Crunchy, salty, mini and much more, dessert at restaurants took on many forms and flavors in 2015. Here’s a look back at some of the trends that appeared on menus last year that we are likely to see more of in 2016.
Warm comforts
When temperatures dipped to arctic levels last winter, chefs responded by serving up desserts designed to warm diners up, such as crispy crème brûlée and warm caramel.
At Delicatessen in New York City, Michael Ferraro made Spiced Pumpkin Crème Brûlée with maple cream.
The culinary team at Restaurant Nada, a contemporary Mexican chain based in Ohio, offered a Warm Chocolate Torte with bananas Foster gelato and Meyer’s dark rum caramel.
The menu at Sol Mexican Cucina in Newport Beach, Calif., included a warm Blondie La Guera, a white chocolate blondie with white chocolate and pecans, topped with ice cream and caramel sauce spiked with reposado tequila, fruit and toasted pecans.
Meanwhile, crème brûlée and caramel merged in Karen and Quinn Hatfield’s goat milk custard brûlée with the dairy caramel cajeta at Odys & Penelope in Los Angeles, and in Jennifer Renaud’s Cider Bourbon Crème Brûlée with caramel apple compote at Tempo Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails in in Waltham, Mass.
Salty endings
Salt from all corners of the globe made it onto the dessert menu as pastry chefs experimented with salty-over-sweet meal enders.
At Pastaria in St. Louis, executive pastry chef Anne Croy showcased her passion for salt-forward desserts with dishes such as coconut milk gelato with apricot liqueur-infused sliced apricots dipped in local Askinosie chocolate and then rolled in pistachio dust and Trapani sea salt from Sicily. She also made a mangle pickle gelato, featuring gelato made with spice marinated mangoes that she layered with toasted lemon-glazed cashew shortbread and sprinkled with Kala Namak black salt from the Himalayas.
Brothers Piter and Handry Tjan, co-executive chefs at Sushiko in Chevy Chase, Md., added Foie Gras Ice Cream with Pink Himalaya Sea Salt to their menu.
Troy Guard, chef-owner of Sugarmill in Denver, put smoked sea salt inside and on top of his White Chocolate Bread Pudding.
And at American Cut in New York City, pastry chef Tara Glick paired sea salt ice cream with a chocolate brioche bread pudding with brûlée bananas and banana-Jameson butterscotch sauce.
Downsized desserts
Whether due to their diminutive appeal, sharability or diners watching their waistlines, miniature desserts of all kinds remained a big trend on menus across all segments.
At Robert’s Maine Grill in Kittery, Maine, pastry chef Molly McCarthy offered bite-sized versions of the restaurant’s full-sized desserts, including blueberry crumble à la mode, raspberry pie à la mode, brownie sundae, lime coconut cheesecake and chocolate pecan pie. The miniatures repeatedly out-sold their full-sized counterparts.
At North End Grill in New York City, pastry chef Tracy Obolsky offered miniature lemon meringue doughnuts served with house-made honeycomb candy and blueberry compote. The doughnuts sold especially well due to their small size, the restaurant reported.
And the Italian doughnuts at fast-causal chain Fazoli’s — miniature made-to-order desserts dusted in granulated sugar and served with a berry fruit dip — continued to be big sellers for the second year in a row.
White chocolate
As the quality and availability of white chocolate has grown in recent years, so has the number of chefs experimenting with it in desserts.
Last year, a large portion of chefs experimented with white chocolate in frozen desserts, including chef Mike Rakun of Marin Restaurant in Minneapolis, who used it in his white chocolate popcorn sorbet; pastry chef Meredith Larke of Embeya in Chicago who made a dessert of Thai coffee ice cream with caramelized white chocolate mousse, coconut chile crumble and mint; and chef Jeremy Glovers of Ceia Kitchen & Bar in Newburyport, Mass., who menued a carrot semifreddo with poppy seed crumble and white chocolate.