TasteFood: A little salt makes any dessert – like these Pecan Shortbreads – better

A hit of salt is a key ingredient in sugary desserts. As enticing as sweet confections are, an abundance of sugar can be cloying, leaving the palate searching for that extra something to balance the sweetness. Salt is the answer.

A little salt disappears into desserts, helpfully reducing any bitterness or sourness. But you don’t always need to be modest: In some desserts, an extra kick of salt — where it is notably detected — not only tames the sugar, but enhances umami. Umami is that difficult-to-describe...