Fastest-Growing Fruits in Desserts

Operators are increasingly highlighting both classic and lesser-known fruits in desserts across Canadian menus.

Rhubarb is the fastest-growing fruit in desserts. The tart fruit is appearing as a compote or preserve in cheesecake and by itself after being poached. Although it is commonly paired with strawberries, operators are now menuing it with other ingredients as well, such as pistachio in cakes and ice cream.

Yuzu, an East Asian citrus fruit, is also on the rise. It is often combined with lemon atop ice cream or as a mousse, which mixes the floral, tart taste of yuzu with the sharper flavour profile of lemon. Operators are also spotlighting caramelized or curded yuzu for an interesting preparation method.

Operators are mainly menuing peach in cold desserts. Frozen options include peach ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt. Other desserts include peach pie and peach mochi cake.

Dates are also growing in desserts. This tropical fruit is popping up in vegan desserts, including vegan cheesecake or date bars where they are paired with oats and brown sugar. Dates double as a natural sweetener and are also used in toffee pudding.

Another tropical fruit, coconut rounds out the top five list and is often paired with seeds such as chia, flax, pumpkin and sunflower varieties in puddings and cookies. Other popular uses include carrot cake, cheesecake and coconut cream pie. Fun frozen offerings include coconut-flavoured sorbet and ice cream.