We’re into the last lap of 2022, and I wonder if I’m the only one who notices that end-of-the-year LTOs are refining the sugar industry. I would be more worried about the onslaught of stuffed and stacked cookies, ice cream, cakes and donuts, but we all know that diet-friendly January is around the corner. Healthy specials will be the stuff of restaurant press releases soon enough.
But until then, look at some of these new glycemic index overloads that give American desserts the “too sweet” reputation they have among internationals.
- A hot Mrs. Fields cookie alone is tough to resist, but how about a sizzling rendition in a mini-skillet topped with M&Ms or chocolate chips, a scoop of ice cream and chocolate sauce? Way. It’s on the menu at Acapulco Restaurant y Cantina at least through February.
- Through the first week of January, Chuck E. Cheese is bringing it with the icing. Its Polar Bear Cupcake touts a large vanilla cupcake filled with vanilla frosting, all rolled in white sprinkles with candy ears, eyes and nose.
- I have a feeling this one isn’t going away anytime soon. KFC has tested and now is expanding its Funnel Cake Fries, which are funnel cakes shaped like French fries dusted with powder sugar. Pick your poison!
-
Krispy Kreme is trying for a mashup with its Sugar Cookie Doughnut. That is one of its popular glazed doughnuts with sugar cookie icing topped with a sugar cookie sprinkle blend. It will only be around through the holidays, but good job tapping into the traditional holiday handheld crunchy dessert.
- This one from Native Foods has an apt title: Glazed and Confused. It’s a chicken sandwich, but not really. It’s plant-based fried chicken with candied jalapeno pepper slices and non-dairy maple butter—but it’s on a glazed doughnut! Either the doughnut guilt is erased with the plant-based chicken, or the doughnut provides the entry point to those who otherwise couldn’t get over the plant-based chicken ick factor.
- Waffle LTOs easily turn into desserts. This season it’s The Toasted Yolk Café with its Double Stuffed Oreo Waffle. They describe it as a warm chocolate waffle stuffed with sweet cream cheese and Oreo filling, topped with caramel sauce, whipped cream and Oreo crumbles. That, my friends, takes the waffle cake.
Of course, these are just LTOs. The industry knows we will get back to our better selves soon enough. In fact, chefs have their eye on better-for-you dessert tweaks. The National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot 2023 Culinary Forecast is out. In this chef survey, respondents rank alternative sweeteners as the No. 1 dessert trend. That would be the likes of maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. Well, perception is reality, you know? For better or worse, Paula Deen’s famous quote of yesteryear comes back to roost. “Honey, I’m your cook. not your doctor.”
Jody
