Thanksgiving Desserts

Since we live far away from our families, we usually celebrate Thanksgiving with a big group of friends every year. This year we felt that it was time for a change of pace and decided to have a small family dinner at home. I cooked a no-frills-just-the basics Thanksgiving dinner. The same minimalistic approach applied to dessert, too. I declared well in advance that there would be only one dessert for Thanksgiving. We all knew what that dessert would be as the Christmas Bombe from Alice Medrich's Cocolat is a Thanksgiving tradition in our family. This year I made two bombes, one for us and the second for a friend. The preparation was not difficult as I extended it over a couple of days. Three days ago, I made the cranberry-raspberry filling; the next day I baked, filled and froze the rolls. Yesterday, I made the white chocolate mousse and finished off the bombes. The desserts were ready to be umnolded and served after a night's rest in the refrigerator. I usually glaze the bombe with apricot jelly and finish with slivered pistachio nuts along the base as suggested in Cocolat, but this time I left them plain.

Of course, things did not go exactly as planned, and I did make a second dessert: the Country Apple Pie from Land O Lakes Best Loved Recipes cookbook. Although this was the first time I made this pie, I had a fairly good idea as to how it would come out, since I have another apple dessert I frequently make which has a similar sour cream base. I must say that the result surpassed my expectations and my children liked this pie more than the Christmas Bombe. In fact, as I write these, it is almost gone which means that I will not be able to post a slice picture. It looks like we will not have to wait until next Thanksgiving to make this one again.