Forget tiramisu and bread pudding. They are simply too squishy, and well, they just aren’t chocolate. If a restaurant can only have one dessert, it should be chocolate.
Pizza Hut certainly gets the crave. Of the six desserts on its current delivery menu, four are chocolate. It partners with Hershey’s and just announced its latest LTO chocolate dessert called Hershey’s Hot Chocolate Brownie, which combines cocoa, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and mini marshmallows. That’s bold, just like it should be. Any restaurant that merely menus chocolate mousse as it’s offering simply doesn’t get it.
I also think that restaurants aiming for such chocolate indulgence should make it huge, because that speaks of value and shareability to the consumer. Again, let’s look at pizza menus. For only $6.99, Pizza Hut’s new dessert is a square 8 inches. The pizza giant’s permanently menued Hershey’s Triple Chocolate Brownie for $5.99 looks like an entire pan of brownies cut into nine squares and served warm. In Papa John’s fashion, Pizza Hut also has a huge, round pizza-shaped chocolate chip cookie cut into slices.
Domino’s Pizza has also gotten in on the large chocolate dessert act with its new Marbled Cookie Brownie, described as a combination fudge brownie and chocolate chunk cookie cut into nine pieces for $6.49.
Another chocolate-lover’s dessert idea on trend is the eternally loved ice cream sandwich. Carl’s Jr. went nostalgic with its version introduced this summer—calling on Hostess Ding Dongs for its ice cream sandwich. The chocolate snack cake is split in two and filled with hand-scooped vanilla ice cream.
TGI Fridays went with Oreos for its version of an ice cream sandwich. It describes its Fav Oreo Madness dessert as “Cookies and Cream ice cream sandwiched between layers of hand-crumbled Oreo®cookie crust, drizzled with premium Ghirardelli® chocolate sauce.” Again, notice how bold that is.
If there’s going to be chocolate cake on a menu, let it be hot and gooey. Yes. You heard me. Its middle name should be decadent. Denny’s finally got on it with it pretty new Chocolate Lava Cake, “A warm, rich chocolate cake filled with molten chocolate and topped with premium vanilla ice cream.” Simple, but who would ever pass that up?
Can a fast-food restaurant pull off a chocolate molten cake? They aren’t. Why is it not happening? A few years ago, Arby’s did a Molten Chocolate Lava cake as an LTO it described as “Luscious warm chocolate cake with a decadent molten lava chocolate filling, topped with premium cocoa crumbles. Yeah, it pretty much sells itself.” So why isn’t it on the menu now? Instead, it has a crusty Chocolate Turnover on the menu. R&D, where are you?
In the pie category, consider the Northeastern classic whoopie pie. It can go on the menu any time. Newk's Eatery just added Whoopie Pies as an LTO simply described as two flat pieces of chocolate cake sandwiching a creamy vanilla filling for $3.45. But now, let’s get creative. That cake. Could it be chocolate donuts—glazed or cake—instead? Or crispy chocolate cookies? How about that cream? Could it be cream cheese? Butter frosting? Come on. Let’s shoot for the stars.
I just think that restaurants should spend a day or a week rethinking chocolate on the dessert menu, and they should make it obscene. Is anyone with me?
Jody
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