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There are two types of chefs in the restaurant world; those that cook and those that bake or create desserts. If you cook, you may put on your executive chef coat and head into the kitchen to test your latest menu item without giving a second thought to dessert. After all, a chocolate cake or cheesecake will do, right?
Yes and no. While there are plenty of diners that will happily order a big slab of chocolate cake, or a familiar slice of apple pie, many will pass if the dessert menu doesn’t have something that stands out. After all, you’re asking people to order more food after they’ve already completed their meal; most people are full by this point, and may need something unique to get them to want more.
Revamping your dessert menu can increase the size of your average check, as well as leave your guests walking out with a memorable ending to their meal. It will take more than a frozen chocolate cake to get them talking.
If you think that simply making your desserts from scratch will help, you’re on the right track, but you haven’t quite pushed the limits as far as you can. Even the creamiest, most delectable cheesecake is still cheesecake in some people’s eyes, and while it may make your guests swoon while eating it, it doesn’t keep them talking, because, well, everyone has had cheesecake.
Instead, to really push the limits, you need to think outside the box. There are many upcoming trends that will not only encourage diners to order desserts, but also leave them so impressed that they will keep talking about it after they leave.
Savory
Savory desserts are desserts that are still on the sweet side, but offer a bit of the unexpected with ingredients not typically found in sweet foods. Vegetables, spices, and other ingredients add interest, flavor, and unique texture to savory desserts. If you don’t think it can be done, think about carrot cake or zucchini bread. Both use vegetables to create sweet, yet not overpowering desserts.
Other examples include drizzling caramel sauce over salty, pan seared grilling cheese. Try making ice cream with traditional savory ingredients like celery or cucumbers. You can even adding a bit of cayenne to your chocolate mouse.
Not every savory ingredient will work in a sweet application, of course, so this requires a bit of experimentation. If you can pull it off, however, this is the perfect way to get your guests to try something new, and when they are impressed, it will be memorable.
Hybrid
Hybrid desserts are those that combine two popular and delicious foods into one even more delicious combination. Surely, you’ve heard of a cronut by now, the croissant/donut combination created by New York chef Dominique Ansel that you can’t get without standing in line for hours. You can do the same thing with any two popular desserts. Maybe pie and cake is the next sensation, or S’mores and cookies.
If there is something to remember about people that love sweets, it’s that if they like just one dessert, they’ll love two in one even more. Just don’t overdo it; a combination of two things is good, three may work, but any more than that, and you’re likely to create something that is too overwhelming for someone to order after a big meal.
Ethnic Inspired
Many people that travel a lot are surprised to find that desserts in other countries are just as different as their cuisine. You can use this kind of inspiration to create desserts that are unique, but still sweet enough that picky eaters may still want to try them.
Go Asian with ingredients like tapioca, green tea, or coconut milk. Or try authentic European pastries made with real butter, or rich and flavorful custards. Churros, flan, and sopapillas make delicious Mexican inspired sweets.
Just make sure that you don’t do something that’s not authentic or that’s been done a hundred times. You can find tiramisu in most Italian restaurants, but probably not an authentic version. Do some research to come up with the best ideas, and be creative. A Chai spiced cheesecake may be your next signature dessert.
Mini Desserts
Giant slabs of cake and cookies the size of hubcaps are tending to lose popularity in restaurants as diners start to care more about quality than quantity, while also worrying about their health. If one thing is for certain, the minute someone starts watching what they eat, dessert is the first food they cut from their list.
Unless of course, they can have a single bite or two of something sweet and satisfying, which is where mini desserts come in. Mini cheesecakes, bite sized pies and tarts, and small cookies are all ways to encourage diners to order more without feeling like they can’t finish their entire dessert. It’s also a good way to get multiple people to order dessert since they can get what they want instead of sharing something that may not be a favorite.
Locally Inspired
Local food is becoming more and more popular with savory dishes, and it’s just as important when it comes to dessert. If you can get local and seasonal fruit for your pies, or get milk from a local dairy farm, why not use these same ingredients to create your desserts? Maybe there is a local chocolatier in your city that you can get baking chocolate from for your flourless chocolate cake. Sometimes, putting the term “local” as well as the name of the farm or business you got the product from can be enough to get environmentally conscious diners to order dessert.
Another option is to buy desserts from a popular local bakery or pastry chef.
Samplers
You’ve probably seen appetizer samplers, beer and wine flights, and even entrée samplers on restaurant menus in the past; why not a dessert sampler?
While it kind of goes along with the mini dessert trend, offering samplers gives diners that can’t choose the option to get a bit of everything. You can either offer only smaller desserts, or smaller servings of your regular sized dessert if that’s better for your customers.
Healthy Desserts
With more and more people watching what they eat, offering desserts that are lower in fat and calories may be an option for you. You don’t have to make so called “diet” desserts to do it; you can make creamy raw desserts out of fruits like avocados and bananas, or sorbet that is made from real fruit. Many diners who feel like they have overindulged with dinner won’t even think about ordering a rich, high calorie dessert, but they might if they can enjoy it without feeling guilty. Just remember to test your healthy desserts before serving them.
Conclusion
If you’re dessert menu consists of some frozen chocolate cakes and cheesecakes from your local warehouse store, you may be wondering why you’re not moving more of them. The answer is that diners want creativity. They’re looking for something that is different from what they can find elsewhere, or that offers something other than overindulgence. By tweaking your dessert menu to take on a couple new trends, you can improve your sales, and get people talking about your restaurant for weeks after they’ve left!