Monosodium glutamate (MSG) adds umami taste to savory dishes, giving a hearty flavor boost to meats, vegetables, and more foods while using less sodium than adding table salt. But does MSG have a sweet side too?

Desserts are sweet by nature, but many beloved treats have a salty or savory aspect. Some of us add walnuts to chocolate chip cookies, use crushed pretzels to top ice cream, or find other ways to incorporate glutamate-rich ingredients into indulgent sweets. As trending desserts include bolder umami ingredients, it is more likely that MSG could play a part in balancing the contrast between tastes in a sweet dish. Flavors like matcha, miso, and salted caramel incorporate ingredients from different parts of the world to give a unique flavor to innovative dessert foods.

How Does Seasoning Desserts with MSG Work?

In a 2023 interview for Epicurious, Chef Christopher Koetke of Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc., noted, “We are just beginning to understand how MSG contributes to overall flavor complexity in sweet applications.” Some naturally high-glutamate ingredients, like walnuts, green tea, and eggs, offer an opportunity to season with MSG to balance sweet, salty, and savory flavors in one dessert recipe. As The Takeout shared, “When added to desserts made with foods that naturally contain glutamate, just a pinch more can provide the perfect flavor boost.”

Epicurious writer Anikah Shaokat detailed her experience with a blind taste test of the Turrones de Casoy MSG Brownies created by Abi Balingit, which feature a five-spice blend enhanced by the addition of MSG. The taste testers overwhelmingly preferred the batch of brownies made with MSG. Drawing on her research and the taste test results, Shaokat asserted that “you’ll get the most umami bang for your buck when you include MSG in desserts that have a savory side and contain glutamate and nucleotide-rich ingredients like walnuts, eggs, or miso.” Her recommendation? “[T]aste it, adjust it, play around with flavors familiar and new,” following a rule of thumb offered by Koetke and reiterated by Tasting Table – to start with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of MSG in a recipe and adjust to taste.

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Ba Bao Fan 8 Treasure Rice

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian

Servings 8

Ingredients

Rice

• 400 g glutinous rice
• 1/4 teaspoon MSG
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

8 Treasures

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 walnut
• 3 white lotus seeds
• 3 dried apricots
• 20 cranberries
• 20 goji berries
• 20 golden raisins
• 4 red dates
• 200 g red bean paste

Sugar Syrup

• 200 g brown sugar
• 200 ml water

Instructions

1. Wash the rice 3 times until the water runs clear, fill with water, and leave to soak overnight.
2. The next morning, soak the dates and white lotus seeds in a bowl of boiling water for 20 minutes until softened.
3. Meanwhile, cook your soaked rice with 350 ml water in a rice cooker (you can steam another way if you prefer), then season with MSG, brown sugar and oil – mix until everything is incorporated.
4. Cut your dates and seeds in half.
5. For the 8 treasures, prepare your choice of steaming dish by coating it in a light layer of oil, add the dried fruits and nuts (decorate as you wish), then add half the cooked rice on top of the dried fruits and nuts, flatten the rice, add the red bean paste and the remaining rice.
6. Cover the dish with cling film and poke a few small holes (this allows the steam to escape).
7. Place a steaming rack in your wok, pour in 700 ml water and bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add your dish, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the rice dish steam for 25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, make your sugar syrup by adding sugar and water to a pot, bring to a boil on medium-high heat, once boiling lower the heat and let it simmer until the syrup has thickened.
9. Once the rice has cooled down slightly, flip the rice onto a plate and serve with syrup.

Recipe Notes

You can use different quantities of dried fruits and nuts to what I’ve used below and decorate however you please, be as creative as you want!

Recipe credit: KnowMSG.com

Photo credit: Flickr user con-fu-cion

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Salted MSG Caramel Sauce

This velvety sauce is spiked with a pinch of MSG to keep it from being overly sweet.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon MSG such as Ajinomoto
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Fried chicken, brownies, cheesecake, or apple and pear slices, for serving

Instructions

1. Microwave cream in a small microwavable bowl on high until just warm, 15 to 20 seconds. Set aside.
2. Stir together sugar, 1/2 cup cold water, corn syrup, kosher salt, and MSG in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture darkens to a deep golden brown color, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and gradually add warm cream, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly and scraping bottom and sides of pan, until bubbling subsides, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add butter, and stir until melted and well combined. Serve warm with fried chicken, brownies, cheesecake, or apple and pear slices.

Recipe Notes

The cooled caramel sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, microwave the sauce until warm, about 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds.

Recipe credit: Food and Wine

Photo credit: Flickr user Eva Holm