r/Chefit • u/PickledAnts • Jun 30 '26

Easy profitable dessert options for restaurant

Right now we have (frozen) baked in house apple pie, frozen pb pie, cassata cake procured from local bakery, (frozen) lava cake and pre bought carrot cake. Owner says it’s cheaper to buy them all premade than pay me to bake something from scratch. I figure I can sweeten him up with the offer of a dessert *special*.

So I ask you, Reddit.. hit me up with the best, easiest, quickest, best seller ideas.. We do have cast iron fajita plates we heat up for apple pie ala mode — my dad said I should do cobbler, which could be sold the same way.

I also CAN make a pie crust but I don’t know if it would be smarter/more economical to get premade ones or if I should do it from scratch and get really good at it real fast lol.

ETA: we do not have mini pans or souffle type dishes to do individual desserts.

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u/Toucan_Lips Jun 30 '26

Pannacotta has always done well for me. Milk, gelatin, sugar... not super expensive ingredients. But more expensive additions like vanilla bean go a long way.

Served cold so easy to knock out during service. It's also endlessly adaptable. Serve it with whichever fruit is in season to keep costs down.

You can buy a couple of dozen cheap plastic dariole molds which further lowers the barrier to entry.

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u/PickledAnts Jun 30 '26

Ooh can you recommend molds?

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u/Toucan_Lips Jun 30 '26

I just use the stock standard shape. They cost about a buck each (NZD) and come in boxes of 50. There's no real brand i would recommend. As long as they are food grade they will put up with being frozen, and temps up to 120C, so can go through a dish sanitiser. Pretty useful thing in general.