In 138 years of statehood, Colorado’s leaders have never given us an official dessert.
Massachusetts gets Boston cream pie, Maine blueberry pie, Maryland something called ” Smith Island cake.” South Dakotans have their kuchen, Missourians have called dibs, somehow, on the ice cream cone and Delawareans claimed peach pie (really, Delaware?).
Other states get even more specific. Florida has an official state pie — key lime, of course — and Wisconsin has decreed kringle its state pastry.
But we Coloradans go without.
A Slate article this week tried to make up for the oversight, choosing an “official” dessert for each state in the union.
No one gets chocolate chip cookies or apple pie — too American for any one state, they argue — but its choice for Colorado could use a little sweetening.
According to Slate, the state dessert of Colorado should be pot candy.
“The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado at the beginning of this year opened the floodgates to a vigorous and controversial edibles industry,” wrote L.V. Anderson, food and drink editor at Slate. “It was never any question that Colorado’s state dessert would be laced with THC — the question was, what kind of sweet edible should get the crown? Cookies? Brownies? Gummy bears?”
Sure, Colorado is at the forefront of commercialization (and the butt of jokes) when it comes to marijuana, but do we really want to adopt a state dessert with dosage and serving-size rules?
Instead, what about all the Palisade peach delicacies popping up on restaurant menus right now?
A nice yogurt parfait could capture our health-conscious nature (and love of granola), not to mention the fact that we’re a state of transplants from all around the U.S., not some homogeneous mix.
In the meantime, I’ll gladly take a vanilla porter or chocolate stout from one of our state’s many great craft breweries.
Here’s the full list from Slate:
– Alabama: Lane cake
– Alaska: Baked Alaska
– Arizona: Sopaipilla
– Arkansas: Red velvet cake
– California: Meyer lemon cake
– Colorado: Pot candy
– Connecticut: Spice cookies
– Delaware: Strawberry shortcake
– Florida: Key lime pie
– Georgia: Peach cobbler
– Hawaii: Shave ice
– Idaho: Huckleberry pie
– Illinois: Brownies
– Indiana: Sugar cream pie
– Iowa: Cherry pie
– Kansas: Dirt cake
– Kentucky: Bread pudding
– Louisiana: Bananas Foster
– Maine: Blueberry pie
– Maryland: Smith Island cake
– Massachusetts: Boston cream pie
– Michigan: Fudge
– Minnesota: Seven-layer bars
– Mississippi: Mississippi mud pie
– Missouri: Gooey butter cake
– Montana: S’mores
– Nebraska: Popcorn balls
– Nevada: Chocolate fondue
– New Hampshire: Whoopie pie
– New Jersey: Salt water taffy
– New Mexico: Bizcochito
– New York: Cheesecake
– North Carolina: Sweet potato pie
– North Dakota: Krumkake
– Ohio: Buckeye candy
– Oklahoma: Fried pie
– Oregon: Blackberry cobbler
– Pennsylvania: Banana split
– Rhode Island: Frozen lemonade
– South Carolina: Coconut cake
– South Dakota: Kuchen
– Tennessee: Banana pudding
– Texas: Pecan pie
– Utah: Jell-O
– Vermont: Maple candy
– Virginia: Chess pie
– Washington: Nanaimo bars
– Washington, D.C.: Cupcakes
– West Virginia: Shoofly pie
– Wisconsin: Kringle
– Wyoming: Cowboy cookies
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch
