Who doesn’t like dessert? They are usually the highlight of any meal since they come last and leave great impressions. They are also the most awaited dish and many try their best to always leave room for more. While desserts are inherently delicious, there are still plenty of ways to bring them to the next level. Here are some of the best tricks to make your desserts more delicious, from simple ones such as proper ingredients ratio to lesser-known ones of using secret ingredients to elevate the whole dish. Read on!
Use applesauce instead of oil
One of the lesser-known ways to make your desserts more delicious is to use applesauce instead of oil. While many might argue head on that this is simply a hack to make your desserts healthier, we say – have you ever tried how delicious applesauce is? When you use applesauce as a replacement for oils, not only do you benefit from the nutrients and evade the health risks associated with some oils, but you also get an extra note of flavor. However, one thing to be wary of is that applesauce usually contains high amounts of sugar. It’s important to note this because it can interfere with the recipe, so make sure you adjust the levels of sugar correctly. A general rule is to replace a cup of oil with three-quarters of a cup of applesauce to even out the balance.
Add a pinch of salt
It’s only become obvious in recent years that adding a pinch of salt to your desserts will enhance their flavor tremendously. While this may be true for home chefs, we’re sure that the old masters have been using this trick for ages. The science behind taste suggests that the salt which is made up of sodium ions will enhance the flavor of chocolate because the ion channels will be open when the process of tasting is happening. Sodium-ion channels can be found all around our body, but in these cases, we’re talking about the ones on our tongue. When you taste plain chocolate, some receptors will be active, but when you taste salted chocolate, ion channels which are essentially receptors for salty food will also be activated, making your desserts taste much better.
Maybe add some spices
While it may seem crazy to even be salting your desserts, adding spices might be going overboard. However, as you have probably heard, one of the most popular Mexican (more specifically Aztec) beverages was hot chocolate with chilies. Why not use chili powder to boost the flavor of your desserts. The Aztecs were a very advanced civilization, who even had their recipes carefully developed. Imagine only what you can do with the spices that are readily available today. Another great idea that you can implement is to add a little bit of pepper to your desserts, especially the ones that have an almost fruity note. This will surely tingle your taste buds, and make your desserts more delicious, and generally give you a better idea of what spices you can use.
Use quality ingredients
One sure way to make your desserts more delicious is to use the most quality ingredients you can get your hands on. While it may be easy to get the staple ingredients of the highest quality, some additional items such as flavorings or extracts (most commonly vanilla) might not be available in your local market. It’s actually better to get vanilla from its original farmland, as it naturally holds more quality, creators of Native Vanilla also emphasize the fact that not every kind of vanilla is the same, so it’s totally reasonable why the location makes a big difference in quality! Some of the commonly used ingredients in desserts are exactly vanilla, be it in the form of extract, powder, or vanilla paste. Since there are a few different types of vanilla such as bourbon vanilla which can make your desserts even more delicious, so choose wisely!
Use good chocolate
Another very important thing to consider when talking about quality ingredients is to try and use the best chocolate you can find. As a rule of thumb, commercial chocolate bars have barely 50% of cocoa and are mostly made out of sugars or sweeteners. While they may be tasty when you eat them on their own, the lack of cocoa will show once you melt it and use it for your desserts. This is why most professional bakeries use dark or milk chocolate that has at least 70% of cocoa in it. This is considered an ideal balance of cocoa and sugars. Furthermore, white chocolate, to even be considered white chocolate, needs to have at least 30% of cocoa, giving it more of a yellowish color, than pale white. Remember these numbers the next time you’re about to make desserts.
Use the correct measurements
While this may not be a fancy trick to make your desserts more delicious, with many people just winging the number of ingredients they use, it might as well be. Baking is a delicate and precise science. The recipes have usually been developed for quite some time to get the perfect ratio of sugar, flower, levers, and oil/butter to achieve the desired texture and flavor. This is why you shouldn’t just eyeball how much you put in because it’s carefully devised to get you the best results. And yes, with some additives such as vanilla, alcohol, or toppings such as fruit and cookies, you can even go overboard, because it won’t affect the architecture of your dessert. Just make sure you follow through with the recipe and you will get a delicious dessert.
Making desserts is a whole lot of fun. It allows us to experiment with different tastes, ingredients, and even shapes and sizes. When it comes down to desserts, the sky’s the limit. However, some things should be kept constant such as proper ingredients ratio, because baking is quite precise, and will inevitably fail if you put too much flour, for example. But, if you pay close attention to this, then you can focus on elevating the taste with salt, spices, and vanilla or alcohol to get it an extra note. Just be sure to use quality ingredients.
