Why aren't there more good desserts sold?

[Craig234]

This is sad: When I think of a most cake, the first one I think of is KFC's chocolate and lemon cakes. They're chemical factory productions, yet it's hard to think of a better purchase option quickly.

Next up: fudge is hard to find. One 'candy store' sometimes has it, and one market sometimes has it, at about $5 for a modest amount, and that's it.

I don't mean candy. I mean desserts. There's one place that sells small creme brulee at $4 a pop for what looks like about 4-6 ounces.

And there are restaurant desserts at some restaurants.

And the market has a 'Claim Jumper' factory pie like chocolate cream with a cookie crumb crust that's edible.

That's an awfully short list. Go to New Orleans or Paris or many other places sometime, there are many good, better desserts for sale. Why are our selections so few? This isn't about cooking options.

After that, the market bakeries do provide a few options, like Boston cream type pies. The other obvious selection is ice cream desserts, but I'm not having ice cream, which wipes out a lot of options.

Think about fast food chains... terrible. Mostly those little factory 'fruit pies' like McDonalds. 'Soft serve'. Maybe churros.

 

[BoomerD]

Too many places offer apple crisp or some kind of cheesecake...two things I just don't care for. Cheesecake (cheese pie) CAN be hella good...but it's generally mediocre at best.
You started off with KFC... that kind of mass-produced junk is never worth eating.

 

[Craig234]

You started off with KFC... that kind of mass-produced junk is never worth eating.

Kind of my point.

 

[BoomerD]

Kind of my point.

Yet you said:

yet it's hard to think of a better purchase option quickly.

it's crap...maybe somewhat tasty...but crap.

 

[Moonbeam]

Desserts may be arid but people have property deeds in them and they aren't up for sale.

 

[dasherHampton]

Here's a dessert I remember well. It was made by one of the housekeepers my parents had come once or twice a week.

She'd line a casserole dish with her own Graham cracker crust and place a layer of banana slices all along the bottom.

Then she'd make her own chocolate pudding type filling (delicious) and pour in like 2 inches worth over the banana. It tasted kind of like dark chocolate.

Then she made a fantastic whip cream topping (again from scratch) and top the whole thing off with an inch or so of that stuff. After chilling the thing had the consistency of hard jello.

Oh my God was that was heaven on earth. Sorry to go off topic.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Is a donut not a dessert? Fritters, cake, raised, sourdough, buttermilk - so many varieties....

I'd rather have a Home Run fried pie than a fast food dessert.

I'm a sucker for a gooey warm bread pudding & decadent flourless chocolate cake.

 

[Maxima1]

Too many places offer apple crisp or some kind of cheesecake...two things I just don't care for. Cheesecake (cheese pie) CAN be hella good...but it's generally mediocre at best.
You started off with KFC... that kind of mass-produced junk is never worth eating.

Weird. Cheesecake to me is hard to get wrong. Usually it's pretty damn good. In fact, I like plain cheesecake over the flavor ones even when they're considerbly more premium. The one good thing about Save-A-Lot was the cheap cheesecake. lmao. Pies are a different matter. Even premium pies can still be like that jelly artificial crap. I love a good blueberry pie.

 

[Kaido]

Why aren't there more good desserts sold?

Honestly, I think food in general has gone downhill. Not just because of COVID, but you really have to search to find really good food these days, especially desserts. I'm fortunate that I'm like an hour outside of NYC & Boston, and Yelp can help you navigate the job of finding amazing places to eat, but tbh this is a really big reason I got into cooking myself. Cooking & baking, as it turns out, isn't hard at all, and you can create some pretty ridiculous food at home without much effort! Despite my forum title, I consider myself a fairly average baker, and yet - thanks to other people's recipes that they meticulously developed - I have a virtually endless supply of amazing stuff to make!

I am sad that there aren't more great dessert places tho. None of the late-night diners in my area even have good pie! There's almost nowhere I can go these days, even pre-COVID, to just grab a really great dessert somewhere. As a result, I try to keep my freezer stocked up with various homemade goodies to pull from when the munchies hit lol.

 

[Kaido]

Weird. Cheesecake to me is hard to get wrong. Usually it's pretty damn good. In fact, I like plain cheesecake over the flavor ones even when they're considerbly more premium. The one good thing about Save-A-Lot was the cheap cheesecake. lmao. Pies are a different matter. Even premium pies can still be like that jelly artificial crap.

Dude seriously! What is up with good pies being made from garbage ingredients! Easy as pie should be easy as pie lol. I mean, I'm all for one of those jelly-filled hand-pies from the gas station when the mood strikes, but if spend some change on a real pie, then it should be GOOD! lol. I can make a better pie using Jello pudding filling in most cases! So lame.

 

[Craig234]

Yet you said:

Again, that's my point. All I can do is repeat what i said. It's sad that the first option I think of for a moist cake is KFC, as bad as it is, that there aren't better options enough. I think there are some $30 cake type options, but that's more than I'm usually looking for.

 

[Craig234]

I'm a sucker for a gooey warm bread pudding & decadent flourless chocolate cake.

Oh man, bread pudding is ruined for me after having an incredible one in New Orleans. Good stuff, and another dessert hard to find.

 

[Craig234]

Is a donut not a dessert? Fritters, cake, raised, sourdough, buttermilk - so many varieties....

Eh, sort of. And you're right to mention it, we do have decent donuts, and a recently opened Dunkin Donuts which I have a fondness of for nostalgia more than quality.

 

[pete6032]

Most grocery stores have bakeries that sell dessert foods. Also dunkin donuts is basically a dessert shop, so is dairy queen.

At the higher end chains like whole foods generally sell more gourmet dessert items.

 

[Craig234]

At the higher end chains like whole foods generally sell more gourmet dessert items.

Higher end groceries are a bit out of the way, but I'd forgotten, Whole foods does have some good options, but it's still not all that many. But a few nice ones.

 

[Craig234]

Costco is another disappointment on this. They do make some cakes, an apple pie, a squash pie they call pumpkin pie, but it's not much.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Where do you live? I can throw a rock and hit 5-10 places that sell quality baked goods and desserts near us.

 

[nakedfrog]

Good dessert is more expensive, and people are cheap.

 

[quikah]

Where do you live? I can throw a rock and hit 5-10 places that sell quality baked goods and desserts near us.

This. SF Bay Area has lot of good options. Paris Baguette and 85°C chains have a nice selection of breads and pastries. Several independent pastry shops around too.

 

[sdifox]

I have access to a lot of good desserts. And I can make my own as well.

 

[Craig234]

This. SF Bay Area has lot of good options. Paris Baguette and 85°C chains have a nice selection of breads and pastries. Several independent pastry shops around too.

Which is where I am - but not in the city, where there are lots of choices.

 

[nakedfrog]

So you're really just complaining about having to drive further to get good desserts, but they are available to you?

 

[Craig234]

So you're really just complaining about having to drive further to get good desserts, but they are available to you?

I'd rather not spend an hour each way to go to San Francisco to get a dessert. Apparently you don't understand that. The topic is not "good desserts don't exist", it's that there are too few.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'd rather not spend an hour each way to go to San Francisco to get a dessert. Apparently you don't understand that. The topic is not "good desserts don't exist", it's that there are too few.

It sounds like there are plenty, you just aren't committed enough to get them. Before I moved, if I wanted a kick-ass cinnamon roll, I had to drive 45 minutes, so that's what I did if I wanted one.
Of course, I never drove that far JUST for a cinnamon roll.

 

[BudAshes]

Probably because American fatties don't really care how that corn syrup is poured down their gullets and those of us with taste are few and far between so the premium bakeries only exist in premium locations.