Stop 8: Bleu

Ordered:
See Pictures Here

Dark Chocolate Pate
3/5 Sugar Cubes
Interesting and different. The pate was able to combine mint and chocolate properly. The shortbread wasn't appealing to all of us, the hard foundation wasn't necessarily the best pairing for the softer layers above it. The raspberry sauce on the plate however, was delicious and not too tart.

Sweet Cigars
X sugar cubes
We weren't able to get the full effect of the dessert because we couldn't eat the cream. The funnel cake “cigars” seemed like a throwaway piece, designed merely as a way to taste the Chantilly cream with berries. The cigars, tasteless and not sweet enough, didn't have a quality to redeem it as an individual dish, such as a filling. It was an incomplete tasting, making us unable to rate it.

Stop 7: Coley's American Bistro

Ordered: Pictures Here

Berry Crisp
5/5 Sugar Cubes
AWESOME, the 5 rating was a unanimous decision upon the first taste. We ordered a second crisp after we downed the first, despite almost bursting from the previous 6 locations! It was perfectly tart and the berries were a unique blend of flavors. The dessert also a nice mixture of temperatures: warm crisp and cold ice cream, even the berries retained the hot and cold. The sauce perfectly tied together the crisp, ice cream and berries with a nice orange zest.
“Life altering”
“The equivalent to Pepsi”

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake
3/5 Sugar Cubes
An argument could be made that this is merely a brownie... but a really good one (for those who prefer cakey brownies)- it was warm and gooey. The ice cream however was not great and served too hard.

Stop 6: Forge and Vine

Ordered:

See pictures here

Apple Crisp
4.5/5 Sugar Cubes
It was fresh and warm, and the ice cream complimented it perfectly. The apple was tart without being sour. The amount of cinnamon was great.

Tiramisu
1/5 Sugar Cubes
It was dry and too strong. There was a weird aftertaste as well. We didn't want to finish what was on our plates.

Strawberry Shortcake
BRUSSEL SPROUTS
We'd tell people about this, but not in a good way. There was a bizarre aftertaste. Another dessert we did not want to finish. “I'd have to eat poop to get a brussel sprouts if this is not it.”

We also got some free chocolate strawberries that were totes yum.

Stop 5: The UpperCrust

Ordered: See picture here

Mint chocolate cheesecake cake (Grasshopper)
1.5/5 sugar cubes
Slight taste of mint at the start, which disappears into the cheesecake flavor, but we can barely taste the chocolate. Not many discernible textures to the cheescake itself. Too ambitious, this flavor combination didn't work with the cheesecake.

Red Velvet Cake
2/5 sugar cube
It was lacking cream cheese frosting, an essential element of red velvet cake. The cake itself was overpowered by the sugary frosting, and the cake didn't have cocoa. The cake was slightly hard, possibly from sitting out too long. The Red Velvet Ranger thinks her own version would handily defeat the one offered at Upper Crust.

Carrot cake
4/5 sugar cubes
Great icing, maybe a bit overpowering in sweetness. The center is better than the outside so the flavor not evenly distributed. The cake itself was nutty, mellow, but again, needed a little more moistness. We could actually taste the carrot. It could probably taste better if warmed.

Lemon Bar
3.5/5 sugar cubes
Gooey, tart, sweet, a standard bar but nothing special. Works well as a lemon bar, and better than the Starbucks version.

Stop 4: Teller's Art Bar

Ordered: See picture here

New York Style Cheesecake

2.5/5 Sugar Cubes

Nothing special. The crust was good, but we wish it was thicker. It was a little sour and heavy; it needs to be fluffier.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

4/5 Sugar Cubes

The texture was very smooth. Perfect if you're looking for something not terribly sweet. The whipped cream balanced out the bitterness of the dark chocolate.

(Farah "Cream" Naz: No, no! Suck on her lemon!)

Stop 3: Ernie's Cafe

Ordered: See picture here

Milkshakes
3.5/5 sugar cubes
Individual taste is a big factor for all these shakes. If you order what you like, you're going to like what you get.

Strawberry Chocolate Milkshake
Good consistency and balance between the flavors.

