Who doesn’t love dessert? From ice cream to cake to cookies, and more, dessert represents many people’s favorite meal. (And yes, I definitely count dessert as its own meal!) As a McGill student living in residence this year, I’ve tried my fair share of interesting desserts from the New Rez cafeteria, and to my pleasant surprise, I have yet to be disappointed. The talented cafeteria staff at New Rez never fails to surprise me, routinely offering a wide variety of unique desserts that satisfy my sweet tooth. Lately, my friends and I decided to indulge in a different dessert every weekday, coming up with a ranking of each.
While these were the desserts available in the cafeteria this week, they are not the only desserts offered by the residence. That being said, without further ado, here are our picks!
- Strawberry Cheesecake Tart
First place in this list definitely goes to the strawberry cheesecake tart! This delicious dessert will live rent-free in my mind for arguably the rest of my life. The tart’s base is a soft, somewhat nutty-tasting cake with a crunchy exterior and moist interior. It pairs extraordinarily well with the piped vanilla cheesecake topping and the sweet strawberry jam. The various textures and flavours of this dessert provide a complex and layered experience that is quite enjoyable. And let’s not forget about the gorgeous presentation–dare I say it, but even Gordon Ramsy would be proud. If you find yourself in the New Rez cafeteria sometime this upcoming week, I would definitely recommend you try this dessert, if there’s any left by the time you get there…
2. Homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream
In second place is the homemade (totally from scratch) chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I cannot emphasize this enough: this ice cream was absolutely amazing! As a quite opinionated ice cream fan myself, I was skeptical at first but decided to grab a bowl from the freezer in the cafeteria, but I am so glad I did! The cookie dough to ice cream ratio was spot on, providing enough cookie dough pieces to enjoy with every bite of ice cream (a definite step up from store-bought ice creams, which definitely skimp out on the cookie dough). The chefs at New Rez even made an Instagram Reel showing their ice cream making process, so be sure to check that out and give them some much-needed love! If you’re in the mood for some ice cream and don’t feel like buying a whole pint at the store, definitely stop by New Rez and pick some up!
3. Lemon Meringue Pie
Taking third place, the Lemon Meringue pie is absolutely “to pie for.” With a crunchy and subtle, sweet crust, a tart lemon filling, and a fluffy meringue on top, this pie is a great way to satisfy sweet and sour cravings. Although delicious, my friends and I agreed that the individual pie layers could be slightly altered to bring about an even better experience: specifically, more lemon filling and a tad less meringue. Additionally, we agreed that the meringue topping could have been toasted a bit more. Despite this, the pie was delicious, and we finished the whole slice within a matter of minutes!
4. Chocolate Strawberry Cake
Coming in fourth place, this chocolate strawberry cake definitely “takes the cake” as a delicious dessert. Consisting of the same jam and vanilla cheesecake topping as the strawberry cheesecake tart, this dessert pairs that topping with a chocolate cake layer at the bottom. While still pretty good, I found the chocolate base to be a bit too moist, and the topping paired much better with the original, tart base. Additionally, when I tried to remove the dessert from the container, it fell apart… Engineering students, take note! Luckily, the fact that I was provided with two cakes for the price of one made up for this mini disaster. (Also, it still tasted delicious, so I’m not complaining.)
5. Blueberry Loaf
Coming in last, but certainly not least, is this freshly baked blueberry loaf. While my picture does not do it justice, this dessert was indeed very good. With a soft, airy interior and a golden crust, this blueberry loaf makes for both a perfect dessert and delectable breakfast pastry if you’re on the run in the morning. I was impressed with the amount of blueberries they managed to squeeze inside the loaf. This was a dish I could definitely enjoy any time of day—especially heated and with some extra melted butter on top. I believe the blueberry loaf is also gluten free, so if you can’t eat gluten, I would definitely recommend this dessert!
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Whether you’re a first year student still living in Rez, or a jaded U3 soon-to-be-graduate with leftover oneCard money, I would definitely recommend trying out some of the desserts in the New Rez cafeteria. With a talented crew of chefs and bakers working in the kitchen, the possibilities are endless!
