New Sweets on the Block

An increasing desire for something unusual or innovative is creating a market for foods beyond our traditional horizon. Some of those novelties blur the dividing line between sweet and savory. Sometimes inspired by international recipes, salt and chile–flavored fruit ice pops, maple-bacon ice cream, and Sweet and Spicy Fruit Salad are pushing the envelope for the inexperienced. Other preparations, like Grilled Pineapple with Green Peppercorns and Orange, smoothies, or compotes with basil or lavender, are suddenly considered less exotic. In recent years, legumes or grains made their way onto the sweet stage. Ice cream featuring mung beans or adzuki beans can be found next to funnel cakes made from chickpea flour. Rice pudding, a traditional all-time favorite, is dressed up with spices like cardamom or saffron, like in Cardamom-Flavored Cream of Rice with Saffron, or made from different grains including barley, quinoa, and cracked wheat.