Malted Chocolate Milkshake
You can taste the malt and the consistency is excellent. If you like malt, than it's great.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Milkshake
The balance wasn't quite right and the peanut butter overpowered the chocolate. The peanut butter made it too thick. Tastes like liquid Reese's Cup.

Strawberry Banana Milkshake
Tastes light... but it's nooooot. Tastes like strawberries and bananas!

Stop 2: Room 38

Ordered: See picture here


Gooey Butter Cake:
3.5/5 Sugar Cubes
It's put together well with the flavors complimenting each other and it's nicely presented. The best part was that it was warm. Pricey, but a generous portion.

Dessert Connoisseur: Farah

Introducing: I.C.E. C.R.E.A.M.

I grew up on the sweet side, the New York Times side
Being sugar deprived was no jive
At second hands, moms bounced my candy plans
So then we moved to Missouran land
A young youth, yo rockin the sweet tooth,
Only way, I begin to gee off was with Halloween loot

And let's start it like this son, rollin with this one
And that one, pullin out pop rocks for fun
But it was just a dream for the teen, who was a sugar fiend
Started pixie stixx from six through my teens
And eating up cakes, doing sugar shots for high stakes
Making my way through tummy aches

No question I would speed, for any sugary sweet feed
The combinations made my teeth weep
No question I would flow off, and try to get the dough off
Sticky cinnamon buns and cake balls
My life got much butter, same damn ol' blubber
Times is rough and tough like tootsie roll pops

Figured out I went the wrong route
So I got with a sick tight clique and went all out
Catchin cupcakes from across states
Rollin in MPV's, every week we tourin'
Yo brothas respect mine, it's Brown Sugar Tour time

Ch-POW! On to the tour now

Stop 1: The Underground Cafe (aka: The Artisan)

Ordered: Click here to see picture

Apple Dumpling:
3.5/5 Sugar Cubes
They used a green apple so it was a little tart, which created a nice balance between tart and sweet.

Mini Chocolate Pie:

3/5 Sugar Cubes

The whipped cream was FABULOUS. It was light and surprisingly crumbly, in a good way. This would be great after a heavy dinner.

Chocolate Oatmeal Bar:

2/5 Sugar Cubes

It was a little too crumbly, it could have used a little more structure. We were dubious about the oatmeal, but it was actually quite tasty.

The Rating System

Each dessert will be rated on a scale of 1-5 Sugar Cubes. Truly horrendous desserts will be labeled BRUSSEL SPROUTS.

1 = There was sugar in it... but that's about all it's got going.
2 = Good, but not worth the $$$.
3 = Satisfies. If I'm in the mood, I'd order it again.
4 = LOVE IT.
5 = I need nothing else in my life.

All ratings will be discussed and ranked by unanimous vote.

Oh the places we'll go

As you can see there are a lot of us going on this tour.

The best way to organize the info was to use Google docs. In this G-Doc, we had the important list of the places we would go. We haven't solidified exactly in which order and where we are going but we have a lot of choices.

Below is a map of the places we could go:


View Brown Sugar Tour in a larger map

If you think we are missing some places let us know and we'll add it to the map.

It all begins tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. at the Cherry Street Artisan a.k.a. the Underground Cafe.

Dessert Connoisseur: Nuzhat Chowdhury

Introducing: "The Red Velvet Ranger"

This tale is told in two parts.

The first involves a young and naive mother, giving in to her two year old's screeches for chocolate each day.

Fast forward nine years. We find an 11 year old flipping through her "Prime Time" textbook for 6th grade "Algebra". She finds a recipe for brownies. She attempts said recipe. It turns out rock hard and terrible. What a disaster. The second attempt is less of a disaster. There is chocolate, it is edible, others risk their lives to try it and emerge alive.

The rest, as we say, is history.


A veritable chocolate addict (no really, my mother thinks I should be diagnosed) with a high tolerance for sugar, a low tolerance for fruits, and a terrifying family history of diabetes, there is very little I love more in the world than chocolate, destroying my pancreas, and Red Velvet Cake.

Let the tour commence.

Dessert Connoisseur: Amy Williams

Introducing: “Animal Cracker”

As someone who grew up in a home that banned processed sugar, I've quickly made up for lost time in college. I don't travel anywhere without emergency chocolate!

