There is a lively discussion in the gemara and then later poskim about what kinds of jewelry may be worn in a public domain on Shabbos. Among the topics is what is consider "worn" vs. "carried" and whether or not a person is likely to take it off to show her friends. Very cool stuff; you ought to check it out. One of the jewelry items that a woman may not wear (303:7) is a קטלא... which literally means a "killer"; it's kind of wide choker decorated in gold. The point of this particular piece of jewelry was to create (or at least enhance) and then accentuate multiple chins. Fat was beautiful because fat meant rich.
In modern day, of course, thin is beautiful. Why? Because we are all fabulously rich (we all have more than enough to eat) and so thin bespeaks "self control". Ah well... enough social commentary. The point here is that we very often have dessert with our meals nowadays; and when we don't, it's because we are exercising "self control", not because we can't afford it. That being the case, it is worth investing some time into clarifying when and when not to make a bracha on dessert.
Why would I think I need to make a bracha on dessert? It's part of the meal, isn't it? Indeed we know that formal (and not so formal) meals do have an order. First salad/soup/fish, followed by the entree, and finally dessert. For more details and elaborations, see the Wikipedia page on Full course dinner. Clearly, then, dessert is part of the meal. What's the question?
The question is, simply put, that in halacha a meal consists of foods with the intent to satiate. Foods other than that are outside the meal and will need their own bracha; at least bracha rishona, and sometimes even bracha acharona. The classic foods that are outside the meal zone are wine, fruit, and candy. All require a bracha rishona before eating them during a meal; neither require a bracha acharona. Wine because it is special enough to rate it's own bracha and also helps you eat more. Fruit because you don't really eat it with the bread, but it still helps you satiate you. Candy, even though it does not satiate and is clearly not eaten as an enhancement to the bread itself, it is eaten in the context of the meal and therefore is covered by bentching. (Since one rarely eats enough candy quickly enough to require a bracha acharona anyway, the reader may wonder what difference it makes. The difference is that eating more candy after bentching would require a new bracha rishona.)
And that brings us to ice cream/pudding/mousse and cake/pie/cookies. Ice cream/pudding/mousse is actually a machlokes (surprise!). R' Moshe holds that ice cream (and any dessert that dissolves in your mouth) is basically just flavored water. Tasty, but not worthy of a new bracha, as water (and its derivatives) are covered by the bracha on the bread. R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach holds that it is a food by itself and cannot be considered subordinate to the bread. Hence, it requires its own bracha. If you want to be frum and safe, have a piece of candy before the ice cream/pudding/mousse.
What about cake/pie/cookies? The Shulchan Aruch in 168:8 says that פת הבאה בכיסנין -- cake/pie/cookies -- that is eaten during a meal but not as an integral component of the meal, require a bracha rishona and bracha acharona. The Biur Halacha, dh טעונים ברכה לפניהם, has a lengthy discussion about how to look at different foods and decide of they are פת הבאה בכיסנין or not. The Shulchan Aruch gives three criteria on how it differs from bread: (1) Filled shells (chicken pot pies, for example); (2) mixed with lots of sugar, nuts, spices (cakes, for example); (3) crunchy (crackers, for example). However, we don't know if you need all of those to be פת הבאה בכיסנין or only any one of them. We are therefore stringent both ways. When it comes to deciding what to do about a snack, we are safest by putting using any one of the criteria. Therefore, on cakes/meat pot pies/crackers, the bracha in בורא מיני מזונות before and על המחיה afterwards.
During a meal, though, we have the opposite concern... making an unnecessary bracha is really, really bad. Hence, we say you need all of the criteria to make it פת הבאה בכיסנין. That leaves you with just fruit pies (basically). Even so, there are poskim who disagree with this whole p'sak of the Shulchan Aruch anyway. The Biur Halacha really comes out that you shouldn't make a bracha on cake/pie/cookies. The best he can give you is that its not the end of the world if you do make a בורא מיני מזונות before and על המחיה for pie during a meal. The best option, though, is to have in mind specifically when making the המוציא to cover cake/pie/cookies that you eat during the meal.
