Easter Dessert Recipes: Check out these favorite holiday recipes from local pastry chefs.

Rhubarb Almond Crumble

Toni Roberts, C-House
When Executive Pastry Chef Toni Roberts thinks of spring, she thinks of rhubarb. Growing up, the succulent stalks were a staple on her family's Easter table. She loves this recipe because it's simple to prepare and makes the perfect dessert for welcoming the season. Roberts notes that the Moscato wine can be left out of the recipe, but says that it really enhances the flavor of the rhubarb. And, the rest of the bottle can be an excellent accompaniment to enjoy as a nice treat with the finished crumble.

FILLING
2 1/2 lbs rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice (zest and reserve for crumble)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Moscato

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine rhubarb, sugars, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and Moscato. Pour over rhubarb mixture and combine.

4. Fill either a 9” x 9” pan or ramekins with the filling. If using ramekins, leave an inch of space between the filling and the rim.

CRUMBLE TOPPING
1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
2 1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup (3 oz) sliced almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
8 oz cold butter, cubed
1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low until the butter is smaller than peas.

2. Sprinkle generously over the top of the rhubarb filling. Bake until the filling is bubbly and the tops are golden brown, 30-45 minutes, depending on pan or ramekins used.

3. Allow to cool a bit. Serve with vanilla or almond ice cream.

Brown Butter Carrot Cake
Stephanie Prida, one sixtyblue
When it comes to Easter Sunday, pastry chef Stephanie Prida of one sixtyblue likes to stick with the classics. "This one is a little more special," says Prida of her indulgent dessert, "because it incorporates brown butter and it gives the cake a more toasty flavor." She notes that the brown butter adds a moist consistency, as opposed to your run-of-the-mill carrot cake. And of course, it wouldn't be carrot cake without the classic cream-cheese frosting. If you're not up to the challenge, you can grab a $7 slice of the stuff during one sixtyblue's Easter brunch.

CAKE
1/2 pound butter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp B. Powder
1 tsp B. soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla paste
2 cup carrots, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Brown butter over low heat and strain. Next, sift the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

2. In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment combine the sugars, add eggs and vanilla one at a time. Add sifted dry ingredients. Slowly stream in brown butter. Add grated carrots last.

3. Bake in mini loaf pans for 15 minutes.

VANILLA BEAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
115 grams butter 225 grams powdered sugar 4 grams vanilla extract 1 vanilla bean 170 grams cream cheese

1. Cream butter and vanilla bean.

2. Add sifted powder sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and cream cheese and beat until mixture is white and fluffy (no cream cheese lumps).

Lavender Scented Panna Cotta
Anna Jarosz, Birch River Grill
You won't need to worry about preheating or over-baking anything with Anna Jarosz's sweet Easter treat. The Birch River Grill pastry chef welcomes spring to the suburbs with fresh lavender and citrus elements, while adding a light sweetness and a clean, refreshing bite to the dessert.

LAVENDER PANNA COTTA
2 sheets gelatin
1 tsp. dried lavender flower
1/2 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Bloom gelatin. Steep the rest of the ingredients, except buttermilk, together for half an hour.

2. Strain all ingredients from step 2. Add gelatin. Add buttermilk and whisk together

3. Place in ramekin and let set in cooler for 1-2 hours.

APRICOT GLAZE
1/4 cup apricot puree
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 sheet gelatin

1. Bloom gelatin. In a sauce pot heat the other ingredients. Add steps 1 and 2 all together.

2. Spoon over cooled panna cotta and place in cooler to set.

Hawaiian Sweet Potato & Golden Beet Tart with Creme Fraiche
Carol Wallack and Gerardo Villagomez, sola
Pastry novices may tremble in their non-slip kitchen-safe shoes over this one, but any skilled hand will appreciate the complexity of this Easter treat, created by sola executive chef and owner Carol Wallack and pastry chef Gerardo Villagomez. "I'm always the one who steers towards the savory dessert," says Wallack. And this alternative is no exception with its unique combination of sweet potatoes, golden beets and miso. "I absolutely love it. The beets are local and sweet from Werp Farms in Michigan. They are slow roasted and then candied a little bit more. We use Hawaiian sweet potatoes a lot here at sola and they are the perfect accent. Gerardo makes the creme fraiche in house, and folds in miso for a slightly savory finish."

