The Periodic Table of Dessert

A Scientific and Rigorous approach to patisserie -- in Full Color

You've seen those charts that say, like, "Periodic Table of the Vegetables" or "Periodic Table of the Sausages"?

They annoy me. Because they're not periodic. They have no vertical or horizontal correspondences. The actual periodic table of chemical elements has structure -- that's why it's cool.

Thus: my contribution to the field.

This image is scaled down quite a bit. Here are some larger views.

Questions? Comments? See my ongoing list of frequently commented comments.

Purchase a fine 20"x16" poster of this chart! Courtesy of Cafepress. Just $18.00 US, of which I get a quarter.

The Periodic Table of Dessert
Designed by Andrew Plotkin
Copyright 2003

• A song on the subject of dessert. (This song is not my fault. I did not think of it. I did not write it. I did not sing it. Rob Wheeler did all of that. Blame him.)
• Tom Lehrer's more famous song: now animated. (Flash animation by Mike Stanfill.)
• A collection of alternate layouts for periodic tables (of the elements).
• An actual periodic table (of the elements). As in furniture. Built and populated by Theodore Gray.
• My collection of flavor wheels which I have found on the web and other places. Includes A. C. Noble's wine aroma chart, Morton Meilgaard's beer flavor chart, and others.
• The Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad. (Quite periodic!)
• A periodic table of drinkables, I think. It's periodic, but has some odd lapses.
• A Taxonomy of Meta-Desserts: not just periodic, but linear.
• See also the history section of my notes on this table. I was inspired by diverse sources.

The Periodic Table of Lunch

+-------+
|   L   |
|       |
| Lunch |
+-------+

Last updated August 15, 2003.

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Closer views of the Periodic Table

Frequently-commented comments about the Table

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