The 5 best desserts our food writers ate in the Twin Cities area this week, October 2024 — Star Tribune
from the Star Tribune staff
With dessert on our minds, it was a great time to chase down Dahlia, the pastry and sandwich pop-up from three Travail alums, when it recently landed at Venn Brewing Co. It was nice that we could pre-order, which we did the previous day, since there was a line already forming when we arrived.
Seems we ordered just right. Pastry chef Alex Althoff’s apple pie snickerdoodle ($6) with apple pie filling and cinnamon black pepper streusel was a chewy and gooey delight. The latte coffee doughnut ($8.50) celebrating fall — in the form of a pumpkin spice glaze, pumpkin cream and candied pumpkin seeds — was also unique in its own right. But the standout was the one that sounded the least exciting: sweet potato layer cake ($8.50). Sweet potatoes and molasses join forces in this spongy layer cake with coffee-cream cheese buttercream frosting. It’s then topped with a dollop of marshmallow fluff, toasted like a dreamy meringue, and candied pecans. It reminded us of all the things we love about carrot cake, although a cheffed-up, sweet potato adaptation at that. (Nancy Ngo)
