Review | Butterfingers: Viral-ish Foods, Gone Kind of Wrong
Over the last few years, TikTok and Instagram have churned out many different trends. There have been many butter-centric dishes spread over “For You” pages recently, so I tried some of them, so you don’t have to! I tried butter boards, inspired by multiple different videos; Crispy Parmesan Crusted Potatoes by @foodwithhardt on Instagram; and a loaf of bread shaped into a pumpkin, design inspired by @breadbyelise on Instagram. Don’t worry: I served the food with lots of fruit to cleanse the palate.
To preface this review and explain some circumstances: I planned a pseudo-dinner party for some of my friends to review the dishes. Some of their comments are included, and the star rating is by them as well. My lovely mother helped me with a lot of the setup, out of her own goodwill.
Julia Ling
Butter Board
Rating: 4/5
The viral butter board trend is a love-it-or-hate-it party snack idea originally created by @justine_snacks on Instagram. To make it, I spread salted butter with a palette knife onto a wooden board, and to minimize mess, I first stuck some parchment paper onto the board with another speck of butter.
I made a sweet half and a savoury half: For the sweet half, I drizzled honey and sprinkled some finely chopped strawberries on top. For the savoury half, I put some raw garlic and parsley for colour.
Disclaimer: The garlic was meant to be roasted, but time constraints made that impossible. Understandably, most of my scattered reviews mentioned that the garlic was too strong. Other reviews stated that while tasty, the flavour profiles of the butter were not very complex. Given the chance to make it again, I definitely would devote more time and effort into the toppings. I would also try using unsalted butter as the base.
Julia Ling
Parmesan Potatoes
Rating: 4.2/5
The recipe for these potatoes, originally shared by @foodwithhardt on Instagram, was technically a one dish recipe. Melted salted butter, combined with parmesan cheese, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, were mixed together in a pan into a paste. I then halved and scored some baby potatoes, laid them face down, brushed and dusted them with more butter and cheese, and baked them.
The pan I used was too small for the recipe’s measurements, so the sup posed paste at the bottom of the pan was more of a soup. Too far in, I baked the potatoes anyways, and they ended up somewhat deep fried. There was enough buttery seasoning left in the pan that I could rebake it with another layer of potatoes without topping up.
Despite these issues, the dish was fundamentally cheesy potatoes drowned in butter: in other words, it was a hit! Anonymous reviews ranged from “fav <3” to “tasty but normal”, truly eloquent descriptions.
Julia Ling
Pumpkin Bread
Rating: 4.8/5
For this recipe, my wonderful mother first made the dough from a tried and true “tastes like bread from the keg” recipe by Chef UK on food. com called “5 Minute Artisan Bread”.
To make the pumpkin shape designed by @breadbyelise on Instagram, I first dipped baking twine into canola oil. Then, I crossed the twine over the central “top” and “bottom” of the lump of bread dough and divided it into eight sections, so that the twine was snug to the dough, but not cutting into it. During the baking process, the bread rose and swelled around the twine and became pumpkin shaped. I used (washed) pear tree leaves from my backyard for leaves, as well as a partial cinnamon stick as the stem.
The decorative pumpkin shape was called a “cool shape”, “perfect for Thanksgiving feasts”, and “very cute”. However, there were still a couple of criticisms. A reviewer noted that it was “good bread, but nothing really makes it spectacular”.