NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS & FOOD - Chef's Corner

Pastry Chef Megan Roen of Bayona

Megan Roen's Chocolate Raspberry Flourless Cake Recipe

For most diners, at least reading the dessert list is a necessary conclusion to a fine meal. But St. Valentine's Day demands a more lavish foray into sweetness. That presents a delicious challenge for pasty chefs like Megan Roen at Bayona.

While certain holidays, especially St. Valentine's Day, seem to beg for extravagant choices on a dessert menu, pastry chefs can be few and far between at most restaurants in New Orleans. In most local restaurants, there isn't a chef on staff who just does desserts and pastry. But Roen is one of a handful of designated pastry chefs in the city. At Bayona, she even has her own kitchen.

With that time and space, she creates everything in-house. Bayona doesn't buy ice creams or sorbets from outside suppliers. She does their molded chocolates. She bakes brioche and makes homemade marshmallows. And she can easily tailor the dessert offerings to complement Susan Spicer's dinner menu.

Last year for St. Valentine's Day, she did a special menu including a Dark Chocolate Raspberry Napoleon with Raspberry Sorbet, a Peppermint Frozen Parfait with Chocolate Beignets, more straight ahead Chocolate Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Louisiana Strawberries.

They hit Valentines annual tryst between chocolate and red fruit. Add a little champagne and the mix is perfect. But it's easy to create such seeming decadence at home. Flourless chocolate cakes have become ubiquitous in restaurants in recent years. And in truth, they are easy to make. Using dark chocolate instead of sweeter milk chocolate gives them a richer flavor. And they are easily complimented by simple additions of strawberries or raspberries.