Changemakers
Changemakers
A Look at Local Dessert Culture
BY LAURA OAKLEY
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE
Like a game of Candy Land, the sweet landscape of desserts in Halifax is vast and varied. It’s spotted with incredible talent, self-cultivated skills, home-grown professionals and international transplants who have brought global inspirations that weave seamlessly with Nova Scotia’s seasonal wonders. As Oxalis Restaurant co-owner Sophia Gruber said: “Dessert is a whimsical thing.” And I couldn’t agree more.
Sophia Gruber and Andi Preuss - Oxalis
THE DREAMERS
Chef and co-owner at Oxalis, Andi Preuss, and his team are pulling off something extraordinary. Preuss hails from Austria and has cooked at fine-dining restaurants and luxury resorts in Canada and Europe. He brings refined techniques to Oxalis and draws influence from hiking and foraging. At the restaurant in downtown Dartmouth, they dream up desserts and bring them to life using highly skilled techniques.
“We try to take a lot of inspiration from nature,” says Preuss. “The intention is to have something seasonal, something focused on natural appearance.” This past summer, a dessert called Under the Lemon Tree was Oxalis’ showpiece, which incorporates all of the ingredients of a classic lemon tart but in the shape of an actual lemon, airbrushed with yellow cocoa butter. It looks so realistic; Gruber says sometimes customers are afraid to eat it. Preuss and his culinary team have also recreated a rock, mushroom, cherry, log with moss, apple, and more. Desserts at Oxalis change up roughly every eight weeks.
Under the Lemon Tree
“When I was an apprentice and in culinary school, I hated pastry so much,” says Preuss of the precise art. “Now it’s fun to experiment with it. It’s fun for me—I have to challenge myself.” Preuss says he bounces ideas off the other chefs, and then they set on a mission to create mind-bending desserts that incorporate delicious seasonal flavours and lesser-known ingredients. Alongside those desserts, they craft something more traditional, like an apple crumble in the fall, to offer something more comforting.
“Eighty to 90 percent of our guests order dessert,” says Preuss. “They read [the description] or maybe saw the photos on Instagram, and they want to try it,” Gruber adds that the desserts at Oxalis are intentionally well-balanced and not overpowering or intensely rich, as thoroughly enjoying them should be part of the overall meal. “[Dessert] is part of the experience. The experience lasts until the end.”
Laura Draeger on Pop Tart Thursday at Dilly Dally
THE NOSTALGICS
At Dilly Dally Coffee Cafe, owner-chef Ray Henry and co-owner Laura Draeger have worked with talented pastry chefs since opening in 2016 at the corner of Quinpool Road and Vernon Street to offer pastries that taste even better than your childhood favourites. According to Draeger, their scones, cinnamon buns, and old-fashioned sugar donuts have earned a “cult following.” Plus, their weekly pop-tart Thursdays and pie Fridays keep things interesting for their loyal customers.
“We have always maintained a level of consistency in our offerings, so the case looks similar each day, but the flavours change,” says Draeger. “Guests know that we have their favourites and plan their mornings around this.” The culinary team loves to take seasonal inspiration by using ingredients like local stone fruits or strawberries; plus, they pack the freezer to offer Nova Scotia fruit-filled goodness all winter. “There's nothing like a Nova Scotia blueberry scone to brighten your day in January,” says Draeger.
In their eighth year and going strong, Draeger credits a steadfast offering and dietary inclusivity for the café’s continued success. “We offer gluten-friendly, vegan, and refined sugar-free items,” says Draeger. She also mentions that the pastry chef collaborates with the savoury “Tiny Kitchen” team to create cross-over items. “My favourite example of this is our panzerotti scone, where our café's tomato jam is infused into the scone with fresh herbs and cheese,” says Draeger. The quality and playfulness of Dilly Dally’s baked goods and their mantra of “serving caffeine and kindness” have created a team culture built for long-term success.
THE HOTEL PROFESSIONALS
At Gio Restaurant inside the Prince George Hotel, pastry chef Konstantinos Organtzis and the rest of the team work hard to create modernized, elevated takes on classic and traditional desserts alongside novel creations. “One of my goals is to surprise our guests by implementing uncommon ingredients in the recipes,” says Organtzis of creating the dessert list at Gio. “I take my inspiration from our multicultural [team], combining ingredients from different places of the world,” he says.
