Dessert Trends

Desserts. We love them. As children we were bribed to finish everything on our plates with the threat of ,' no dessert' , if we didn't. Many a pea or Brussel sprout gave its life so a child could have jello or chocolate pudding for dessert. Desserts have come a long way since then. Trends come and go. Mini desserts are becoming more and more popular. Sometimes we are counting calories, other times we just want a little taste of something sweet. Enter the mini desserts.

These little bite size wonders have become so popular that is hard to find a chain restaurant that doesn't have them on the menu. No longer do we have to choose between , cheesecake, key lime pie, hot fudge cake or strawberry shortcake. We can have bite sizes servings of all our favorites and not feel guilty. At the other end of the dessert spectrum are the giant desserts.

I was in Springfield, MO, with a group of friends. One of my friends didn't care for her entrée so she ordered the chocolate, brownie, cookie, fudge, something or other for dessert. Much to her embarrassment four waiters loudly announced her choice as they carried her Giant dessert through the dining room to our table. They attracted so much attention that the other diners came over to out table to see who had ordered the dessert monstrosity. It was too funny for the rest of us, but my poor friend couldn't eat a bite. Howevere, giant desserts are fun to share with the family or close friends.

Cupcakes. I think the cupcake trend , while still popular, may have reached its peak. Cupcakes are perfect for singles or couples or when doesn't want an entire cake but still wants that warm, fuzzy feeling we remember getting from Mom's homemade cupcakes. I love the cupcake shops that sell nothing but cupcakes in an array of flavors. Cupcakes fall into the category of Nostalgia Desserts, including warm chocolate chip cookies, homemade apple pie, bread pudding and Red Velvet Cake.

These desserts bring back memories to Mom and Granny , home and love. Often these desserts might have a new twist but more often than not they are the chef's traditional family recipe. Is there a restaurant in America that doesn't offer ice cream? From fast food chains to fancy sit-down's ice cream is the number one favorite. We love ice cream and as ethic restaurants began opening the owners soon came to the realization the easiest way to satisfy our need for a sweet ending was to offer ice cream. Now we have Mango Ice Cream in Indian Restaurants, Green Tea in Japanese and Red Bean in Chinese.

Today , Around Our Southern Home and Garden' wi we will pull out the hand crank ice cream machine to make homemade peach ice cream. Yum ! Yum !!