To summarize: fruit and candy require their own bracha beforehand, but are then covered by the bentching. Ice cream/pudding/mousse: either avoid it during a meal, or have a peice of candy beforehand and have the ice cream/pudding/mousse in mind. Cake/pie/cookies: have in mind when making the המוציא to include them.
In modern day, of course, thin is beautiful. Why? Because we are all fabulously rich (we all have more than enough to eat) and so thin bespeaks "self control". Ah well... enough social commentary. The point here is that we very often have dessert with our meals nowadays; and when we don't, it's because we are exercising
Why would I think I need to make a bracha on dessert? It's part of the meal, isn't it? Indeed we know that formal (and not so formal) meals do have an order. First salad/soup/fish, followed by the entree, and finally dessert. For more details and elaborations, see the Wikipedia page on Full course dinner. Clearly, then, dessert is part of the meal. What's the question?
The question is, simply put, that in halacha a meal consists of foods with the intent to satiate. Foods other than that are outside the meal and will need their own bracha; at least bracha rishona, and sometimes even bracha acharona. The classic foods that are outside the meal zone are wine, fruit, and candy. All require a bracha rishona before eating them during a meal; neither require a bracha acharona. Wine because it is special enough to rate it's own bracha and also helps you eat more. Fruit because you don't really eat it with the bread, but it still helps you satiate you. Candy, even though it does not satiate and is clearly not eaten as an enhancement to the bread itself, it is eaten in the context of the meal and therefore is covered by bentching. (Since one rarely eats enough candy quickly enough to require a bracha acharona anyway, the reader may wonder what difference it makes. The difference is that eating more candy after bentching would require a new bracha rishona.)
And that brings us to ice cream/pudding/mousse and cake/pie/cookies. Ice cream/pudding/mousse is actually a machlokes (surprise!). R' Moshe holds that ice cream (and any dessert that dissolves in your mouth) is basically just flavored water. Tasty, but not worthy of a new bracha, as water (and its derivatives) are covered by the bracha on the bread. R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach holds that it is a food by itself and cannot be considered subordinate to the bread. Hence, it requires its own bracha. If you want to be frum and safe, have a piece of candy before the ice cream/pudding/mousse.
What about cake/pie/cookies? The Shulchan Aruch in 168:8 says that פת הבאה בכיסנין -- cake/pie/cookies -- that is eaten during a meal but not as an integral component of the meal, require a bracha rishona and bracha acharona. The Biur Halacha, dh טעונים ברכה לפניהם, has a lengthy discussion about how to look at different foods and decide of they are פת הבאה בכיסנין or not. The Shulchan Aruch gives three criteria on how it differs from bread: (1) Filled shells (chicken pot pies, for example); (2) mixed with lots of sugar, nuts, spices (cakes, for example); (3) crunchy (crackers, for example). However, we don't know if you need all of those to be פת הבאה בכיסנין or only any one of them. We are therefore stringent both ways. When it comes to deciding what to do about a snack, we are safest by putting using any one of the criteria. Therefore, on cakes/meat pot pies/crackers, the bracha in בורא מיני מזונות before and על המחיה afterwards.
During a meal, though, we have the opposite concern... making an unnecessary bracha is really, really bad. Hence, we say you need all of the criteria to make it פת הבאה בכיסנין. That leaves you with just fruit pies (basically). Even so, there are poskim who disagree with this whole p'sak of the Shulchan Aruch anyway. The Biur Halacha really comes out that you shouldn't make a bracha on cake/pie/cookies. The best he can give you is that its not the end of the world if you do make a בורא מיני מזונות before and על המחיה for pie during a meal. The best option, though, is to have in mind specifically when making the המוציא to cover cake/pie/cookies that you eat during the meal.
To summarize: fruit and candy require their own bracha beforehand, but are then covered by the bentching. Ice cream/pudding/mousse: either avoid it during a meal, or have a peice of candy beforehand and have the ice cream/pudding/mousse in mind. Cake/pie/cookies: have in mind when making the המוציא to include them.
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