pas si doux

Dessert. 

Often orthographically confused with desert (ironically the cake I baked last night was both desert- and dessert-like)

Can be used as a weapon (see: pie in the face)

From the French word desservir meaning to clear what has been served

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Dessert has signified to me many things: a naughty treat gulped down in secret; a harbinger of gluttonous excess and inevitable belly aches; a marker of a good time had by all; a short-lived reward.

For so long, dessert has been an enemy. Something I shouldn't touch. Something I would only eat during my permitting moments when, in desperation, I threw out all the rules and loaded high my plate. 

Now, no food is off limits. I have stripped food of all emotional attachment (well, I'm getting there). I can eat as much dessert as my body wants. And there's the rub: my body doesn't usually want a whole lot. Why? Too. much. sweetness. Body. can't. handle. Water. now. please.

Driving home from a graduation party last weekend, my body slumped in the back seat in full sugar-crash mode, I complained to the universe: Why must it be this way? The desserts, oh, how delicious they looked. And oh, how lousy I feel.

Desserts are hard to ignore. In fact, I photograph the most irresistible:

A rum-soaked cake in Mainz, Germany:

A cherry custard in Berlin.

Apple strudel...

and Black Forest cake from somewhere along the Rhine.

I'm kind of obsessed with desserts. But their aggressive sweetness has really been bringing me down (literally). 

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So, I've decided to begin a daring new venture: a baking business that specializes in desserts (namely, madeleines and cakes) made with local and/or organic ingredients, and, most importantly, natural sweeteners instead of that old ball and chain, refined white sugar. I want to create baked goods that are aesthetically stunning, ethically produced, and not quite so offensively sweet. No more sugar crashes: just a delicious dessert that treats your body well.

I've finally taken the vaidya's advice: I'm identifying a new passion (baking! making bodies happy!) and committing to it. Look for the Pas Si Doux Bakery (that's French for "not as sweet") at the Providence Farmers' Market in the fall. 

Madeleines are the new cupcakes, y'all.