In recent years, it seems like many of us have collectively agreed that desserts are at their best when they’re not too sweet. Gone are the days of the ubiquitous molten lava cake. We’ve ushered in an age of desserts in which acid competes with sugar for the starring role and chilies and sea salt are crucial ingredients in the most culturally significant cookie recipes. It’s a good time for all of us who favor the savory over the sweet.
Although I enjoy trying these not-too-sweet dessert recipes out from time to time, if I’m being honest, I rarely reserve enough time and energy required to make dessert. If I’m having people over for dinner, I’ll pick up a box of cookies from the bakery instead of going through the hassle of trying out a new cookie recipe. And when I’m cooking for myself, I generally just skip dessert entirely.
Unless, of course, I have some fancy cheese in the fridge. Because if I have one opinion I will always stand by, it’s that cheese is unequivocally the best dessert.
I grew up like many Americans do, believing that cheese was a snack, sure, and cheese could be served as an appetizer. But I never considered it dessert. Most of the cheese I’d been exposed to at a young age, after all, was in the form of a stick or salty shreds or slices—probably not the kind of flavor profile you imagine when you’re craving dessert after a savory meal.
Imagine my surprise, then, when a French friend from college informed me that, in France, she and her family ate cheese after the main course. I was baffled, scandalized. I questioned everything I thought I knew about the function of a dessert. So, sweetness could take a backseat to texture, to creaminess, to fatty decadence? I was in.
Dessert is an opportunity to savor and indulge, and that’s just as possible with an especially delicious cheese as it is with a cookie or cupcake or brownie. Of course, you can opt for a sweeter cheese here (especially one made with fruit), but you don’t have to. Cheeses that lean salty, like Parmesan and Roquefort, are equally welcome on the dessert plate. But to me, nothing beats a soft cheese, like Fromager d’Affinois Le Fromager, a soft, double cream cheese that’s similar to Brie but with a milder flavor and buttery texture. In the same vein, Saint Angel from Fromagerie Guilloteau, a triple cream Brie with a pillowy soft texture and a deep, mushroomy complexity, is a top choice on my dessert cheese plate.
Something I want to underline here is that if you’re working with really good cheese, you don’t need crackers or cured meats or even fruit on the side (although fruit certainly isn’t a bad addition to a cheese-centered dessert). Dessert cheese can be consumed entirely on its own, but preferably with a glass of wine.
The next time you’re hosting a dinner party or you’re just making a special dinner for your family or yourself, save some time on dessert and opt for a cheese plate instead. It requires essentially no work at all, and it’s bound to be more exciting than grocery store bakery cupcakes.
Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.