Why Dessert Is the Most Powerful Course in F&B – A Q&A With Anna Olson

In the world of food and beverage, dessert holds a unique kind of power. It’s the final note, the emotional encore, the bite that lingers in memory long after the last plate is cleared.  

Few chefs understand this power better than Anna Olson, one of Canada’s most beloved pastry experts and the trusted host of Food Network favourites, like Bake with Anna Olson and Sugar.  

Her bestselling cookbooks, including Baking Wisdom and Set for the Holidays, have guided bakers around the world with a voice that feels both professional and personal. With a career devoted to making dessert joyful, thoughtful and approachable, Anna has built a global community through her Oh Yum YouTube channel and beyond.  

Now, ahead of her upcoming appearance at the Festival of Cake at Expo City Dubai, we had the chance to sit down with her for a heartfelt conversation about the deeper meaning behind that final spoonful. 

Q1: Anna, your career has inspired so many home bakers. What made you focus on desserts? 

Interestingly, I didn’t start out with pastry. I was actually studying political science and worked in finance, but baking was always my way of unwinding.

One night I found myself baking banana muffins after a long day in banking and had what I call my muffin epiphany.  

It was clear I needed to make this more than a hobby. So I went back to school, trained at Johnson & Wales, and eventually became a pastry chef. What I love about dessert is how it blends technique with emotion and this can be very calming for home bakers. It allows you to connect with people on a deeper level, including yourself as the creator. 

Q2: You’ve spoken about dessert being more than a treat. How does it connect with us emotionally and even physically?

As part of a balanced diet, dessert has an appropriate place as a treat and it can bring people together as a point of celebration. No wonder we love desserts and sweets for holidays and for occasions like birthdays and weddings. And because of that, we tie desserts and even the process of baking together to our memories. 

A certain flavour or texture can transport us instantly to a special moment in time as we recall a sweet aroma or taste. That’s what I try to create. Not just sweetness, but something that resonates and connects on a deeper, emotional level. 

Q3: You've often compared baking and desserts to language.  What do you mean by that? 

Baking and desserts are accomplished with two components: ingredients and technique. Your ingredients are your vocabulary, the foundation of your dessert "story", and the technique is the grammar, the framework to use those ingredients to truly tell the story. Ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs and flour can become a sponge cake or a cookie, depending on your amounts and method, and then your personality comes through in your added flavours, almost like adjectives. 

Q4: How does portion size and presentation shape that experience?

Increasingly, I see guests leaning into smaller portions that feel intentional. A flight of mini desserts can be more satisfying than one large one, offering customers variety in flavour and texture while giving pastry chefs more creative freedom. 

Like creating a painting on canvas, the chef uses the background (the plate or dish), light, and colour to shape what the customer sees. They may even use artistic elements like "line of sight" to guide how the dessert is visually experienced and subtly suggest how it should be eaten. 

Performance has always been important in the dessert world. In the past, it was about tableside service, such as flambé desserts; today, it might involve a multi-step presentation combining hot and cold elements to surprise and entertain. 

I’ve seen restaurants improve their dessert lighting and suddenly have twice as many guests sharing photos. That’s the kind of joy you can’t buy with advertising. 

Q5: You’re joining the Festival of Cake this year in Dubai. What are you most looking forward to?  

I’m truly honoured to be part of it and to work alongside the team at TGP International. The Festival of Cake celebrates the role desserts play at the heart of gatherings, where we come together as family and friends. It’s a tribute to creativity, tradition, and connection. I’ll be doing live demos, meeting fellow bakers, and serving as a judge for the Bake-Off. 

What excites me most is how the festival blends storytelling, creativity and design through dessert. It highlights how powerful this course can be when it reflects who we are and what we value. 

Q6: In your view, when does dessert move beyond being just a final course and start reflecting the deeper values of a brand? Can something as simple as a panna cotta or brownie actually tell a bigger story about integrity, sustainability or guest experience? 

That’s such an important question, especially now. When dessert reflects the core values of an F&B brand, whether that’s sustainability, seasonality or storytelling, it becomes a signature that helps define the restaurant and set it apart in a competitive industry. 

I’ve seen cafés fold spent coffee grounds into brownies or bistros top panna cotta with raw honey from their own hives. A signature doesn’t have to be something that has never been done before; it just needs to reflect the heart of the restaurant’s core philosophy. Trends come and go, but authenticity endures. 

Guests feel that, and so do investors and the broader community. Events like the Festival of Cake spotlight this shift, where flavour, design and values come together to shape the next chapter of dessert in a meaningful way. 

Want a taste of what’s coming? Discover the full Festival of Cake experience online.