At Rathbun’s in Atlanta,
RATHBUN’S RESTAURANT
a made-for-one banana-
peanut-butter crème pie
gets a toasty meringue
finish for service.
DESSERT TRENDS
A DOZEN WAYS
Single-Serving
DESSERTS
are a Sweet Deal
Made-for-one treats deliver high-impact flavors
at a size and price that diners find irresistible
BY DEB NORTH
GALAXY DESSERTS
omewhere between the huge wedge of cake and the
S tiny dessert shots, there’s a lot of leeway for playing
with portion size, and mini, single-serving creations
are grabbing the spotlight. They are smaller and have that Adorable baby bundt cakes can be given
made-just-for-you allure, while still being big on flavor. a center filling or rounded out with a
Individual treats like petite cakes, turnovers, cookies and side of fresh fruit or other extras.
other made-for-one masterpieces also offer easy service
and add-on sales. At Mimi’s Café, with 146 restaurants nationwide,
At Rathbun’s restaurant in Atlanta, partner and Pastry Corporate Chef and Vice President Adam Baird developed
Chef Kirk Parks offers daily creations like Gooey Toffee an ensemble of petite desserts, including bread pudding
Cake with Jack Daniel’s ice cream, and Red Pear Fritters with buttery whiskey sauce and fresh apple-cinnamon crisp.
with ginger honey for under $4. You can “pick your “We have grown in this category,” he notes, “because
favorite four” for $11. most customers are shopping in the ‘value’ section; plus, we
“The price is unheard of in the fine-dining segment,” are finding more people like less on their plates these days.”
Parks says. “Sixty-five to 80 percent of patrons order If you’d like to build on the momentum of unique,
dessert, so it’s quite a busy station.” individually sized desserts, here’s how.
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DESSERT TRENDS
BAKE A BATCH OR TWO SWEETEN UP
SANDWICHES
They may sound simple and even child-like, but cookies have grown up; no longer
just an after-school treat, they add crisp, delicate and complex elements to any Ice cream never fails to
menu and fall in the comfort please on the dessert
zone for diners who want menu. Sandwiching the
that little something smooth treat between two
extra after the meal. crisp or chewy cookies is a
cool way to dress up the usual
> Mini chocolate-chip cookies scoop as an individual dessert.
and a shot glass of milk
— Violet Restaurant, Santa > Ice Cream Sliders: A pair
Monica, Calif. of house-made ice cream
sliders on sweet Hawaiian
> Hamantashen, Traditional buns with crispy puff-
Purim Treat: Sweet, buttery pastry fries and sides of
cookies filled with raspberry “ketchup” and “mayo”
or apricot jam — Ettore’s made from white
European Bakery & chocolate and strawberry
Restaurant, Sacramento, puree — Reservoir
Calif. Seasonal Rustic,
CALIFORNIA RAISIN MARKETING BOARD
Los Angeles
A few cookies bring a > Ice Cream Sandwiches:
comforting touch to the end of With Rocky Road and
the meal, and they offer infinite
options for customization.
marshmallow fluff — Brix
Restaurant, Napa, Calif.
CUT THE CAKE SIZE
Sometimes one “slice” of cake can feed a table of four. But as restaurants
explore less-is-more strategies, enormous cake portions
continue to be downsized. Andrea Berend, product
manager of Downers Grove, Ill.-based Sara Lee
Foodservice’s Bistro Collection, says her
company is doing just that, for both cakes and pies.
“We introduced six new products at 2.5 ounces
to 3 ounces — a perfect three-to-four-bite
individual serving or optionally served as part of a
shareable dessert flight,” says Berend. “We suggested
a menu price of $2.99 to $3.49. These items are truly the
right price, right size.”
SARA LEE
> Bistro Collection Desserts: Cake varieties include cream-cheese-filled carrot
cake, hot-fudge cake, New York-style cheesecake and pineapple upside-down cake — Instead of sharing an oversized
Sara Lee Foodservice, Chicago wedge of cake with the table,
dainty cakes allow diners to
enjoy a just-for-me dessert.
> Big Baby Bundts: Lemon, chocolate with white-chocolate drizzle, chocolate on chocolate
and molten chocolate — Sweet Street Desserts, Reading, Pa.
114 FLAVOR & THE MENU Fall 2009 www.flavor-online.com
DESSERT TRENDS
A TASTE OF TART BRING ON THE BONBONS
If there’s anything better Sometimes, all a customer
than a rich, filled tart, it’s a wants is just one or two tastes
made-for-one to delight the sweet tooth and
tartlet. Petite and finish the meal. In our small-
boasting perfect plate world, little gems of chocolate
crust-to-filling make a nice finish.
proportions,
tartlets are crisp > Mini Chocolate Cube,
treats, begging to be Mexican-Chocolate Mousse:
CALIFORNIA WALNUTS
broken open and A new shape and a spiced-walnut shortbread Tempered-chocolate box with spicy
crust give this apple tartlet an extra edge.
enjoyed. Ibarra chocolate, known for its
crystallized yet creamy texture
> Streusel Tartlet with vanilla ice cream and local apples in brown butter (from cocoa butter) and flavored
— T.W. Food, Cambridge, Mass. with allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg,
vanilla and, often, chiles
> Chocolate Pecan Tartlet with Kentucky bourbon — Rathbun’s, Atlanta
— David’s, Portland, Maine
> Chef’s Tasting of Chocolate
> Klug Farm Cherry Tartlet with vanilla-bean ice cream, cherry drizzle Candies made with different
— Province, Chicago liqueurs — Sona, Los Angeles
FRITTER AWAY
In small doses, fried foods
can’t be all bad, and very
few people make them at
home, so they are a dining-
out favorite. New forms and
fillings are popping up on menus:
Fritters, beignets, sweet spring rolls,
wontons, churros, empanadas and
dumplings are all open to sweet
interpretation.
