Everyone is always yapping about frozen custard. St. Louis residents and expats swear by Ted Drewes (the inspiration at least for Danny Meyer's Shake Shack in New York. Milwaukeeans sing the praises of Leon's and Kopp's, and their neighbors to the west in Madison love their Michael's. Indianians go crazy over Culver's, and New Yorkers wait in line at Shake Shack for an hour for their burgers and custard (custard freaks like us know to hit the always short B-line at Shake Shack, which is for drinks and custard only). So in this era of Fed-Exed everything, we decided to gather as many of the above-mentioned frozen custards and do the ultimate frozen custard taste test.... More

Before we return you to our regularly scheduled programming, we wanted to introduce you to Erin Zimmer, who will be checking in weekly with notes and news from the greater D.C. area. Welcome, Erin! We're looking forward to your dispatches from the nation's capital. —The Serious Eats Team So maybe Tasti D-Lite isn't always as mouthwatering as the flavor names insinuate. But every once in a while, the ten-calorie-per-ounce fluffiness is Godlike. So why can't cities like Washington be part of the fro-yo fun? Oh wait. Here's a little known fact—even to longtime D.C. residents. We kinda are. Tasti D-Lite actually has a long-lost cousin in College Park, Maryland, at the center of the University of Maryland's campus. It opened... More

When the weather’s sweltering and you’ve got beads—no, rivulets—of perspiration trickling down your limbs and the sun dazzles so you could almost swear the air is shimmering, most people lose their appetite for "real food." They slurp ice pops, dive into bowls of ice cream, down milk shakes, attend fro-yo socials, stick their heads in refrigerators when the environmental police are not looking, and plot escapes to air-conditioned havens. Here in Southeast Asia, where the weather’s like that, oh, pretty much all the time, and where women are commonly seen drawing lines through their food before digging in (dieters generally eat half a portion of what’s already half to a third of an average American serving), such calorie bombs are... More

Some people think that dessert may only be eaten after finishing the main dishes devoid of refined sugar. These people may even call dessert the most dispensable part of a meal. [shudders] However, if you're anything like me you know that dessert is the most important part of a meal, if not nutritionally (okay, definitely not nutritionally) then psychologically. Anything that comes before dessert may be tasty, but by the nature of not being dessert is also a barrier to the ice cream sundae or chocolate layer cake that eagerly awaits prodding from your dessert spoon. Dorie Greenspan might know what I'm talking about—otherwise I don't think she would've written Baking: From My Home to Yours, a bible of all... More

Working at Paris-based Pierre Hermé, one of best patisseries in the world, is a joy that few of us are qualified to experience but many of us are curious to learn about. Thankfully, Fanny of foodbeam possesses the culinary prowess required to intern at the patisserie for the next 7 weeks and like any good food blogger is diligently documenting the experience. Her first week round up is loaded with beautiful photos and kitchen commentary that should interest any dessert lover or Pierre Hermé groupie (I being one of them), possibly resulting in uncontrollable drooling while staring into the hearts of the meticulously crafted creations. If you ever visit Paris and have a penchant for sweets, you absolutely cannot... More

Holly of Raspberry Debacle should win an award in the category of "Important Contributions to the World of Desserts" for her detailed and lovingly hand-drawn Sketch Toward a Taxonomy of Desserts and Meta-Desserts. The chart illustrates what you get when you combine two dessertoms—the metaphorical atoms of dessert—such as as crepe with fruit (fruit crepe), pastry with cream (eclair), or cream with cream (loads of cream). The bottom of the chart also lists several vital dessert functions, such as chilling, heating, and processing. If the chart weren't efficient enough, Holly has devised a shorthand system for referring to the combinations of the dessertoms and functions. For instance, instead of saying, "A trifle is a mixture of fruit, cream, custard,... More

Karina Kappel, who has a degree in scientific illustration, put her knowledge to work creating anatomically accurate cookies that depict butterflies, bees, and ladybugs. She's $5,000 richer as a result, after winning a contest run by dessert-decorating supplier Wilton. Photograph from wilton.com... More

Lynn of To Short Term Memories made these lovely macarons for herself after teaching a cooking class. One's filled with dulce de leche and the other with kaya, a rich, creamy jam made with coconut milk, eggs and pandan leaf most popular in Singapore and Malaysia and usually served spread on toast. I do not know how I will continue to exist in the world today knowing I cannot have these in my mouth!... More

The photo from TeamSugar's recipe for molten chocolate cakes with fresh whipped cream is killing me; the recipe itself, not so much. I do love the teeny little wax paper cups haze1nut chose to bake the cakes in, they're a great idea and I wouldn't mind it if they caught on—but if you're going to make molten chocolate cakes why not use the original recipe from Jean-Georges Vongerichten himself? (If you're not feeling JGV, Chowhound bakers pointed to their favorite recipes on Epicurious a few months ago, they all sound just as delicious.)... More