Knowledge Base > Fran Costigan - The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

Fran Costigan - The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

This event was on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 1:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Eastern

Are Thanksgiving desserts best when they stick to tradition, or is it time to shake things up with some trendy twists?

Join Chef Fran Costigan, Rouxbe Director of Vegan Pastry fo… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

When substituting cashew cream in a dessert, are we doing a dis-service to our guests if we don’t tell them how much more highly caloric it is than whipped cream?

— Anne Erdfelt

Answer:

I don't serve a cake or a pie or a cream and say, oh my god, this has so many calories in it, you know, it's dessert and desserts are treats. What I would do is serve a smaller portion instead of a larger portion. And one, you know, I haven't done the math to know that cashew cream is more caloric than whipped cream. I don't know about that. It seems like you may. Um, but of course how much, but what cashew cream has is it has nutrients, it has fiber. Whipped cream is all fat, you know, it's heavy cream, it's fat and cashew cream has is there's fat in nuts, there's fat in cashews, but we're talking about healthier. So, and there, there is, you know, there are reliable sources saying that the fiber in nuts is going to help you digest your food differently, help the fat hit your system differently. So I don't know, you have to decide. I would serve the cashew cream smaller portion of it and not worry about it. Or maybe you have someone sitting around your table who doesn't want any.
Fran Costigan

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com