Culinary Arts & Food Service Career Paths: Cheesecake and Fruit Tarts - Research Paper Example

CULINARY ARTS AND FOOD SERVICE CAREER PATHS Introduction A cheesecake is a sweet dish that is used by many people for dessert. The thick layer of a cheesecake is made up of a mixture of soft and fresh cheese, eggs, sugar. Its bottom layer is a crust that is made from sponge cake, crushed cookies, pastry or graham crackers. Cheesecake is sweetened by using sugar while the top is chocolate syrup, nuts, whipped cream and fruit sauce or fruits. Cheesecake is available in a wide variety of flavors such as chestnut, toffee, nuts, pumpkin or strawberry. On the other hand, fruit tarts are another way of serving fruits that were presently served as fruit pies. Fruit tarts consist of a single crust and are made with sweet and cookie-like pastry. They are flavored using different ingredients such as rum and chocolate and topped up with sweetened pastry cream. Sense of Smell Cheesecakes are made from a wide variety of fruits such as strawberry, oranges, bananas and pumpkins. They are then topped up with different ingredients such as nuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. The smell of a cheesecake will depend on its fruit flavor as well as its topping. For instance, a strawberry flavored cheesecake that is topped with chocolate syrup will have a mixed smell of strawberry and chocolate. In comparison, the fruit tarts are also of different tastes. However, their smells differ from theirs in depending on whether or not they are baked or fresh (Beates 27). Sense of Sight Fruit tarts are basically made to be attractive to the eye of anyone who wants to eat one. There are two main forms of fruit tarts; ‘pate sucree’ and ‘pate sablee’. Baked fruit tarts are made with tree fruits such as pears or apples while berries are used to make unbaked fruit tarts. Most fruit tarts are finished using protective glazes. The main goal of baking a fruit tart is to present a firm yet crumbly crust. Cheesecakes, on the other hand, will appear in the color of the flavor fruit it is made of. For instance, an orange cheesecake will be orange in color while a strawberry cheesecake is red in color. Many cheesecakes appear to be round in shape due to the baking utensils used. Sense of Taste The modern cheesecake is available in a wide variety of flavors and the taste depends on which flavor one has chosen. The modern cheese is available in flavors such as bananas, blueberry, blackberry, coconut, strawberry, chestnut, pumpkin, key lime, seafood flavored cheesecake and garlic cheesecake among many others. The toppings are also different and they include fruit sauce, chocolate syrup, nuts and whipped cream. One would say that he needs to join a cheesecake club if he were to sample all these flavors. Traditionally, cheesecakes were only available in limited flavors. This is because they were considered as an ancient dish among the Ancient Greece. It still remains a fact that the cream has remained an all-time favorite topping for cheesecakes. Fruit tarts are also available in a wide variety of flavors such as bananas, strawberry and mangoes. Sense of Touch Cheesecakes are soft and tender to touch while at the same time maintaining a crusty feeling in between the fingers. The tenderness is dependent on the type of fruit that is used to flavor the cake. For instance, banana cheesecakes are extremely soft to touch as bananas are by nature soft and tender. On the other hand, coconut cheesecakes are crusty because of the tough nature of coconuts (Bovbjerg and Jeremy 76). However, fruit tarts are naturally smooth and soft to touch. They are also slippery due to the pastry cream used in their topping. This is mainly because they are made up of extremely soft fruits so as to make them easy to digest even after one has taken a heavy meal. Fruit tarts are made with the impression that a person will view them as a fruit, hence the need to retain tenderness. Historical Background of Fruit Tart Fruit tarts originated from the traditional pies that existed during the Roman times. Fruit tarts were developed as a different way of serving fruits as compared to the way they were served in pies. Fruit tarts first began as simple, plain and ordinary fruit cakes that people rarely recognized. Around the 19th century, fruit tarts were rarely ordered in hotels nor made at home as they are today. Over the years, people have developed ways to make fruit tarts much more appealing; not only to a person’s taste buds but also to the eye (Asquith 56). Today, fruit tarts are available in a variety of flavors and toppings. Invention of pastry cream and fruit sauce as toppings have made fruit tarts a delicacy for many; both in hotels and at people’s homes as well. Conclusion The sensory elements of cheesecakes depend on its flavor. Ranging from strawberry, bananas, oranges and pumpkins, a person can pick out their favorite brand of cheesecakes by picking out the smell. Fruit tarts are baked to be firm but crumbly. They are made from pastry dough and baked in a pastry ring for unmolding before they are served. Its sides are shallow and its bottom is made of a firm crust. On the other side, cheesecakes consist of two or three layers. The layers consist of different ingredients; with all of them aimed at ensuring that cheesecakes are sweet and yummy for everyone. Works cited Top of Form Bovbjerg, Dana, and Jeremy Iggers. The Joy of Cheesecake. Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron's, 1980. Print. Bottom of Form Top of Form Asquith, Pamella Z. Pamella Z. Asquith's Fruit Tart Cookbook. New York: Harmony Books, 1982. Print. Bottom of Form Beates, Chet. Grand Ma's Best Cheesecake Recipe Collection. S.l: C. Beates, 2007. Print. Top of Form New Cook Book. Des Moines, Iowa: Better Homes and Gardens Books, 2004. Print. 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