While I am a self-confessed foodie it turns out that dessert is not really my thing. Don’t get me wrong, having a bite of a decadent dessert at the end of a great meal out is a nice finishing touch to the evening. . .and when I am with my wife one bite is all I am going to get. See my wife has what scientists would call a “sweet tooth” which genetically has clearly been passed on to our kids. My wife also occasionally suffers from an affliction known as “hangry,” but if I want to stay married I should probably avoid that topic.
Whenever my wife and I get a chance to have a date night out for dinner I know that dessert is going to be involved. I also know that I am not likely to get a say in what dessert is chosen and that is okay. On a recent night out, I noticed that the price of dessert seemed pretty pricey. I wondered if that is because more and more people share the desserts anyway and the price is spread out. But it did get me thinking–what are some of the most expensive desserts around the world. I was surprised by what I found.
1) La Madeline au Truffle–$250
The Knipschidt Chocolatier in Connecticut makes the truffle that consists of cream, truffle oil, vanilla, and 70 percent Valrhona dark chocolate covered in ganache. I definitely like truffle oil in savory dishes but in chocolate? Uh, not so sure on this one but I would give it a try.
2) Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans–$500
The Jelly Belly jelly bean company offers a pricey delight that comes in a crystal jar. The beans are made with natural flavors and covered in 24-carat edible gold. Gourmet jelly beans? Doesn’t that seem like an oxymoron? Plus just covering something in edible gold seems like a gourmet shortcut—I want several high-end ingredients in my decadent dessert of choice. Pass.
3) Golden Opulence Sundae–$1,000
New York City’s Serendipity 3 restaurant served the elegant dessert that is made using chocolate truffles, Grand Passion Caviar, vanilla beans from Tahiti and topped with edible gold flakes and gilded sugar. Okay, so this is more my speed. I am a sucker for a good sundae, but do we really need the edible gold again? And caviar with ice cream? Don’t get me wrong, I am down with sweet and savory mixed together (chocolate covered bacon, anyone?) but I don’t want fish eggs in my ice cream. Will try it if someone else is buying.
4) The Golden Phoenix Cupcake–$1,000
The cake comes from the Bloomsbury’s at the Dubai Mall and is made using vanilla beans from Uganda, Italian chocolate and gold-coated strawberries. The icing is additionally sprinkled with edible gold. I am starting to see a trend here. You want to flash a super fancy dessert on your menu then cover it in edible gold. Rather than sprinkle edible gold on it, maybe they should just wrap a gold bracelet around it. After my wife licked all the icing off, she might actually wear it.
5) Krispy Kreme’s Luxe Doughnut–$1,685
The outside is covered in 24-carat gold leaf and edible diamonds. The crème consists of Dom Perignon champagne jelly. The top features an elegantly decorated white chocolate lotus flower. It really is a stunning creation visually so I won’t even harp on the gold leaf. I was ready to slam this one as well but here is the kicker for me: 1) Some of the proceeds benefit the Children’s Trust, a charity for children with brain injury; and 2) The doughnut also comes with “a cocktail featuring raspberry and passion fruit syrup, Courvoisier Cognac, and more Dom Perignon 2002. So here you can indulge with the pastry and the cocktail and feel good about donating to a worthy cause. I am all in on this one!
6) Frrrozen Haute Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae-$25,000
The Serendipity 3 restaurant offers the decadent dessert containing 0.2 ounces of 23-karat edible gold and over 20 of the most expensive cocoas from around the world. The dessert is topped with a La Madeline au Truffle from France which typically goes for $3000/pound and served with an 18-karat gold bracelet boasting a one-carat of diamonds around the goblet. The whole dessert is meant to be eaten with the accompanying gold spoon with white and chocolate covered diamonds that you can also take home. Quite the jewelry haul for some lucky person—not me.
7) The Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel Chocolate Pudding–$34,000
The British dessert was created to resemble a Faberge egg—one of the most prized collectibles in the art world. The ingredients include four different flavors of Belgian chocolate, edible gold and champagne caviar. Oh, and did I mention it comes with a two-carat diamond?
8) The Absurdity Sundae–$60,000
The banana split sundae costs a mere $3,333.33 in and of itself. The reason the sundae is so exorbitantly expensive lies in the location where one might enjoy the sundae. The restaurant promoter flies the diner first-class to Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro where they stay in a five-star location and according to their website the “founder will hand-churn a batch of ice cream with glacial ice from the mountain’s summit. The mountain’s glaciers are predicted to disappear within the next 10-15 years due to climate change—and your purchase helps raise awareness of this fact with a five-figure contribution to an African environmental non-profit.” Okay, definitely not your typical throw a bunch of gold leaf and a diamond bracelet on there, but raising environmental awareness and a donation to combat global warming? Ben and Jerry’s with a swirl of Robin Leach. Two thumbs up.
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9) Diamond Fruitcake-$1.65 Million
This $1.65M Diamond Fruitcake Sold on Christmas 2005, and was created by a Japanese pastry chef. Evidently, creating the cake required six months of conceptualization and another month to produce it. It’s decorated with 223 diamonds coming in at 170 carats decorating the outside. While the other ingredients remain undisclosed to this day, we can be confident that if this fruitcake was made with the typical ingredients of those dense mail-order holiday “gifts” it will last forever. The cake remains on display at Takashimaya Department Store in Tokyo.
10) Strawberries Arnaud–$9.85 Million
The dessert widely recognized as the most expensive in the world is available in New Orleans at Arnaud’s Restaurant. Essentially this is a berries and cream traditional dessert so what makes it so expensive? Sure there are some fancy liquors and some gold leaf thrown in for good measure, but it just may be the royal blue diamond engagement ring having 10.06 carats that is driving up the price of this dessert.
Well, there you have it. A list of the most expensive desserts in the world. Robin Leach used to always wish his audience “champagne wishes and caviar dreams,” but evidently these days it is more “golden opulence sundae wishes and diamond fruitcake dreams.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Erik Halvorsen is a devoted father, loving husband, and ambitious innovator; he is consistently searching for new technology to help cure diseases, benefit patients’ lives, and change how we experience healthcare. He was named one of the top 30 Chief Innovation Officers in healthcare in the country, and he has been listed as one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Boston. Erik is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council.