Portland Chocolate Desserts

.

This list illustrates the wide range of innovative chocolate desserts available at Portland area restaurants, cafes, and bakeries. It is for inspiration and comparison only, as dessert menus change regularly. In addition, the desserts listed here may span multiple seasons, thus may not all be available in the current season. (Call ahead if you are counting on experiencing a specific dessert, at a specific restaurant, on a specific occasion.)

 

You will notice several key chocolate dessert themes across the current Portland restaurant landscape. For instance, despite overexposure the past few years, the molten chocolate cake and it’s close relatives (warm, flourless chocolate cake and fallen chocolate souffle) are alive and well, thank you very much. These are almost always accompanied by ice cream, which seems a necessity to reliven the palate after each super-rich chocolate bite.

 

Another trend seems to be the reemergence of the classic mousse, which I was beginning to wonder if pastry chefs had either forgotten or purposely abandoned. Bravo! Donuts (churros and beignet) are also well represented, as are puddings, pot de cremes, and panna cottas, which effectively combine the luxury and elegance of the finest couverture chocolate with homey comfort and nostalgia. Not exactly pudding the way Mom made it, but pudding nonetheless.

 

Trends that don’t appear to be hitting Portland in any significant way are deconstructed desserts (such as those that appear in Demolition Desserts by Elizabeth Falkner and across much of the Boston dessert landscape) and Verrines (colorful desserts layered in glasses). Are these too cerebral, too chichi for Northwesterners? (I don’t see much of this in Seattle either.)

 

COMING SOON   We are eating our way through chocolate desserts in Portland, Seattle, Maui, and Boston. The most interesting and tasty of these will post, with pictures, in early February, just in time for Valentine’s Day. But to whet your appetite, we will post on drinking chocolate in early December, complete with gift basket suggestions and our special recipe with several flavoring options.

 

NOTE   Orange text indicates desserts we have sampled thus far. We have a LONG way to go! :-)

 

23 Hoyt (NW district)

  • Warm Chocolate Pudding Crepes with Coffee Ice Cream, Salt Caramel & Candied Pecans
  • German Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream & Toasted Coconut

   

 50 Plates (Pearl district)

  • Faux Hos: Cocoa Sponge Cake with White Chocolate Cream & Dark Chocolate Shell
  • Mile-High Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting & Brown Sugar Ice Cream
  • S’More Fondue: House-Made Grahams, Molten Marshmallow & Vahlrona Hot Fudge

 

Alberta Street Oyster House (NE Alberta St.)

  • Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Cherry-Black Truffle Gelato
  • Devil’s Food Cake with Fresh Peaches & Bourbon Cherries

 

Andina (Pearl district)

  • Torta De Chocolate with Decadent Chocolate-Cinnamon Cake Served with Lucuma Ice Cream & Toasted Corn Praline
  • Authentic Handmade Peruvian Truffles
    • Cusco: Yellow Hot Pepper, Spiced Citrus Peel in Milk Chocolate
    • Loreto: Passion Fruit And Apricots in Milk Chocolate
    • Capuli: Dark Chocolate Ganache Infused with Anise

 

Bay 13 (Pearl district)

  •  Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart with Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Fleur de Sel

 

Bluehour (Pearl district)

  • Chocolate Layer Cake with Turkish Coffee Ice Cream & Pecans
  • Chocolate-Glazed Hazelnut & Almond Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream & Espresso Caramel Sauce

 

Café Castagna

  • Chocolate Pot De Crème

 

Carlyle (NW district)

  • Chocolate Framboise Pyramid

 

Castagna

  • Dark Chocolate, Caramel & Cashew Tart with Rum Mousseline

 

ClarkLewis (NE River district)

  • Flourless Milk Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon Ice Cream and Chestnut Honey
  • Black Bottom Pie with Hot Fudge, Caramel & Candied Pecans  

 

Clyde Common (Downtown)

  • Chocolate Mousse, Whipped Cream, Toasted Marshmallow & Graham Cracker
  • Cardamom Cocoa Nib Creme Brulee with Chocolate Crinkle Cookie
  • Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake with Sherry Raisin Ice Cream, Coco Fudge Sauce & Hazelnuts

