Hospital cafeterias are usually the unsung heroes when it comes to good desserts, and Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock and North Little Rock are no exception. The Nutrition and Food Service department of the North Little Rock facility offers specialty desserts Monday through Friday to the hospital cafeteria customers, as well as basic desserts in its year-and-a-half-old Atrium Cafe.
   Desserts here are the creation of executive chef Len Thompson and executive pastry chef Herman Lee, both longtime veterans of various restaurants and hotels.
   "People expect to pay less here" than for a dessert at a fine restaurant, Thompson says. But there is no lack of quality. "We do the full range of desserts." Individual servings range from $2 in the cafeteria and cafe to $6 at catered functions -- board meetings, executive staff meetings and events hosted at Baptist facilities by outside clients. Need something sugar-free ? It's available. Baptist chefs cook to accommodate as many as 100 different diets.
   The most popular dessert is the Key Lime Pie, along with the Apple Walnut Tart, "any type of cheesecake" and "anything chocolate," Lee says. One chocolate offering is the airy Chocolate Carrot Cake, which takes an old favorite, gives it a delicious flavor spin and tops it off with a chocolate cream cheese icing sprinkled with chopped pecans. Another selection, the Chocolate Lava Bundt Cake, offers a bolder, richer taste.
   The hospital also sells precooked "holiday dinners," complete with desserts, to employees and outside individuals who order in advance. Italian cream cake, $15, is the most requested of the season's sweets. Other delights available for order include Pecan Pie, $8; Sweet Potato Pie and Pumpkin Pie, $7.50; the Chocolate Lava Bundt Cake, $10; Apple Streusel Pie, $7.50 regular and $8 for sugar-free ; Banana Nut Bread, $6.50; and Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake, $16.
   Other desserts served up by the hospital include Chocolate Ganache, Peach Walnut Tart, Lemon Pound Cake and Strawberry Bundt Cake. Again, the more pared-down desserts can be found at the casual Atrium. A recent afternoon finds its display case stocked with cheesecake and pumpkin pie, $2.99 per slice; dessert bars, $1.99; and pastries, $1.49.
   One more thing: At Baptist, dessert recipes are given out freely. "None of my recipes are secret," Thompson says.
   Besides, as Lee points out, every person's creation will taste different anyway.
   Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock, 3333 Springhill Drive, North Little Rock; (501) 202-3000. Just Desserts sorts through the sugar and spice. E-mail divine dessert recommendations to:
   

hwilliams@arkansasonline.com

This story was published Friday, December 01, 2006