When Finale Desserts invited us to their event "Bubbles And Bites" for an evening of tasting five desserts paired with sparkling wines and champagne we had one thought: that is too much sugar overload for one sitting. Au contraire. It was actually a very informative night combining fine pastry ingredients, tips and techniques with how pair a wine with dessert for the effect you want. The portions were both small and spaced out, with enough time so that there was none of that cloying sweetness effect while really being able to concentrate upon and savor each flavor. Executive Pastry Chef Nicole Coady was on hand to explain the preparation of each dessert and we also had information o the background and production of each wine.
The place settings were all set with an array of desserts and smaller glasses of the paired sparkling wines, just enough to give us all a taste of the intricate flavors.
Our very first bite was Crème Brûlée paired with a Nivole wine. The brûlée was served cold, as Chef Coady explained, the way it always should be. A 40% cream is used, a heavier cream, giving it a richer taste and the vanilla used was Tahitian, which has a more fruity taste and aroma, as opposed to the Mexican vanilla used in other bites.
Our second taste was this Manjari Mousse paired with Rosa Regale, a sparkling rosé. Valrhona chocolate is used with a 64% cacao ration, making it a bittersweet flavor. This was a great pairing of a sweeter wine and a less sweet dessert. The Valrhona 64% discs are called manjari feves and thus the name.
The surprisingly light Cheesecake, topped with a crisp praline, was paired with Prosecco. A Mexican vanilla was used in the Cheesecake, which has a more earthy vanilla taste.
The last two bites were a Fruit Tart paired with an Anna Cordniu Cava and a Key Lime Tart paired with a Chandon Brut. The Cava, a drier wine went very well with the tart/sweet flavor of the Fruit Tart and clearly my favorite of the night.
It was pretty cool how finale sets up the tasting. Under each wine glass is the varietal of wine and the taste pairing selected for it.
With finale Executive Pastry Chef Nicole Coady.
The cost for the event, which is held regularly, is $29.99 per person.
Finale
1 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: 617.423.3184
Usually not a huge fan of chains, but I DO love some Finale. If you haven't tried their apple tart yet, you should. I don't know how they get it to taste like they do but my God.
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