One evening at Stevenson Dining Hall, we entered the bustling buffet area with our newly-found friends. The desserts had been topped up seconds before, after a wave of sugar-starved students had eaten everything in sight, and we knew we had to taste everything. But, as young adults refining our taste palettes, we decided it would be unreasonable to stomach an entire dessert bar alone. 

So instead, we decided to split the dessert bar. The result was glorious: four diverse delights piled high onto one modest plate. Overall, the selections exceeded our expectations, considering we were eating in a college dining hall. 

The first sample, custard pie, was arguably the worst of the bunch based solely on texture. While its flavor was okay, the mushy texture threw it all off. Its redeeming factor was the crust, which was beautifully flaky and crumbly, earning it three out of five stars.

The cheesecake came next — it was your average cheesecake, except drier than we cared for. Its raspberry topping was incredibly sweet, but complemented the cheesecake’s flavor wonderfully. The filling was better than store-bought options, and overall the cheesecake came in at three-and-a-half out of five stars.

This brings us to our third dessert: the lemon crunch pie. While this treat wasn’t as crunchy as we’d hoped, its zesty filling was tart and delicious. We originally braced ourselves against its highlighter-yellow color, but we loved every bite. The texture dissolved effortlessly into our mouths, landing this sweet treat a solid four out of five stars. 

This left the fourth and final selection: the Black Forest pie. It appeared, backlit as if by some holy light filtering down through Stevie’s skylight. We were in love. While the cherry compote was slightly unappealing, we were willing to risk it for the promise of the rich, dark center. This was the dessert we had set out to find — the Black Forest pie at Stevie, worth all five out of five stars. 

Our friends dissolved into fits of giggles at our spontaneous transformation into food critics. We let the idea marinate for the remainder of dessert. We imagined exploring and documenting the experience of eating on campus, from food reviews to dining spaces. We left Stevie, ready to take on our role as the campus food critics you didn’t ask for but always needed.

Pro tip: Use the waffle machines in Stevie to create any delicacy under the sun. Want chocolate chip waffles? Take the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and whatever else your heart desires from the dessert section and add it to the waffle batter.