 

District (Pearl district)

  • Molten Chocolate Cake with Ginger Ice Cream

 

Fenouil (Pearl district)

  • Beignets au Sachet: Chocolate Fritters with Lemon Sage Creme Anglaise
  • Les Soufflés: Duo Of Chocolate Soufflé & Honey Tangerine Soufflé with Rum Caramel & Cognac Chocolate Sauce

 

Fife: An American Place

  • Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso Ice Cream

 

 Giorgio’s (Pearl district)

  • Warm Soft Chocolate Cake with Homemade Caramel Ice Cream

 

Heathman (Downtown)

  • Black Forest Chocolate Cake with Bing & Rainer Cherries, Chantilly Cream & Chocolate Shavings
  • Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake with Guittard Chocolate Sauce & Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Triple Chocolate Pot De Creme: White, Milk, and Dark Chocolate Puddings

 

Higgins (Downtown)

  • Chocolate Mousse Bombe Filled with Raspberry Sorbet  
  • Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Spiced Chantilly Cream

 

Holden’s Bistro (Pearl district)

  • Chocolate Pavlova with Hazelnut Chantilly Cream, Bing Cherries & Raspberries

 

Jo Bar (NW district)

  • Wood Oven Baked Molten Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Creme Anglaise

    •  

    Lauro Kitchen

    • Chocolate Midnight Cake with Crème Anglaise

     

    Lovely Hula Hands (NE Mississippi St.)

    • Chocolate Pave Cake with Espresso Cream and Salted Almonds

     

    Lucca

    • Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso Anglaise & Chocolate-Hazelnut Bark
    • Profiteroles with Caramel Ice Cream, Warm Chocolate Sauce & Toffee Sea Salt Crumbles

     

    Lucier (SW Waterfront district)

    • Cafe Con Leche Millefeuile with Milk Chocolate, Burnt Cinnamon & Espresso Gelee
    • Tarte au Chocolat with Kumquat Confiture & Salted Butter Glace

     

    Lucy’s Table (NW district)

    • Boca Negra: Moist Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake, Whipped Cream & Nut Florentine

     

    Mint

    • Cinnamon Infused Caramel Chocolate Fondue with Fresh Fruit & Pound Cake
    • Chocolate Croissant Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

     

    Noble Rot (SE district)

    • Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream & Caramel
    • Dark Chocolate Mousse, Hazelnut Brittle & Coffee Foam

     

     Nostrana (SE district)

    • Chocolate Budino
    • Chocolate Sorbetto & Chester Blackberry Sorbetto with Hazelnut Cookie
    • Chocolate Almond Marbled Cake with Chocolate Ganache

     

    Nuestra Cocina

    • Moist Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate and Caramel Sauces and Cinnamon Ice Cream

     

    Oba! (Pearl district)

    • Cinnamon-Chocolate Volcano Cake with Caramel Creme Fraîche Ice Cream
    • Baked Argentina with Chocolate Cake, Bananas, Pineapple, Caramel, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream & Toasted Meringue
    • Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mousse Cake

     

    Olea (Pearl district)

    • Devil’s Food Cake with Earl Grey Mousse, Kumquat Marmalade & Blood Orange Jus

     

    Paley’s Place (NW district)

    • Warm Chocolate Soufflé Cake with Toasted Hazelnuts & Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

     

    Paragon (Pearl district)

    • Mocha Chocolate Tart with Cocoa Syrup & Vanilla Ice Cream
    • Flourless Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Anglaise, Blackberry Coulis, Whipped Cream, and Fresh Blackberries
    • Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart with Salted Peanuts & Chocolate Sauce

     

    Park Kitchen (Pearl district)

    • Chocolate Figgy Pudding with Pecan Icebox Cookie
    • Chocolate Pear Torte with Pear Brandy Sabayon & Crushed Amaretti
    • Chocolate Panna Cotta, Blood Orange Granite & Mint
    • Chocolate Toast, Stout Sabayon & Fresh Raspberries

     

    Roux

    • Chocolate Bourbon Pudding Souffle with Whipped Cream

     

    Sel Gris

     

     

    Print this Page Print this Page

    Comments are closed.