Pastry Chef Konstantinos Organtzis - Gio
With a menu that changes four times per year and a stellar reputation to uphold for both the restaurant and hotel, the pressure is on the pastry chefs to deliver items nothing short of perfection. The desserts at Gio are a work of art visually while consistently delivering flavour, complexity and technique. “On our current menu we have created a combination of local Nova Scotian blueberries with kalamansi [lime] from the Philippines,” says Organtzis. “We also do a modernized version of the Nova Scotian strawberry shortcake with Greek feta cheese cream and a chocolate banana.” He credits French culinary education and the multicultural influences of the entire team for being “the pieces of the puzzle that create unique dessert experiences.”
THE SELF-TAUGHT CHEESECAKE MAKERS
“For us, cheesecake is a love language. It's a lot of work to make, and there's just something wonderful about being able to choose different flavours or just buy one slice,” says Joanne MacDougall of her and her husband Colin’s cheesecake shop and café Sweet Hereafter Cheesecakery. “When we first opened in 2011, there wasn't much in the way of [standalone] dessert in Halifax.”
Many people in Halifax have heard the endearing backstory of Sweet Hereafter. Colin MacDougall was a self-taught cheesecake maker and wanted to open a business of his own. When the MacDougalls opened the shop over a decade ago, Haligonians went wild for their cakes—they racked up awards year-over-year and earned an impressive following. Now, the MacDougalls have grown the shop from a two-person operation (where Colin made all the cakes) to a thriving business that employs 10 to 15 people, including a full-time baker and manager.
“Our menu has remained relatively unchanged—we still offer simply cheesecake and drinks. But we have many more flavours than the original fourteen we opened with,” says MacDougall. At the café, you can order cheesecake by the slice—check out their website for daily updates on what flavours are available—plus coffee, tea and cold beverages. Whole cheesecakes or mixed boxes can be pre-ordered, with gluten-free and vegan options. MacDougall says their year-round best-selling flavour is peanut butter chocolate, followed by classic New York, then cookies ’n’ cream. Peruse the website; you will see dozens of classic and unique flavours.
“Our customers are, of course, our favourite people,” says MacDougall. “They are a beautiful mix of young university students, middle-aged couples, and retired groups of friends. We get tentative first dates, milestone anniversaries, and everything in between.” Cheesecake, it seems, is a universal language relevant for any occasion. It's no wonder that Sweet Hereafter has been a part of so many lives when the cakes are made from scratch and with love.
THE ICE CREAM LEGENDS
“Ice cream is unique in that it is one of those desserts that truly brings out our inner child and brings to mind memories of trips to the beach and baseball games on summer days,” says Jenna Mooers. “It’s comforting and doesn’t have to take itself too seriously.” When Mooers and Lindsay MacPhee bought iconic north-end ice cream shop Dee Dee’s in 2022, they knew tapping into people’s deep-set love of ice cream wouldn’t require any significant changes to the business. After all, it had been open and thriving for almost 20 years.
“We retained all the amazing staff and would never touch Ditta [Kasdan’s] tried, tested and true recipes,” says Mooers. “The majority of the recipes are Ditta’s classic ice cream recipes that we still use today. We also have two very creative ice cream makers that play a major role in our development of new flavour ideas.”
Dee Dee’s earned a reputation for creating unique flavours made from scratch, along with Kasdan’s dedication to environmental sustainability. The shop became a landmark in an otherwise pretty quiet north-end residential neighbourhood. Mooers says the Mexican chocolate is the fan favourite and number one best-seller. “It is made up of our classic dark chocolate base with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and a cayenne pepper kick,” says Mooers. Otherwise, customers look forward to the seasonal offerings at Dee Dee’s. “Strawberry flavours are the highly anticipated flavours of the summer: strawberry buttermilk and strawberry balsamic sorbet.” In the fall, they serve up spiced apple pie featuring pieces of whole-baked apple pie smashed into the ice cream. “For winter, the holiday flavours are always a big hit: candy cane and sugar cookie smash.” Says Mooers.
Working with other local businesses and makers on collaborative ice cream creations has become part of the fun. “We have been doing a smash-up series for the past eight months that has been a huge hit,” says Mooers. They smash another local product into their ice cream or create a treat, like an ice cream sandwich, using a local bakery’s cookies. “A portion of the sales of the item we give to a charity of the maker’s choice,” says Mooers. Lucky for Dee Dee’s customers, the new ownership has brought on a reinvigorated spirit for the shop, and the fun is just beginning.
