Afters thoughts
With increased pressures on time and a greater awareness of healthy eating, as a nation we're eating fewer desserts, particularly at lunchtime.
However, caterers could do more to stop the rot, according to Debbie Windibank, marketing manager for desserts and ice-cream at Brake Bros. She finds that in pubs, for example, exciting starters are promoted over desserts, with the pudding board brought out only at the end of the meal. If they were shown at the same time, she believes more customers would opt for a main course and a dessert.
Offering a wider choice is the suggestion of William Curley, managing director of Patisserie One. "While many people will indulge in a dessert when eating at home, when it comes to eating out, it's often dessert that is missed from the meal," he says. "This can be for a variety of reasons. However, ultimately, time and limited choice are key factors."
Curley has launched an alternative to heavy dairy desserts for the food service market with his range of Tokyo Café jellies. With less than 130 calories, they can be targeted at health-conscious consumers who want a light dessert or a snack during the day.
Ice-cream is the nation's number-one dessert, suppliers say, because it's cheap and easy to serve, has a wide appeal and allows plenty of scope for creativity. Windibank adds that cheesecake and chocolate fudge cake are also still firm favourites, in recognition of which Brakes launched a new range of cheesecakes last month, including blueberry Tuesday cheesecake and lemon and lime.
"The profitability of premium ice-creams and speciality desserts can be as high as 70%, so don't overlook desserts as the poor relation," advises Mike Godwin, managing director of Schöller Ice Cream. "Offer a sophisticated mix of fruit and ‘warm' flavours through the year, and remember that 40% of ice-cream sales are made outside summer." Schöller's Ice Cream of the Year for this summer is mango crème fraîche, while Ice Cream of the Winter 2001 was poire belle hélène.
Also new this summer is MasterFoods' launch of Mars, M&M's and Snickers ice-cream into food service, each now available in 2.5-litre tubs.
But while there is a decline in dessert sales in some sectors, it seems that markets such as the NHS sector are growing, since TV presenter Loyd Grossman's involvement with menu planning. Windibank says that new ideas using old favourites are popular too, as caterers look for novel ways of presenting familiar puddings, such as Brakes' flapjack crumble served in a pan, and its Puddle Pudding - a chocolate pudding with a puddle of white chocolate in the middle.
Mini-desserts and petits fours are also proving very popular. Brakes' Mini Chocolate Cups, filled with dairy or chocolate cream, topped with a piece of fruit and decorated with chocolate chips, were launched in April. And in keeping with the current popularity of cheesecakes, mini versions are now available. For caterers who like to add a personal touch to a ready base, Brakes launched a Summer Fruit Cookie Drop last month - an individual chocolate cookie base, layered with vanilla cheesecake, to which caterers add their own topping.
Similarly, Ambrosia's range includes Devon Custard and Chocolate Sauce, as well as what it describes as "more contemporary options" such as fruit coulis with 75% fruit. Caterplan says that the whole Ambrosia range is freeze-thaw stable, microwavable and can be served hot or cold.
Most popular desserts in the UK
- Ice-cream
- Fruit pies
- GÁ¢teaux
- Sponge puddings
- Cheesecake
Source: SchÁ¶ller/Food Service Intelligence
Ice-cream screams potential
- The UK is the fifth-largest ice-cream market in the world
- Most is mass-produced; the artisan market has yet to be developed
- There are around 500 ice-cream parlours in the UK, compared with 23,000 in Italy
- Dairy ice-cream now enjoys a 50:50 split in market share with ice-cream made from vegetable fats
- Sorbets are more commonly sold in hotels and restaurants, with lemon the most popular flavour
Source: SchÁ¶ller
Sugars explained
Granulated sugar
This is a pure, natural, crystal sugar, with no additives or preservatives, ideal for sweetening desserts such as crumble. It is also suitable for recipes in which the liquid content and cooking times are such that the crystals can dissolve quickly.
Uses: caramelising, desserts, hot beverages, sprinkling on cereals and fruit, sugar syrups, chutneys/salsa, savoury sauces (such as sweet-and-sour).
Caster sugar
A finer graded sugar than granulated, this allows more air to be incorporated when mixing. It gives more volume to baking mixtures, resulting in an extra light texture. Owing to its smaller crystals, caster sugar will dissolve much quicker.
Uses: savarin, desserts/cakes, meringues, stock syrup, crÁªpes/pancakes, stewed fruit, pÁ¢tisserie.
Icing sugar
Called the "confectioner's" sugar, this is made by milling the sugar crystals into a very fine powder. It is ideal for pÁ¢tisserie, pastillage and various forms of sugar craft, as well as icing.
Uses: icings, confectionery, dredging, sauces, pastillage/sugar craft.
Demerara sugar
With the colour and flavour of molasses, Demerara traditionally has large crystals, a golden colour and an appetising aroma. It offers a distinctive crunch and flavour to crumbles and biscuits. Uses: crumbles, hot beverages, chutneys, glazes, biscuits and cookies.
Light brown soft sugar
This is similar to Demerara, but with finer crystals.
Uses: cakes, biscuits, desserts.
Dark brown soft sugar This has a rich, full flavour and a deep brown colour, and is ideal for adding a characteristic taste.
Uses: rich fruit cakes, gingerbread, Christmas puddings and savoury dishes.
Golden syrup Made from sugar, syrup and caramel, this has a distinctive taste which adds a rich flavour to a range of recipes and helps maintain moistness in the finished dish.
Uses: sponge puddings, treacle tarts, biscuits, cakes, glazes.
Black treacle
Produced from cane molasses and sugar syrup, this adds a deep, rich flavour and dark colour to a range of dishes. It also helps maintain moistness in the finished dish.
Uses: Christmas cakes and puddings, fruit loaves, chutneys, savoury glazes and sauces.
Source: Silver Spoon
Contacts
Ambrosia (Caterplan) 0800 783 3728
Brake Bros
0845 606 9090
Macphie
01569 740621
Masterfoods 0800 952 0011
Patisserie One 01455 618119
SchÁ¶ller Ice Cream
01483 205500
