The Anatomy of Dessert: A Framework for Flavor Balance

by Jaime Schick

Desserts are widely associated with sugar and sweet, but when you combine elements of sour, bitter, salt and even touches of umami, you can create a truly balanced and memorable dish. These five basic tastes are worth revisiting because they form the foundation of flavor.

Sweet

Sweet has an instant impact on our taste buds; it is one of the first things we taste. Generally, sweetness is enjoyable, comforting, pleasurable and, of course, a large reason we consume desserts. Sweetness in desserts can be attributed to the use of sugar and other sweeteners, as well as fruits, vegetables and a variety of other ingredients. Sweet enhances flavors and balances sour, salt and bitter making them more palatable. Structurally, sugar plays a major role in texture, color and appearance when considering its function in baked items.

Sour

Sour is easily confused with bitter, but these tastes are starkly different. Sour tastes come from foods such as lemon, vinegar or cultured dairy (buttermilk, yogurt, etc.) and usually are met with a pucker. Sours are felt on the back and sides of the palate. The pucker response comes from the release of saliva from the salivary gland. These glands go into overdrive and flood the mouth with saliva in an attempt to neutralize the acidic taste. Sour is a powerful tool to help balance sweetness, enhance saltiness, enhance flavor and cleanse the palate of fats. Sours are incredibly refreshing in desserts, breaking up the sweet and rich notes and providing a brightness and freshness to flavors. Using sweet pickled fruit or a gastrique in a dessert is an unexpected way to heighten flavors by showcasing sour taste.

Salt

Salt is just as important in dessert applications as it is in savory ones. Salt is a universal flavor enhancer and balances sweet and bitter. When salted foods hit the tongue, they cause salivation. Saliva moves food, and therefore flavor, around the mouth and allows the taste buds to perceive the full flavor experience. Salt is easy to add to a dessert, by increasing the amount of salt in a recipe or finishing a dish with a high-quality flake salt. It can also be added via nontraditional ingredients such as olives, miso and soy, all of which harmonize with sweet components.

Bitter

When used appropriately, bitter tastes create a sharp contrast in flavor that showcase highs and lows within a dish. You can find bitter notes in black coffee, dark chocolate, black tea, molasses and dark caramel, among others. They balance sweetness on a plate, add depth, and should be used intentionally. Not everyone enjoys bitters, so using small amounts of bitter sparingly in a sauce, crunch or garnish can be just the enhancement a dish needs.

Umami

Umami is often described as a delicious, savory or even meaty flavor that can be hard to explain and even harder to incorporate into dessert. Umami creates “craveability” and is found in glutamate-rich foods. Adding umami creates depth and complexity. There are a number of glutamate-rich foods that work in dessert applications including mushrooms, miso, tomato, sharp cheeses, corn, matcha and bacon. A few flavor combinations to try in a dessert to add umami are: miso-banana, maple-bacon, mushroom-pear or tomato-vanilla as seen in image 2. This tomato tart tatin is featured in Pastry Arts Magazine Virtual Summit 2025.

How we taste

The nerve sites on our taste buds bond with the stimuli from sweet, sour, salt and bitter. This creates an electric charge, or impulse, that is relayed to the brain through nerve connections. These impulses are registered and appropriately interpreted by the brain creating the specific taste sensation we experience.

Similarly, these nerve sites can also create a trigeminal response when stimulated by certain foods. A trigeminal response is the sensation of lingering flavor or the perception of a temperature difference. You experience this when you eat a spicy pepper or cooling peppermint. A few foods that trigger a trigeminal response include mint, hot peppers, cinnamon, anise, ginger and Schezuan or black peppercorns. The cover photo uses candied jalapeno peppers in a doughnut to create a subtle heat that is balanced by chocolate cremeux (bitter) and mango lime sorbet (sweet, sour). Use trigeminal foods sparingly and in courses that are towards the end of a meal due to the effect of lingering flavor.

Role of aroma

Aroma is an often overlooked component of taste and flavor perception. While taste buds identify the basic tastes, aroma determines the specific item we are tasting. When food is smelled, chewed and then swallowed, an aroma is released. These aromas can be broken down into ortho-nasal olfaction, the smell of food directly through the nasal cavity, and retro-nasal olfaction, released as we chew or drink food. These aromas travel through the nasal passage to the olfactory receptors that allow the brain to identify a specific flavor or food in conjunction with the taste buds. In reality, the sense of taste only provides a secondary role to aroma.

Putting it all together

With a deeper understanding of how taste is perceived, where each taste originates and how it functions in a dessert, creating a dessert can take on a more deliberate approach. Strategically combining tastes on the plate and creating a well-rounded flavor profile. Image 3 shows how to represent all five tastes in a Black Olive Clafoutis (sweet, salty, umami) with Blueberry (sweet), with Balsamic Ice Cream (sweet, sour) and Dark Chocolate (bitter). A well-composed and balanced dish leaves a lasting impression. It provides contrasts in flavor, taste and textures. While every dish won’t utilize all five tastes, plus trigeminal and aroma, aiming to include a minimum of three tastes in a dessert is a good baseline. For more complexity and depth, try adding in an aroma or trigeminal. Adding one additional taste is a small way to begin enhancing a dessert, whether that is a pinch of finishing salt or a little fresh ginger to a custard. Flavors are not static; they evolve throughout the tasting experience, each bite offering something slightly different, and that progression delivers a satisfying and memorable dessert.

Jaime Schick is an Associate Professor at Johnson & Wales University in the International Baking and Pastry Institute where she teaches courses ranging from baking and pastry foundations to contemporary plated desserts. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Baking and Pastry Arts, as well as a Master’s of Education in Teaching and Learning. You can find her on Instagram at @Vanillabeanchef.

(This article appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)