Picture this: an entire ballroom full of local dessert vendors offering you samples of some of their finest, tastiest confections. No, this was not a dream&-this was real life, and it was in the city of Boston.
On Sep. 18, the Anthem group held its 2010 New England Dessert Showcase in the Westin Copley Place Boston Hotel. Before even getting on the escalator to the sugary heaven upstairs, the sweet, sugar-infused perfume of baked goods wafted downstairs toward the crowd of eager, hungry foodies. Needless to say the line remained long throughout the showcase’s duration.
Upon entering the filled-to-capacity ballroom, attendees, with mouths already watering in anticipation, were immediately greeted with assorted chocolate truffles, which were soon followed by cinnamon bun samples, cupcakes, ice cream, chocolate fondue and more.
College of General Studies freshman Nicole Jenner said, “My favorite was the chocolate lava cakes. They were amazing and just the right size, temperature, and sweetness. I want more!”
Kitchen Manager Becca Monroe and Marketing Director Brandon Rigolini of Finale Desserts, which has three locations in the Boston area, were not newcomers. They served their signature “dark chocolate decadence” individual flourless chocolate cakes “with a hint of espresso,” a crowd favorite. “Each [cake] is individually poured by hand so it takes a while&-a good six hours at least,” said Monroe.
Although it may not have been noticeable at first through the throng of hungry foodies, in the center of the room sat the world’s largest Boston cream pie. Weighing more than three tons and measuring approximately 15 feet in diameter, the pie was baked and constructed by University of Southern New Hampshire culinary students.
Three-hundred and sixty three sheet cakes were baked ahead of time, assembled on site using 55 gallons of pastry cream, and topped off with 72 pounds of chocolate ganache. Hungry yet?
According to culinary students Jacob Moon and Paul Desroches, it took one and a half weeks of baking prior to the event, plus an additional five hours of assembling the day of the showcase, to complete the stunning pie.
The record-breaking pie was cut into “all-you-can-eat portions” that were “served…for a suggested donation of $1.” According to the showcase’s website, “100 percent of proceeds are divided equally and donated to Anthem partner and local charities: Boston Children’s Chorus, Children’s Trust Fund and CHOSA. Leftovers will be donated to Greater Boston area homeless shelters and soup kitchens.”
In addition, the showcase was a learning opportunity for those interested in picking up some baking skills as there were live cooking demonstrations amidst all the hustle and bustle. Jenner said, “I loved watching the demos because Food Network is my favorite channel, but it’s even better seeing cooking live!”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
