Finishes --- Desserts and Specialty Coffees

Desserts are the perfect way to end the meal.  Desserts should be sweet, light, smooth and creamy.   Desserts can be hot or cold or both.  Baked Goods account for almost half (47%) of total desserts, however, 11% of these are topped with an ice cream or other frozen/chilled confection.  At least 53% of desserts are served frozen or chilled and of these 14% include a baked goods ingredient such as a cookie, brownie or wafer. 

Desserts may consist of a stand alone baked good or a stand alone dessert dish or a combination of both.  Desserts such as malts, shakes, smoothies or iced drinks may also accompany the meal or, in many cases, be the meal.

Dessert Cuisine---Thank You France and Italy and Mexico

Most desserts can be linked to an associated cuisine.  This connection, however, does not apply to universal desserts such ice cream sundaes, chocolate cake, apple pie and cookies. But the association does work for items identified with a particular country or region.  No matter what type of dessert is served, the application of an identifying menu item name conjures up an image and builds on a romance that frequently is place specific.

Menu Item Base:4221

Source:   Menu Mine! analysis 500 chain menus     *derived by sum of  24% + 23% + 6%, above 

French-Dessert Cuisine

We are indebted to the French for mousse, meringue, creme brulee, French silk, truffle cake, napoleon, souffle, eclair, crepe, gateaux, croissant and torte among others

Italian-Dessert Cuisine

Thank you for Italian ice, cannoli, spumoni, formaggio, sorbet, tiramisu, gelato, biscotti, cappuccino, mocha, mascarpone cream, zabaglione, saboyon, panna cotta (cooked cream), cheesecake (Romans B.C.) and others

English-Dessert Cuisine

If it goes with tea, we thank the English.  This includes bread pudding, scones, custard, shortbread, crumpets, trifle, mince pie, tapioca, gingerbread, tea pancakes, rice pudding (ambrosia), creme brulee, creme Anglaise.

American-Dessert Cuisine

This dessert cuisine concentrates on cool beverages and is more closely identified with cookie and candy brands.  American dessert terms include smoothie, shake, malt, shortcake, freeze, slush, swirl, krispy treat, Oreo, Butterfinger, Snickers, Baby Ruth, Reese's, Hershey, Red Velvet Cake, New York style cheesecake, Toll House, Frosty, waffle cone, shoo fly pie, angel food cake

Country Home-Dessert Cuisine

This cuisine may seem the same as American and not too different from Southern, but it has a distinctness and covers the positioning of a lot of dessert menu items.  Desserts falling into Country Home include the use of terms such as home baked, home made, country and include items such as cobbler, cinnamon roll, pumpkin, biscuit, Boston cream pie, turnover, twist and others.

Island Tropical-Dessert Cuisine

Foodservice Research Institute invented the Island Tropical cuisine name.  The category known as Iced drinks exploits allusions of cool tropical breezes with names like tropichill, trade wind, pina colada, volcano, jungle, java, coolata, coconut, monsoon, aloha, Hawaiian.  Add key lime, floribbean, Key West and Caribbean to this list.

Southern-Dessert Cuisine

Pecan, peanut butter, mudd pie, Mississippi, praline, creole, Jack Daniels, bourbon, turtle, molasses pie.

Mexican Latin-Dessert Cuisine

Churros, sopapillas, choco taco, chimi, flan, profiterole, caramelo, margarita, ancho, tres leches, fried ice cream.

German-Dessert Cuisine

Struesel, strudel, bavarian cream, bear claw, dutch apple, german chocolate.

Healthy Light

Healthy Light may not technically be a cuisine, but more and more desserts fall into this category every day---and this includes desserts identified as no sugar, lite, non fat, reduced fat, low carb, low fat, healthy, sugar free and more.

Caribou Coffee-----Iced Latte Alaskan Fruit Smoothie

Clubhouse-----White Chocolate Mocha Pot du Creme Cheesecake

Bob Evans-----Fall Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Green Mill Restaurant & Bar-----Ancho Diablo Cake

California Pizza Kitchen-----Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Shula's Steak House-----Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Darryl's-----Butterfinger Cheesecake

JB's Family Restaurant-----Freshly Baked Cookies

Hof's Hot Restaurant & Bakery-----No Sugar Ollieberry Pie

Rainforest Cafe-----Rainforest Rick's Apple Crisp

Bahama Breeze-----Pina Colada Bread Pudding

Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar-----Low Fat Banana Brownie Sundae

Culver's Frozen Custard-----Concrete Malts & Shakes

Hungry Hunter-----Bailey's Irish Cream Mousse

Daily Grill-----Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Provino's-----Cannoli Siciliana 

Leading Dessert and Shares