Categorizing Flavor

In order to understand the role of flavor in a dessert, it is best to start by putting flavors into broad categories. Admittedly, this process is often a subjective exercise, so feel free to insert additional ingredients into the following chart, or move ingredients into other categories as your taste impressions dictate. Note that some items with highly complex flavors appear more than once.

When using the chart to analyze the recipes in this book, you will note that the components that make up a single dessert most often will each be drawn from a different category, thereby making the overall flavor profile of the dessert more complex and interesting. When developing desserts of your own, you can also use the chart as a tool to anticipate or plan for the dessert’s multiple flavor dimensions.