A recent article on Cigar Aficionado reminded me of the sometimes bizarre trend of creating desserts that look like cigars. It’s a really funny thing to see something that looks so much like a cigar – but is in fact, a sweet chocolatey dessert, rather than a tobacco flavoured smoke.
I actually got a chance to try this years ago at a restaurant called Print Hall. It was tea-smoked chocolate ganache rolled in brik pastry, served with a whisky laced chiboust cream topped with caramel jelly. I remember really enjoying it, and as a longtime cigar smoker thinking it was entirely bizarre.
I kept imagining that I was biting into rolls of tobacco leaves, when all I could taste was chocolate. I really liked the chiboust cream, too. After being reminded of this, I spent a little time looking at other Cigar desserts online. I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and we all know that cigars and dessert work well together.
One of the best I found was the Chocolate Cigar with Vanilla-Armagnac Ice Cream by Chef Christopher Gross. I think the presentation is brilliant, and unlike most other dessert cigars – this doesn’t remind me that I’m eating a cigar per se. For the record, I don’t like seeing the cigar’s ash being recreated – that just seems a tad gross to me.
Another dessert cigar I really liked the look of, was the Chocolate Cigar at the Bull and Bear Steakhouse at Disney World, of all places. They serve their chocolate cigar with a meringue powder to create the illusion of ash (note, it’s not grey!). Like the dessert from above, it’s also served in an ashtray, but still looks like a dessert first and foremost.
And finally, I wanted to highlight Joan Roca’s Cigar Smoke Icecream recipe. I’ve never tried “smoked” ice cream, but I would love to give it a go. This looks like a pretty complex recipe at times – so if you give it a try, be sure to come back to us with your thoughts.
Is there a great place that you know that does dessert cigars? Or perhaps a really fantastic cigar and dessert combo we should know? Be sure to leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter if you get the chance. And if you’re the kind of chef that likes to make desserts that look like cigars – please leave out the grey ash detail!
Wade K. Savage 🎬
Come say hi to me on Twitter @WadeKSavage and Instagram Wade.K.Savage
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