Decadent melting chocolate s'more sundaes in Israel. Creamy Skor mousse cake with rich fudge ganache in Montreal. Elegant espresso-soaked tiramisu in Miami.
For Nancy Zionts, turning 50 last year was pretty sweet.
"I decided that I didn't want a big gift. I didn't want a big party," said Ms. Zionts, 51, of Point Breeze. "I thought I wanted to do something for myself that would be kind of a project throughout the year."
To celebrate her 50th, she embarked on a year-long quest to travel across the globe and track down 50 of the world's top "birthday-worthy" desserts. It's a project that's led her to more than 15 cities -- from Pittsburgh to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and to London and Paris.
Some items on the list were destination desserts woven in throughout the year, like the Skor Mousse Cake from Calories, a patisserie in Montreal where she still has family. The eight-layer chocolate cake features rich whipped cream and chocolate Skor bars throughout, complete with a thick chocolate fudge frosting.
But most are ones she discovered throughout her travels for work, because her schedule is jam-packed with conferences and speaking engagements as chief program officer for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.
On the evening of her 51st birthday on April 12, she rounded out the list with a final 50th dessert: A well-deserved tiramisu at Donato's in O'Hara.
For her, it's not about the numbers -- it's about the journey.
"I like the idea that I was doing something that made marking a milestone last a little bit longer," she said. "I could enjoy and celebrate my 50th. It was delicious and still is."
Although she does not have a culinary background, she refined her sweet tooth at an early age as a child in Montreal, where she had easy access to the city's world-class bakeries and pastry shops. As a result, the dessert aficionado holds fairly stringent standards for what qualifies as a "dessert": It is often something eaten with a fork or spoon that is made in the moment, not frozen or off the shelf.
The Montreal Skor cake tops her favorites list. At Max Brenner in Tel Aviv, Israel, she added the Spectacular Melting Chocolate S'mores Sundae, a rich combination of dark chocolate gelato, vanilla ice cream and milk chocolate fondue. The decadent dessert is loaded with chocolate chunks, whipped cream and marshmallow fluff, then topped off with crispy crepe flakes, a river of white chocolate cream and a toasted marshmallow.
Although the dessert adventure went global, it did not shy away from tasty treats here in Pittsburgh.
She cited the three-layer Chocolate Mousse Cake at Aladdin's Eatery in Squirrel Hill among her top delicacies, with the chocolate-and-orange-zested cannoli from Joseph Tambellini Restaurant in Highland Park rounding out the list.
Some types of desserts, especially chocolate ones, repeat on her list -- for instance, it includes another cannoli, from Mike's Pastry in Boston -- and some of the cities she visited, such as London, simply didn't make the cut. But she still got to see her daughter Alli, 22, who is a secondary teacher there.
The birthday quest has been something of a family affair, with Alli and daughter Dani, 20, tagging along for a few restaurants and even introducing her to new favorites.
"The whole dessert project has pretty much been an undercurrent to our whole year," noted Dani, a junior at Brandeis University, in an email. "Whenever we eat out, we have to check the dessert menu to make sure there's nothing fabulous that we've missed."
The entourage has been helpful in sharing the sugary expedition because Ms. Zionts always opts to split desserts instead of finishing them on her own.
"I'm one of those people that can take a few bites of something, love it and leave it," she said. "It's not about stuffing myself."
Throughout the global culinary quest, she photographed each of her 50 desserts, and her husband, Leon, will assemble them into a poster as a lasting memory of the birthday milestone.
With each addition to the list, Ms. Zionts is proof that embracing age can be a piece of cake -- literally.
"I think my mom's way of aging suits her perfectly," wrote Alli in an email. "She remained very true to herself and gave herself a challenge she knew she would enjoy!"
Julie Percha: jpercha@post-gazette.com or 412-263-4903.
First published on April 28, 2011 at 12:00 am
