Grilled Dessert Party with Recipe Reviews
Trying Out Grilled Desserts
I have read many recipes on grilled desserts recently and decided to give them a shot. I invited a few friends over, fed them dinner and asked how many have had grilled desserts. To my surprise there were just 3 or 4 who had something other than s’mores. The conversation turned into a discussion on exactly what desserts could be grilled. I then revealed my plan on giving a variety of desserts a try if they were game.
As I brought out the trays filled with the dessert items, I asked if they would be willing to give me their opinion on them. I believe the chocolate on the tray convinced them to say yes more than my discussion of grilled dessert recipes. I grilled each dessert separately so we could get the full experience of the warm, fresh off the grill taste, smell and presentation. I served small portions so that our bellies would allow us to try the six recipes.
I have listed the six individual recipes, in sections below, along with a short review of how people liked them. This turned out ot be a unique dinner party for all of us and it has begun a new tradition for our grilling dinner parties.
Preparing Grilled Desserts
Difficulty In Preparing Desserts
There were a few desserts that took a bit more prep time than others. Some have a bit more off the grill finishing touches before serving.
Baked Apple in Tin Foil
I used a Gala Apple for this recipe. It cooked up nicely and did not turn to mush, like some other apple varieties can do when cooked. I used the following ingredients:
- 1 Apple for every 2 people
- 1 teaspoon butter for every half an apple.
- Raisins
- Crushed Mixed Nuts
- Cinnamon
- Heavy Duty Tin Foil
Cut an apple, widthwise, in half. Core each half. You can used a melon ball scoop or a grapefruit spoon. You want to get the core out but leave a bowl to place ingredients in.
Place all halves on a microwave safe dish and cook for 3 minutes. Just long enough to soften the apple. This will cut down on the grill time.
Using heavy duty tinfoil, place an apple half in a piece 6 inches wide. Put a small portion of butter in center indent along with a few crushed nuts, raisins and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bundle tinfoil up around the apple, but leave it loose enough to peek in to see when it is cooked.
Place tin foil bundle on grill, over medium heat, and check to see if the apple is done in 8 minutes. You want to see that the butter is melted, and steam should come out of the tin foil bundle.
Once it is done, remove apple from tin foil with tongs and place in a serving dish. Drizzle the apple with any juices that are in the tin foil.
Review: They all agreed it tasted just like apple pie without the crust. Some people suggested adding a bit of honey or maple syrup as the drizzle.
Vote For Your Favorite!
Which is your favorite grilled dessert?
S'Mores
To make a S'more , you will need the following:
- Graham Crackers
- Marshmallows
- Chocolate Bar
- Toasting stick or fork
Break a graham cracker in half. Place a piece of chocolate on one half.
Put a marshmallow on a toasting stick and brown the outside over low heat.
When completely toasted, place marshmallow on the half a graham cracker with chocolate. Place a second piece of chocolate on top of the marshmallow followed by the second graham cracker half.
Some variations are replacing the top piece of chocolate with a halved mini peanut butter cup. Use chocolate graham crackers and white chocolate. Add some dried coconut flakes to the marshmallow before placing second graham cracker in top. Just eat the toasted marshmallow and then a piece of chocolate.
Review: Everyone wanted a second one no matter what the combination was.
Halved Peaches with Cinnamon Butter
This is an easy fruit dessert to prepare. You will need the following:
- White or Yellow Peaches 1 per person
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
Place the 2 tablespoons of softened butter in a dish. Add in ¼ tsp. of cinnamon. Mix together until well blended.
Rinse off the peaches. Halve the peaches and remove the pit.
Place peaches on grill, medium heat, and brush the top with cinnamon butter. Flip after 4 minutes. Brush top with cinnamon butter. Grill for 3 to 4 more minutes until peach is soft.
Review: Some stated that they would like the peaches with a meal instead of a dessert. Others thought the peaches would be good with a scoop of ice cream. Everyone thought the peaches grilled this way were delicious.
