Hello fellow foodies! While I love writing about fine dining, what really excites me are social media food trends. As much as I try not to be a sucker for my algorithm, how am I supposed not to obsess over those realistic fruit desserts in LA that everyone’s been trying or Glace New York’s Loewe hot chocolate? Some of you may have never heard of these, so let me introduce you to the world of food trends. As for the viral fruit pastries we have been seeing, these ultra-realistic desserts are actually called trompe l’œil pastries. The mango pastry resembles a giant mango down to the color and shape. Once you take a bite, though, you are met with a soft, delicate filling inside. The best part of these desserts is the contrast between the crunchy, crackling outer shell and the rich, decadent interior. The shell is usually made from a thin chocolate coating, while the inside consists of mousse, cake, or custard, often paired with fruit fillings. These viral desserts can be found at Salswee in New York.
Many have compared these realistic fruit pastries to the realistic fruit ice creams, which I can personally vouch for. Almost every weekend, I stop by Teso Life in Newport, Jersey City, and grab a few Aiko fruit ice creams. Like the pastries, they feature a thick chocolate shell airbrushed to look like real fruit. I have tried every flavor, and my favorites are the peach and mango ones. While the ice creams have a more subtle fruit flavor, the pastries deliver a richer fruit taste, likely because they use actual fruit fillings rather than fruit blended into cream. While I am a huge fan of these fruit ice creams, I cannot say the same about Dubai chocolate. I tried to like it, but something about the overly decadent pistachio filling makes it feel too rich after just one bite.
Dubai chocolate is everywhere, from classic chocolate bars to strawberry cups popping up at places like Nuts Factory in Hoboken. My sister missed the Dubai chocolate milkshake at Shake Shack, so when we saw the Dubai chocolate hot chocolate at Paris Baguette, I had to get it for her. This drink features pistachio blended into hot chocolate, with kunafa bits adding a crunchy contrast. Still, I’m not a fan. One hot chocolate I do want to try, though, is Glace’s viral hot chocolate. Toasted marshmallow is piped around the rim of the cup, with a scoop of whipped cream plopped on top of the rich chocolate. Glace’s menu nails the aesthetics with a ‘50s retro theme, and the items themselves are incredibly Insta-worthy. They have been taking over social media with their creative collaborations. My favorite was with FunnyFaceBakery, where they made a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie topped with a swirl of brown butter vanilla soft serve in the cutest minimalistic tray.Speaking of butter, how strange does salted butter and ice cream sound? It sounds bizarre, but it has become the internet’s latest obsession. The viral trend is soft serve dipped in butter and topped with generous amounts of sea salt. We have all seen chocolate-dipped soft serves, but butter takes it to the next level. I have tried butter pecan ice cream, and there is something about butter and ice cream that is warm and gooey in the best possible way. You can find French butter-dipped ice cream at Papadamour NYC. Another innovative niche food find was the sushi pushpop, which can be found at Suka Sushi. It comes with a tube of soy sauce that doubles as a wand to push the sushi up and pop it in your mouth. Some complaints I’ve heard are that, for the price, the sushi was just okay and the pieces were too big to fully enjoy. I’m running out of words, but a few other food trends worth mentioning are the Baskin-Robbins 27 ice cream cube cake (only available in Korea), Japanese stuffed cream sandwiches, and salt bread. I’ll also end this article by saying I think we should bring back the galaxy and rainbow-themed foods from 2016!