BEET & SWEET POTATO CONFIT
16 oz. each, Hawaiian sweet potatoes, and golden beets, 1/4-inch dice

For each vegetable:
1 quart water
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick of lemongrass
2 kaffir lime leaves

1. Combine water, sugar, vanilla bean, salt, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in two separate pots. Boil sweet potatoes and beets separately in mixtures until tender (about 10 minutes each). Drain both, saving liquid from beets. Let vegetables rest in refrigerator for 24 hours.

MISO CREME FRAICHE
10 oz cream
5 oz buttermilk
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 oz white miso

1. Pour cream and buttermilk into a container. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 48 hours. Whisk, and then cool.

2. Once cooled, whip together with ginger powder, sugar, vanilla and white miso.

SAUCE
1 cup liquid from the beet confit
2 oz. white miso

1. Boil together and reduce by half.

ALMOND FLOUR DOUGH
1.4 oz butter, softened
1.6 oz powdered sugar
1.7 oz honey
1.7 oz almond flour
1 oz egg whites
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt

1. Combine butter, powdered sugar, and honey with a paddle in the mixer. Add whites. Incorporate the dry ingredients.

2. Roll out dough, cut out circles. Bake flat on a silpat until golden, about 12-15 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove from oven, wait about 20 seconds and lift to lay over a small bowl to get a formed shape of the bowl. Let cool.

3. To plate: put a spoon of miso creme fraiche inside the cookie bowl. Spoon beets and sweet potatoes in and add another spoon of the creme fraiche on top. Ladle a spoonful of sauce onto plate around the "bowl." Garnish with a piece of mint and crushed almonds.

Hot Cross Buns
Jove Hubbard, David Burke's Primehouse
Executive pastry chef Jove Hubbard finds his favorite Easter treat in family tradition. "My mother always makes these on Easter," says Hubbard. "She loves to bake, and this reminds me of growing up."

1 cup warm milk (105°–115°F.)
two 1/4-ounce packages (5 tsp) active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks (1/2 cup plus 2 tsp) cold unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 tsp finely grated fresh orange zest
2 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest
3 tsp superfine granulated sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. In a small bowl stir together milk, yeast, and 1 tsp granulated sugar. Let mixture stand 5 minutes, or until foamy.

2. In a large bowl sift together flour, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Cut butter into bits and with your fingertips or a pastry blender, blend into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal.

3. Lightly beat 1 whole egg with egg yolk. Make a well in center of flour mixture and pour in yeast and egg mixture, apricots, raisins, and zests. Stir mixture until a dough is formed.

4. Transfer dough to a floured surface and with floured hands knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

5. Transfer dough to an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Butter 2 large baking sheets. On a floured surface with floured hands, knead dough briefly and form into two 12-inch-long logs. Cut each log crosswise into 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and arrange about 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Let buns rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 400°F. While buns are rising, lightly beat remaining egg with superfine sugar to make an egg glaze. Brush buns with egg glaze. Bake buns in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer buns to a rack to cool slightly.

8. Mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Place in a piping bag and pipe crosses onto the buns. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This article was first published on Centerstage.

Chicago restaurant week 2009

Chicago's second annual Restaurant Week is coming up soon (February 20-27), which means 130 top restaurants in the city will be providing special prix-fixe menus at a reduced price ($22 for lunch and $32 for dinner). Since you have just seven days to feast, it's vital to pick the spots with the sweetest deals. And it's just as crucial to get your reservations in before herds of famished foodies take over. We recommend trying these restaurants first.

