National Dessert Month

National Dessert Month - October 2024

Food & Beverage Cooking Dessert Food

Dessert “Day”? Not long enough. Dessert “Week”? Now, we’re getting closer. Honestly though, we can all agree that desserts deserve their own month. That’s because you can have a totally different treat at the end of every October day and you’ll still have so many left to try. So let’s face the cold sweet facts. Dessert’s a necessity. Why,it’s quite possibly the only reason kids will finish their vegetables. But as an adult, go ahead and have some extra pie. No one’s looking!

 

National Dessert Month timeline

1999

Biggest. Brownie. Ever.

The largest brownie on record was made by the Something Sweet Bake Shop in Daphne, Alabama. It weighed in at 234 pounds.

1760-1840

Desserts went widespread

During the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the U.S., desserts became mass-produced, processed, preserved, canned, and packaged.

Mid-17th century

Big finish

In his pioneering cookbook "Le Cuisinier François," François Pierre La Varenne declared that sugary foods should be served as the course after savory.

1381

Pie please

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer published the first printed recipe for apple pie.

300 BC-600 AD

The sweet trade

Crystalized sugar made its way via trade routes to Macedonia and China.

Five More Delicious Reasons We Love Dessert

  1. Credit the French

    The word "dessert" originated from the French word "desservir," meaning "to clear the table."

  2. Leave room for pudding

    In the United Kingdom, dessert is usually referred to as "pudding."

  3. Boston Cream Pie? It's a cake

    You read that correctly. The inventor, an Armenian-French chef, likely made the original in a pie tin — more common than cake pans at the time. English was not his first language. You can guess the rest.

  4. German — but not Germany

    German chocolate cake was named after Sam German, who developed German’s sweet baking chocolate in 1852.

  5. Baked Alaska is neither

    New York's famed Delmonico's Restaurant named this dessert as a way to celebrate Alaska’s annexation.

National Dessert Month Activities

  1. Make an elaborate dessert for yourself and others

    Go on — give it a try. Make that Baked Alaska, chocolate souffle, or set of eclairs. You'll impress your friends, instill yourself with a sense of pride, and have a delicious reward for your efforts!

  2. Have dessert for breakfast

    That's right, skip the eggs. Go for some French toast, Belgian waffles, or chocolate chip pancakes. There's joy in being subversive!

  3. Go wild on Halloween

    How about a costume party where people dress as their favorite dessert?

Why We Love National Dessert Month

  1. Because it's dessert

    It's sweet. It's delicious. It tops off dinner and you can even have it for breakfast. There's a reason they put whipped cream on waffles.

  2. Dessert can help you lose weight. Seriously.

    Studies have shown that adults who eat dessert as part of an otherwise nutritious diet succeed in losing weight in the long term. Why? Because the body responds to small amounts of desserts by decreasing its own appetite for them.

  3. The variety doesn't stop

    How about a baklava from Greece, a coconut bar from China, or some sherry from France? Or even an exotic fruit salad? It's all out there.

Also on Tue Oct 1, 2024...