I prefer to ingest my sugar in liquid form: expresso and cream drinks with loads of flavored syrups. Caffeine high and sugar high in one place? Yes, please.

Dessert Connoisseur: Faeza Khan

Introducing: "Cheese(cake)ball"

Unlike my esteemed colleagues, I'm no dessert connoisseur. I'm actually more of a salty/savory kind of girl. I generally fill up on appetizers and entres with dessert being nothing more than the proverbial (and in this case, literal) icing on the cake. A recent extended foray into chocolate covered pretzels, however, has eased me into this world of highly processed sucrose and I'm ready to take the full plunge.

I've always been a simple girl with simple tastes - a hot fudge brownie with cold vanilla ice cream is, to me, perfection - but I'm looking forward to sampling the best Columbia has to offer. I feel my sweet tooth has been previously underutilized so I'm excited to placate it with this adventure in hyperglycemia.

Dessert Connoisseur: Sahar Ejaz

Introducing "Suga' Cube":

I've been asked NOT to eat sugar on many occasions. Mainly because with the right/any amount of sugar in me, I tend to act like a 5 year old in Toys R Us realizing she has exactly 15 minutes until her parents find her causing totally foreseeable chaos in the Power Wheels section. Point being: Power Wheels should not have an age limit and therefore sugar will forever be my partner in crime.

Personally, I'm a fan of more simple and lighter desserts w/ milk. Because milk really does the body good. (Which is important since everything else I do is the exact opposite of that.)

Dessert Connoisseur: Maneeza Iqbal

Introducing "No Limit"

I have always loved sugar. When I was a kid, I used to eat sugar packets as we waited for dinner at restaurants.

Nothing is too rich, too sweet nor too heavy for me. That's why I have no dessert limit.

I love anything chocolate, cakes and pies. Fruit based dessert are deliciously fresh and ice cream on top of a warm flour based dessert is the definition of balance. However, sometimes, a sugar packet is all I need.

Dessert Connoisseur: Nabihah Maqbool

Introducing "Cookie Monster"

I am a lifelong sugar freak, earning the moniker "Cookie Monster" at a young age. I culinary skills are mostly limited to desserts, including pies and everything sold at campus bake sales.

Having just spent a month a half in India sampling exotic eastern sweets, returning home, all I really wanted was a brownie.

Establishing the rules

We decided to call this the brown sugar tour for several reasons, but the main reason was that we couldn’t call it the diabetes tour. 

We figured the “Diabetes Tour” would mean that we are fighting diabetes and raising money for research. 

But really, we are basically setting ourselves up to probably develop diabetes. We understand that this is not healthy, but we are walking everywhere and we’re not eating constantly.  

After telling many people about our brown sugar tour, the shocked look on people’s faces, we had to do a little defending.  

Just thought we’d get that out of the way. 

Ok, after much deliberation, and we have our rules for the tour:

Rules:
1. Full Time commitment: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
2. No health conscious behavior or language
3. No regular food -- all desserts. Smoothies and coffees are allowed. Muffins selections will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
4. 2-3 desserts per location (depending on size). Absolute MAX 4 desserts.

Stay tuned, up next we’ll introduce you to our dessert connoisseurs.

Dessert Tour: The Beginning

A group of us were in middle of dessert after meeting up for an impromptu dinner when the sweetest idea came to us.

A dessert tour of Columbia, Mo.

One whole day dedicated to eating dessert only.

We plan to go from restaurant to restaurant in downtown Columbia eating dessert. We figured we'll walk because parking will be horrible and, well, we can try to balance out the sugar with some sort of exercise.

At the moment, we are planning out the invite list. We want people to join us that won't think about how unhealthy the tour will be and are committed to day. We are also finalizing the rules of the day, like want is considered a dessert.

We decided that on our dessert tour we would hit up exclusively local Columbia, Mo. restaurants. After each restaurant, expect a picture of the dessert(s) we ordered and a review from each of our dessert connoisseurs.

Also, expect a short self-introduction from all of our dessert connoisseurs. They'll tell you about themselves and what's their perfect dessert.

Don't be afraid to leave your comments and suggestions for places to go and desserts to try.

The all day dessert tour is March 20. See you back here soon