Grilled Mini Fruit Pies
This is a very quick and easy dessert. If you have children who love to cook, they could make this ahead of time. You will need the following:
- Mini Graham Cracker Pie Crusts Pack of 6
- 1 Can of Pie filling
- 6 teaspoons Granola
- Option of some fresh fruit to compliment pie filling
Fill a mini graham cracker pie tin with fruit filling of your choice. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of basic granola mix on top.
Place the filled pie tin on the upper grill rack over medium heat. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Filling should be hot and bubbly. Remove from heat and place pie tin on a dessert dish, preferable heat safe.
Other pie toppings you could use are a dollop of whipped cream or a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.
Reviews: Tastes just like a slice of pie. It was suggested that adding in a few pieces of real fruit, in the case of blueberry or apple filling, would make it taste fresher and not so out of the can. Most agreed it was a simple enough dessert that could be cooked while serving a grilled dinner. That way it would be ready for those who wanted a dessert right after their meal.
Grilled Banana Boat
If you are planning on making S’mores, you can add this dessert to the grill. They take the same ingredients, just in different sizes. You could cut up the marshmallows and chocolate for the banana instead of buying the mini size. When you make this dessert on a charcoal grill, place the banana pouch down in the coals with a set of tongs.
This recipe takes 3 ingredients.
- Banana 1 per person
- Mini Chocolate Chips
- Mini Marshmallows
Use a banana that is long and not overly ripe. Cut off both ends of the banana and pull off just the top peel section. Cut a hollow down the length of the banana deep enough to hold the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. This hollow is about a ¼ inch deep and “V” shaped.
Place the banana, diagonally, in an eight inch wide piece of heavy duty tin foil. Line the hollow with the mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
Begin to fold up sides to make a pouch around banana but leave the top open. Fold up the top tin foil just enough so that it can be opened to test when dessert is done.
Put banana bundle on grill over medium heat. Check to see if it is done in 8 minutes by seeing if chocolate has melted. Do not worry if peel has turned brown. If chips are not fully melted, check in 2 more minutes. Banana should be soft, marshmallows and chocolate melted.
Remove cooked banana bundle from heat with tongs. You can fold back tin foil enough to eat banana from it or serve on a dessert plate. You can add in a few more mini marshmallows or even add on a spoonful of crushed nuts.
Review: Everyone enjoyed this dessert. Some remembered making this dessert when they were camping out with the Campfire Girls, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. This was one of the desserts that would earn you a patch for cooking on homemade stoves. It just never occurred to them to make this on the grill. We all decided it was an oldie but goodie.
Grilled Pound Cake a la Mode
Depending on the type of pound cake you use, you will need to adjust the grill time. When I used a slice of marbled pound cake, I grilled it for about a minute a side due to the chocolate seemed to toast quicker. You will need the following ingredients:
- 1 Can of Pineapple Slices. (1 ring per piece of pound cake)
- 1 Pound Cake, sliced at least 1 ½ inches thick.
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Coconut Flakes
- Chocolate Sauce
Open a can of pineapple rings. Place all of the rings on a dish, but save the juice.
Slice the pound cake 1 and ½ inches thick. Scoop a tablespoon of pineapple juice onto each slice.
Place one pineapple ring for each piece of pound cake on the grill over medium heat. Flip them after 2 minutes. Cook for 3 minutes then remove from heat or place on upper grill rack.
Put the pound cake slices on grill over medium heat. Cook long enough to toast, about 2 minutes. Flip and toast 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.
You can cook the pineapple rings and pound cake on the grill at the same time. I just broke the cooking time up for each.
Place pound cake slice on serving plate. Add a pineapple slice on top of the pound cake. Place a scoop of Vanilla ice cream in center of pineapple ring. Drizzle chocolate sauce across dessert and a bit of the plate. Top it off with a sprinkling of shredded coconut.
Reviews: None of them could believe how wonderful this simple dessert is. They talked amongst themselves for a moment, and then they declared that this was the best dessert of the evening.
Ideas? Comments?
I hope you have as much fun as we did trying out these grilled dessert recipes. It made for quite an evening of enjoyable noshes and abundant conversation. I believe I overheard a conversation concerning researching more recipes to try at the next cookout. If you have any suggestions, please leave them below in the comment area.
© 2013 Susan McLeish