Crazier Than Croquembouche

• By Katie Goldsmith
• Published Winter 2008

HANAMI WEDDING DESSERT
By Pauline Balboa of Kyotofu
(Miso Valrhona chocolate cakes topped with hibiscus mochi petals, white chocolate truffles with raspberry and white bean filling, chocolate-covered roasted barley, and white-sesame popcorn tuiles, on a base of Japanese plums and gold leaf, suspended in Japanese mint-and-red-rice-sake-infused agar; $8 per serving).
Our Verdict: “It’s moist, not too heavy, and has an intriguing sweet-salty balance that would really appeal to adult palates—an ideal dessert for a small, sophisticated city wedding in a loft. It’s a remarkably delicious chocolate thing, but as a cake, it’s not pretty. All it needs are a few slight presentation tweaks.”