Dine
It's all about dinnertime at Dine, where you can choose between the restaurant's signature "not so much of a wedge" salad or spice-rubbed prime tenderloin with golden beet vinaigrette and brussel sprout-horseradish salad. And that's just the first course. For entrees, Dine is offering a choice of garlic-rubbed bone-in ribeye with creamed spinach or a slow-dried Rummo pasta with chili flakes, pan-roasted grape tomatoes and baby arugula. For dessert, try the ricotta cheesecake with Bing cherry-zinfandel gelato, seasonal creme brulee with crisp sugar crust or a daily selection of ice cream and sorbet.

Park Grill
After you've spent the day gallivanting around Millennium Park, you can fill up at the popular Park Grill for lunch or dinner. The early menu features dishes like roasted pepper and fennel soup, crisp striped bass, chicken pot pie and lemon thyme panna cotta for dessert. Head over later in the evening and you'll be graced with choices like Kampachi crudo with pickled radishes and hand-cut pappardelle pasta with slow-cooked rabbi ragout.

Farmerie 58
This brand-new restaurant didn't waste any time before diving in with the big boys. And it's holding its own with plenty of prix-fixe choices for both lunch and dinner. During lunch, you can begin with your pick of chopped house salad, arugula salad, butternut squash veloute or lobster bisque. The second course boasts plenty of meaty selections with a bistro burger, amish chicken sandwich with wilted spinach-parmesan fondue, pan-roasted salmon BLT and wild boar pasta with basil and pecorino cheese. If you've managed to save room for dessert, Farmerie 58 is offering a sweet array of chocolate tarts, white chocolate bread pudding and ginger creme brulee. Dinner brings out many of the same sweet selections, with the addition of crab saffron fondue, pork chops with cranberry stuffing, short ribs with veggies and country-fried eggplant with goat cheese and lemon-herb salad.

NoMI
Restaurant Week is the perfect time to take advantage of the city's most posh spots, like NoMI in the Park Hyatt hotel. The restaurant is offering a decadent lunch menu with soup selections like pumpkin-coconut and chicken-apple, entrees like gnocchi with brown butter and black trumpets, crab cakes with whole grain mustard and fennel and desserts like chocolate-caramel brownie macaroons, carrot cake with maple-orange sauce and jam-filled pistachio nougat tarts.

David Burke's Primehouse
Head downtown to this popular steakhouse and you won't be sorry. The lunch special includes appetizers like Kobe beef sashimi and surf and turf dumplings. Entrees feature hearty selections with chicken, salmon and steak, including the restaurant's signature 40-day dray aged steak burger. David Burke's dinner menu lists many of the same choices, with the addition of a bone-in filet mignon and the popular "angry lobster."

Carnivale
Let this Latin-fueled restaurant lead the way with its bounty of festive choices. To start, choose from soup with pork, chiles and hominy, empanadas with spinach, butternut squash and Parmesan cheese or arugula salad with blood orange, olives and Manchego cheese. Entrees include beef tenderloin with peppers, Arctic char with black bean puree and pinon with plantains, vegetable picadillo and mozzarella. Bring it all to a sweet finish with plantain bread pudding, coconut flan or seasonal housemade ice cream. And since you're saving money on the meal, go ahead and splurge on one of the restaurant's signature raspberry mojitos.

one sixtyblue
one sixtyblue is celebrating all the foodie action with a dinner-only menu, featuring a number of appetizer, entrée and dessert choices. To start, choose from leek gnocchi, bibb lettuce salad or house-cured king salmon and follow up with a selection of free-range chicken breast, blue crab ravioli, hanger steak or winter vegetable tagine. Desserts selections showcase the restaurants sweet skills with choices like chocolate panna cotta, sticky toffee date cake and seasonal sorbet with vanilla bean shortbread.

For a list of all participating restaurants, and to make reservations, visit the Restaurant Week website.


This article was first published on Centerstage.