Food For Thought: A Meta Feast by Grundy

Dessert II - Sweet Speculation

Random headcanon that may or may not be in any way defensible:

• Elves, being immortal and having far more time to devote to mastering intricate forms of cookery, are more likely to come up with things like sugar glass and spun sugar. The fanciest pastries and cakes are elven made. (The first time he has dessert in Rivendell, Sam is torn between admiring the finely sculpted cakes complete with spun sugar flourishes and artfully drizzled fruit syrup accents and thinking it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that’s only going to take a few minutes to eat.)
• Dwarves take to candy-making like ducks to water. While they’ve got a vast range of candies, rock candy is a classic favorite– and dwarven candy makers take particular delight in making ones that resemble fancy varieties of rock, such as jasper or agate. The best rock candies may be presented as carefully as any jewel. (The dwarves of Moria blow their elven friends’ minds when they come up with what look like edible opals.) They also have a great fondness for fried desserts like doughnuts, funnel cake, or jalebi.
• If it involves fruit, hobbits are there for it. Fruit cakes, pies, tarts, cobblers, custards, ices – you name it, they’ll be happy to try it. Jams, marmalade, and preserves are also greatly beloved in the Shire. But they also believe that fresh fruit picked at just the right time can be amazing all on its own.
• Men are the most prone to fads and politics affecting their dessert menus. (At war with Harad? No cane sugar – adapt all the recipes to deal with substitutes. Just made peace with Harad? Cane sugar is on everyone’s shopping list. The current King/Steward can’t stand blackberries? Blackberries are out of fashion.)  Will put sugar on just about anything, occasionally producing novel desserts that make the others look askance at them, like candied grasshoppers. (Dwarven reaction: ‘This is what you call a dare, right?’) They also like to do shaped marzipan, in a wide variety of forms. (The hobbits are rather bemused by marzipan fruit. The dwarves want to know what the hangup with eating bugs is after they see marzipan ladybugs.)