Dessert mashups, such as s’mores cookies, pie cakes and the infamous cronut, continue to make headlines on dessert menus by blurring the lines between two classic desserts to create new and exciting flavor profiles.
Operators are combining familiar desserts and pastries to make such new dishes as the townie, a brownie and tartlet hybrid, and piecake, a pie baked inside of a cake. While pies, cakes and brownies aren’t new to most consumers, the combinations of these desserts usually are—and they’re appealing in their novelty. Technomic’s recent Dessert Consumer Trend Report found that 63 percent of diners have dessert at least once a week, and more innovative dessert menus are more appealing to consumers.
Guests’ increased interest in dessert means operators can capture sales in this segment by offering playful dessert-hybrids that combine desserts in an unexpected way, as mashups allow guests to satisfy their sweet tooth—and their curiosity. “Refreshing the dessert menu can land a restaurant in that sweet spot of appealing to consumers who love to order their favorites as well as a new set of diners excited about new flavors,” says Kelly Weikel, director of consumer insights for Technomic.
One of the most extreme dessert mashups is the Pumpecapple Piecake at Three Brothers Bakery in Houston. This dessert hybrid is made of six different pies and cakes, including pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pecan pie, apple pie, spice cake and chocolate cake. At $250 per cake, it’s clear that guests are willing to pay to have a one of a kind dessert experience.
Dessert mashups don’t have to be as extreme as the Pumpecapple Piecake, and often, operators find that experimenting with something as simple as ice cream and cheesecake or donuts and scones gives diners the variety that they’re looking for.
This post is sponsored by The Original Cakerie