> Mrs. Smith’s Mini Dumplings:
Dumpling-sized turnovers can be
deep-fried or baked with apple,
strawberry cheesecake, cherry or
chocolate-swirl fillings, ready for
multiple applications and dipping
in a variety of sauces — Schwan’s
Food Service, Marshall, Minn.
> Cinnamon Churros: With dulce
de leche ice cream and house-
candied Brazil nuts
— Nacional 27, Chicago
116 FLAVOR & THE MENU Fall 2009 www.flavor-online.com
DESSERT TRENDS
DO THE DOME THINK HIGH
Domes turn ice cream and other Puffed up in single-
creamy fillings into shapely, serving ramekins,
multi-textural, chocolate-covered sweet soufflés are a
treats, with surprises like throwback to
maraschino cherries or chocolate fancier times but are
truffles inside. They are both grabbing attention as a soft,
sophisticated and reminiscent of ice- cushy brûlée alternative.
cream-truck confections.
> Frozen Key Lime Soufflé:
> Chilled Chocolate Domes: With Coated with graham-cracker
peanut-butter nougat, chicory crumbs; served with
caramel, pretzel brittle, cream- raspberry sauce and
soda fluff and Maldon sea salt whipped cream
MGM GRAND
— Otom, Chicago — Bullfinch’s, Sudbury, Mass.
> Bomba: Vanilla and chocolate > Strawberry-Almond Soufflé:
gelato wrapped in chocolate with Single desserts are taken to new heights With an amaretto crème
almonds and a red heart of with light-as-air soufflés, served straight up anglaise — Hartstone Inn,
maraschino cherry. Served open or with sauce poured inside, tableside. Camden, Maine
with a dollop of whipped cream
and chocolate sauce — Bertucci’s
RECREATE CANDY
CONFECTIONS
Most people have a favorite
candy bar, and pastry chefs
are no exception, which
explains the proliferation of candy-
inspired individual desserts. Packed
with nostalgia and creamy, crunchy,
sweet-salty goodness, these are
irresistible additions to the dessert list.
> Ode to the Whatchamacallit:
Milk-chocolate peanut-butter
mousse with malted-caramel
milk-chocolate cocoa crispies and
a shot of peanut-butter milkshake
— Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, Chicago
> Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup: A
huge peanut butter cup, warmed
and topped with vanilla ice cream
and drizzled with chocolate-and-
peanut-butter sauces
— Uno Chicago Grill
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DESSERT TRENDS
PILE ON PARFAITS DO THE DONUT
Nothing says “made just for you” like a carefully Donuts, beignets, sopapillas
layered parfait, served in a glass and beautifully — these ultra-sweet
stacked with ice cream or pudding, liqueurs, sauces, morning treats have
fruit and any number of extras. jumped the rails to dessert.
In fancy, filled versions or
> Chocolate Parfait: Chocolate-almond cake, caramel Chiboust (cream), simple doughy donut holes,
chocolate sorbet, spiced caramel — Zinnia Restaurant, San Francisco they’re another sweet idea
for menus of all kinds.
> Black Pepper Parfait: Poached cherries and pistachio
— Grace, Portland, Maine > Italian-Style Donut Flight: Cake
donuts, as opposed to yeast-risen,
these treats are dusted with cinnamon
and sugar and served with two sauces,
BABY THOSE CAKES Kahlua fudge and white chocolate
Bailey’s — Houlihan’s Restaurants
In fancy bakeshops, cupcakes have gone upscale, even
replacing wedding cakes and, in some cases, taking on savory > Vanilla-Dusted Donuts for Two: With
notes. These mini treats are finally emerging on fromage blanc sorbet, Northwest
restaurant menus, where their charm is no less effective, rhubarb compote — Art Restaurant,
and their size always works, even after a big meal. Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle
Reading, Pa.-based Sweet Street Desserts launched a cupcake line
with favorite flavors like red velvet and lemon meringue.
Accompanying service caddies are fun and eye-catching.
“These unique, contemporary display pieces provide the operator DEB NORTH, freelance food writer,
with endless possibilities and flexibility to create a small flight of marketing communications consultant and
desserts to please the palate and wallet,” says Marketing Manager Robin graduate of LeCordon Bleu College of Culinary
Drezner. “Operators can offer variety and fun for the whole table.” Arts, can be e-mailed at ebubrat@bellsouth.net
> A Study In Chocolate Cake: Chocolate-buttermilk and bittersweet- Flavor & The Menu Senior Editor
chocolate-mousse layer cake, Valrhona-chocolate-cake ice-cream KATHY HAYDEN contributed to this article.
“cupcake” with chocolate frosting, fresh honey cream and
honeycomb — Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, Chicago
> Red Velvet Cupcake: A Southern classic with a hint of chocolate,
topped with vanilla-bean-and-cream-cheese frosting
Who could resist this sophisticated lineup
— Claim Jumper Restaurants of tiny cupcakes, with flavors, frostings
and confections to fit every taste?
SWEET STREET DESSERTS
118 FLAVOR & THE MENU Fall 2009 www.flavor-online.com