what's for dessert? a miracle!

Want to mix things up a bit the next time you serve dessert?

Pass out some Miracle Fruit first!

Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) is an awesome West African berry that temporarily modifies taste perception. Once it binds to your taste buds, you are only able to perceive sweet tastes. 

You can order it as tablets from Amazon: Miracle Frooties

The effects can last anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours, so I recommend preparing a selection of foods for your guests before taking the tablets. 

I recently had a Miracle Fruit party and we served an assortment of fruits, dark chocolate, baker's chocolate, black coffee and unsweetened 100% cranberry juice. 

It takes a few minutes for the tablet to dissolve on your tongue before the "miracle" takes effect. We were unsure how we would know when it had started working, so we began by drinking the unsweetened cranberry juice. With the first sip, there was no question it was miracle time. This juice is usually so sour it is almost undrinkable, but under the magic spell of miracle fruit, it tasted sweeter than Ocean Spray!

By far the most interesting things to taste are the foods that are usually the most sour. Lemons, limes, and grapefruits were incredible. Slightly sour early summer blackberries were transformed into the ripest, most delicious berries you've ever tasted. Some of the naturally sweet fruits like oranges were almost too sweet to eat. The chocolate and coffee were interesting, but everyone agreed they were not as delicious as the fruit. At my next miracle fruit party, I want to try goat cheese or some dark beer (apparently it tastes like a milkshake!). 

[Photos courtesy of Michael Pieracci]