Write On: The last course

I have a problem.

I am addicted to dessert. Addicted as in, it is literally impossible for me to turn down a piece of chocolate or a cupcake. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, how full I am or how badly I want to fit into my favorite BCBG dress. If you put a piece of cake in front of me, I’m eating it.

So I couldn’t have imagined a better introduction to the Baton Rouge culinary landscape than researching this month’s feature on decadent desserts.

One of the things I love about living in Louisiana is that nearly every restaurant has its own take on bread pudding.

As we were putting together the story, Restaurant IPO’s version stood out for us—deep-fried, white chocolate bread pudding topped with vanilla bean whipped cream cheese, toasted pecans and praline sauce. Ridiculously good.

Creme brulee and cheesecake are two of the world’s best desserts in general, so I’m pretty sure Bin 77’s creme brulee cheesecake is what dreams are made of. Collin Richie’s photo of the beautifully presented dish makes me want to stick a fork through my computer screen.

Duvic’s martini menu is impressively diverse. The one I’d go for is the mint chocolate chip martini: Three Olives vanilla vodka, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Godiva dark chocolate liqueur, Kahlúa, green crème de menthe and half and half. Cheers!

I firmly believe that one of the best ways to learn about a city is to explore its dining scene, and Baton Rouge has a vibrant and growing one. So in addition to working on this story, I’ve been doing my own “research” after work.

I instantly fell in love with Brew Ha Ha’s cake balls—the Chocolate Caramello and the Cookies & Cake flavors melt in your mouth.

La Divina had my heart as soon as I learned that the Italian café serves sweet potato gelato.

And even after eating a huge meal at Juban’s, the bread pudding was so good that I couldn’t leave any of it on the plate.

But I’m most excited for king cake. This will be my first festival season living in Baton Rouge, and I can’t wait to sample some of the Capital City’s best slices. I’m already building a bucket list of recommendations.

Sometimes I wish I were better at just saying no, more capable of resisting sugar. But there’s just something about dessert. It’s my one weakness.

Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing. As a kid, it’s such a magical moment when, once a year, you get to pick out a cake for your birthday or share cupcakes with your school classmates on your big day.

Some of my most cherished early childhood memories are of learning how to bake chocolate chip cookies with my mom. I’d always beg her to let me have a bite of cookie dough. When the cookies were done baking, it was so rewarding to taste the first ones when they were still warm and gooey. We’d share the cookies with my brother and dad, and I’d proudly think, “My mom and I made those.” For the rest of the afternoon, the scent of fresh-baked cookies would linger.

As I’ve gotten older, I have at least learned the power of portion control—only drinking half of a milkshake, for instance, or eating one brownie instead of two.

In fact, as I type this, I’m munching on half of a king cake cupcake from Gourmet Girls. See? Discipline.

Someday soon, I will worker harder on controlling my sweet tooth.

But not until after festival season is over.