What is the high point and last course of any meal? Dessert of course! The latest “What’s-hot” trend in after dinner treats include miniature desserts, drinkable desserts, less sugar and fat, and retro classic childhood sweets.

Recently, the National Restaurant Association surveyed more than 1,000 chefs about the hottest menu trends in the U.S. today. The overwhelming winner—bite-sized desserts. A full 85 percent of chefs rated delectable mini-sweets as “hot.” The trend is toward individuality. Blame it on the cupcake, which brought attention to the individual dessert trend.

Executive Chef Robert McGowan said individual portion size desserts are one of the biggest trends for 2010.

“People who dine out every day want something sweet at the end of their meal, but they are not ready to jump into the $6 dessert that’s going to put them over the top,” said McGowan. “I think we want the real thing, but we’re not going to go so big. Maybe a little smaller portion is still cutting the calories in the long run, but at least what you had tastes very good.”

In addition to serving classic milk shakes, pastry chefs are now experimenting with flavors and ingredients to create innovative liquid desserts served in fancy goblets. Glasses are used to show off dramatic layered desserts of jewel-colored fruits and vegetables that require a spoon, not a fork.

Trendy and childhood-inspired desserts like apple pie and rice pudding bring back fond memories and keep us turning to comfort foods with pleasure. Chefs are looking to old-school treats like Twinkies and Moon Pies for inspiration, and coming up with their own versions, minus the preservatives.

Getting away from elaborate baked desserts is another trend. Refreshing fruit desserts, such as a salad of sliced oranges or strawberries drizzled with balsamic vinegar, end a meal on a lighter note.

Trendy and often served as a first course, granitas are fancy ice beverages that also work well as a light dessert or a refreshing palate-cleansing pause in a multi-course dinner. As a dessert, granitas can be served in sherbet glasses with fruit. Guests can spoon scraped granita over the fruit like syrup.

The biggest trend in pastry arts, and one that is projected to have a lasting impact on the American dining scene, is the development of the standalone dessert bar, such as Finale in Boston, Sugar in Chicago and Chickalicious in New York. These late-night outlets are perfect for post-theatre and filmgoers.

What remains certain is desserts continue to be popular and will keep their staying power wherever the food trends lead. They may be smaller and lighter, but they are still sweet and delicious and are a great way to cap any meal.

By Paul J. Dahm, Executive Director, Brainfood After School

While the current economic climate has forced many Americans to reduce their food costs, it has also spurred many to reflect on how we spend our food dollars. For American consumers, reallocating food dollars to stay on budget can mean anything from growing their own food, to being a more active home cook, to utilizing more online coupons. The challenge of working with fresh, affordable foods, however, is a challenge that youth in Brainfood After School have been meeting every day for the last 10 years.

Brainfood After School is a Washington, D.C.-based youth development program that uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills. High school aged youth sign up in September for one of our twice-a-week after school programs and learn how to cook throughout the course of the year. The term “life skills,” however, can make it easy to overlook the practical gains and tangible skill sets that students build at Brainfood.

One way Brainfood challenges students to rethink how they spend their food dollars is by making food from scratch. At Brainfood, “Pizza Day” is more than just students sharing a few slices after school. Participants learn how to make yeast dough, how to cook pizza sauce, and how to add vegetables for texture and variety. Creating homemade pizzas builds confidence and pride; learning how to make a versatile dough that’s easy and cost-efficient expands the types of foods that students can make at home.

These new skills don’t go unnoticed by Brainfood students’ families and friends, either. Many parents say their Brainfood students take on new ownership of their kitchens at home, become more active in grocery shopping and make more food from scratch for their families. Additionally, the skills they learn are grounded in the practical need to be self-sufficient in the kitchen and make healthy choices.

In Brainfood’s “Budget Challenge” class, participants cook dinner for a family of four, including a protein, grain, and fruit or vegetable. The twist: they’re on a budget of $15 and must execute their meal in one hour. Every single group that has taken on this challenge has successfully completed it—a testament to the ingenuity of today’s youth, and proof that they can help their families and communities adjust to the current economic downturn.

As devastating as the current economic climate is, it has brought real world value of life skills and kitchen savvy into focus. In many ways, Brainfood is a means to reintroduce students to food in a way that’s completely hands on, by empowering them to be creative cooks and more conscientious consumers. And consumption, as any Brainfood participant will tell you, is even more satisfying when you’ve made the food for yourself.

They can be creamy and rich, crisp and hoppy or even light and fruity—we’re of course referring to craft beers. Over the last decade, craft beers have gained in popularity in the brewing industry, and their reputation hasn’t stopped rising. They are the hottest trend in beer today.

Craft beers are brewed by small companies or individual brewers and include names like Sierra Nevada, Boston Lager and Dogfish Head. According to the Brewers Association, craft brewers produce less than 2 million barrels per year. The signature of these boutique beers is their creativity and originality. Brewers strive to strike a balance between historic styles of beer made with a modern twist.

Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association and home-brewer, credits a great deal of this popularity to the advancing American palate that has slowly emerged over the last decade in every sector of what we consume, including coffee, tea, chocolate and cheeses. “It’s the same thing for beer. We want flavor, choice and diversity. Many consumers don’t often consume the same type of product all of the time. It’s the same with beer now,” Herz said.

Charles Hoffman, president of the Lincoln County (Colorado) Farm Bureau and owner of Hoffman Publications, LLC., is also a home-brewer. He agrees with Herz about America’s appreciation for more complex flavors. “More and more people are expanding their palates and learning to like some of the bolder, more prominent flavors in beer,” said Hoffman. Even people who are not typically beer drinkers can usually find a craft beer that suites their taste.

Hoffman also said that he has a great amount of respect for the larger beer producers and what they are trying to do with their new low-calorie beers but said, “craft beer is bucking the trend of mainstream beer, in that it is more about flavor and an enjoyable experience maybe with one beer, rather than creating something that you can drink a lot of.” Craft beers aren’t made to be consumed in large quantities. Many are richer and more complex in flavor and are meant to be enjoyed leisurely.

The Brewers Association said that the majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a craft brewer. Herz said, “It is beer that is tied to small business and the local economy. Buying it is supporting the American dream.”

Both Hoffman and Herz agree that hometown benefit is also a factor in craft beer’s popularity, as Americans like to invest money into their local economy.

Next time you’re at your favorite grocery store or market, buy a craft beer that you’ve never tried before—there are plenty of choices. Cheers!