When it comes to making sweet desserts, it is typically a good idea to choose flavors that work well together and control the level of sweetness in the dish. There are many complimentary flavors that can be used in desserts, such as chocolate and mint or peanut butter. Recipes should usually be followed fairly closely, especially when making a dish for the first time, to ensure that sweetness is balanced and not overpowering in the final dish. It can also be a good idea, when making sweet desserts, to try to combine some salty or savory flavors with the sweetness for additional balance.
Sweet desserts can be made in a number of different ways, using ingredients that can range from sugar and chocolate to honey and vanilla. One consideration that should be kept in mind when making these dishes is to use flavors that are naturally complimentary to one another. Many people associate chocolate with flavors like peanut butter, mint, or fruits like raspberry and strawberries. By combining these types of flavors together in sweet desserts, the total dish becomes more pleasing and seems like a natural blend of tastes that work well together.
It is also important for sweet desserts to have a combination of flavors and different types of sweetness that keep the dish from becoming too sweet. This is why semi-sweet or unsweetened chocolate is often used in pies and cakes, with sugar added to it. The baker, then, has greater control over the level of sweetness in the dish. A sweet pie crust with sweet filling, chocolate sauce, and sugar sprinkled on top may seem like a good idea, but all of those ingredients can quickly become overwhelming. Sweet desserts should typically be balanced so that certain ingredients, such as caramel sauce or strawberries, have a chance to stand out among the other flavors.
Savory or even salty flavors can also be used in the making of sweet desserts to provide an even more stark and noticeable contrast. Salty and sweet are often used together, since salt naturally enhances any flavors with it and provides a strong backdrop for other ingredients. A slightly salty or sour pie crust, one that includes buttermilk or uses crushed crackers, for example, may make a sweet filling even more noticeable and pleasing. These types of combinations can be found in a number of sweet desserts, such as strawberry rhubarb pie, and allow for a wider palette of flavors in each bite.