that looks like poutine is somewhat like my "faux poutine cake" but is much more complicated to make. Still, it makes me think that I could make this but omit his deep-fried "churros" that look like fries (I hate deep frying) and replace it with toasted pound cake (like I did on top of the cake). Read on. I think it's pretty cool.



Caramel Sauce:
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp corn syrup
1 cup 35% cream
3/4 cup semi-salted butter, cut into cubes

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the water, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan. Move the sauce pan around with the handle, while cooking, to keep the colour even until the mixture turns golden.

Remove from the heat and add the cream gradually while stirring. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth.
Whisk in the butter until the sauce is smooth. Let cool.

Fries (churros):
3/4 cup milk
1 cup semi-salted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
5 eggs
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions: Preheat the oil in the deep fryer to 190°C (375°F). Line a baking sheet with paper towels or set a cooling rack on it.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk to a boil with the butter. Remove from the heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a smooth ball.

Return the saucepan to the burner over low heat and stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the saucepan, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition with a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Beat until the dough is smooth.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-cm (1/4-inch) star tip, pipe 15-cm (6-inch) ribbons one at a time into the deep fryer. Fry about 8 churros at a time, turning them halfway through cooking, until golden, about 3 minutes. Drain on the baking sheet.

In a deep stainless steel mixing bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Drop the hot churros into the sugar mixture. Shake the bowl to coat well and shake off the excess sugar. Set the churros aside on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 100°C (212°F).

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Pile the churros in 8 bowls, drizzle with sauce and scatter marshmallow pieces on top. Serve warm.

For a less sweet version you can replace the marshmallows with small spoonfuls of ricotta cheese.