Many of us know desserts to be
the last guilty pleasure after a meal.
But did you know that
before the 17th century in Europe,
what we know as desserts
were used to cleanse the palate between courses?
In many parts of the world,
sugar was a rare and expensive ingredient.
It wasn't until colonists generated and expanded
the production of sugar fields through slave labor
that the price of sugar was lowered.
By the mid-17th century,
cookbooks dedicated to desserts were published.
With many different textures, colors, and flavors,
here are some of the best desserts
that exist around the world.
This sweet treat got its name
from the politician Eduardo Gomes,
who ran for president of Brazil in the 1940s.
Brigadeiros, which were inspired
by Gomes' military rank, brigadier,
quickly became a popular treat sold by women
who supported him at rallies.
He lost the election,
but the bite-sized treat lives on.
It is made with condensed milk, butter,
and cocoa powder and covered with chocolate sprinkles.
In Nigeria, the act of repeating a word twice
is deeply embedded in the culture.
It is used for clarity and emphasis.
Puff puff is deep-fried dough
sprinkled with powdered sugar in some cases,
and it can be served as both an appetizer and a dessert,
savory or sweet.
When I first think of mochi,
I think of the mochi ice cream
in boxes sold at Trader Joe's,
but that's just the American take on the famous dessert.
Mochi is actually a rice cake made from mochigome.
This rice becomes glutinous when boiled
and doughy when steamed.
Water and air are huge factors
in the transformation of mochigome
to the mochi dessert that we know.
Water prevents the mochi from being a sticky mess,
and air contributes to the gooey stretch.
The word tembleque is
associated with the Spanish word
temblar, which means to jiggle or tremble.
This definitely represents the consistency of this dessert.
A coconut pudding, or custard if you wish,
templeque is a holiday dessert
that has numerous variations throughout Latin America.
But no matter where you are, it is best eaten cold.
Legend has it that chimney cakes
were invented by women in Transylvania
during the Mongol invasion in 1241.
In order to convince the Mongols
that they would outlive them during a stalemate,
the women of Transylvania came up with a plan
that mixed flour with water
wrapped around a wooden stick.
This gave the illusion of large portions of bread,
but they were in fact hollow on the inside.
Starving and disappointed, the Mongols left,
and chimney cakes went on to be popular
in both Romania and Hungary.
This next dessert takes us here
to Little Cupcake Bakeshop in New York,
home to one of my favorite American desserts.
And, no, it is not apple pie.
Many people wonder, is red velvet cake
simply just chocolate cake with red food dye?
And the answer is: not exactly.
Though the dessert has
cocoa powder as one of the ingredients,
it also calls for vinegar and buttermilk.
The acidic flavors mixed with the cream-cheese frosting
makes for a dessert that is definitely not chocolate cake.
The red velvet cake stems back to a marketing ploy
by an American food-coloring company.
During the Great Depression, in order to boost sales,
the Adams Extract company added red food coloring
to velvet cake in order to give it
the bright, distinct color that we know today.
So as demand for the dessert increased,
so did their revenue.
Banoffee pie is a sweet combination
of bananas, toffee, and whipped cream
on a thick graham-cracker crust.
The word banoffee itself is actually a portmanteau
from words banana and toffee.
It was invented at a restaurant in Sussex, England,
and became world-famous.
Yakgwa, meaning \"medicinal confection,\"
got its name because honey was known in Korea
as healthy medicine.
Yakgwa is a deep-fried cookie
soaked in honey for six to eight hours.
The history of this dessert is tied to special occasions
like royal banquets or Chuseok.
Though originally enjoyed mostly by the upper class
because of the honey, it is commonly eaten today
and still served for Chuseok.
Soaked in a series of three milks,
evaporated, condensed, and heavy cream or whole milk,
this dessert is incredibly simple
yet deliciously complex.
Although people are not entirely sure
where the dessert originated,
the main consensus is Mexico.
It was Nestlé that took the tres leches cake mainstream
by featuring the recipe on cans
of evaporated, condensed, and cream milk.
Despite the marketing scheme,
tres leches developed its own cultural significance
in families all across Latin America.
Stroopwafel is a sweet, caramellike filling
sandwiched between two thin waffle cookies
and was invented in the Dutch city of Gouda.
Gerard Kamphuisen, who is credited as the inventor,
took leftover bread crumbs
and mixed them with a thick syrup.
Warm up the caramel by letting the stroopwafel
sit on a cup of coffee or tea before consuming,
and you won't be sorry.
A Filipino word meaning "mix-mix,"
halo-halo is a popular dessert in the Philippines
made up of shaved ice, condensed milk,
and fun sweet toppings like fruit, jellies, beans,
ube ice cream, or sweet custard.
This sweet treat is derived from
the Japanese dessert kakigori.
With the mix of Japanese occupation before World War II
and the ice plant built by Americans
in the Philippines in 1902, it was only a matter of time
before Filipinos redesigned the ice treat
to make what is known today as halo-halo.
The origins of this dessert are a bit murky,
with the Catalans saying their crema Catalana
preceded France's crème brûlée
as well as Britain saying its trinity cream was the first.
However, thanks to chef François Massialot,
France has the oldest recipe in writing,
dating back to 1691.
Crème brûlée is a custard topped with sugar that gets
torched to create a
caramelized, hardened top layer.
Unlike crème brûlée, where the curdling, or clumping,
of eggs in the custard is the sign of a mishap,
baked custard welcomes the slight cooking of the egg.
Instead of including only the egg yolk, like most custards,
baked custard includes the entire egg
and can be served warm or cool, based on preference.
Did you know that the correct way
to eat a Belgian waffle is with your hands?
The Belgian waffle,
originally called Brussels waffle,
is one of two types of waffles that originated in Belgium.
Americans know the Belgian waffle
as a delicious breakfast food, but not many of us
are actually eating the waffle as it was intended.
Belgian waffles are not to be eaten with a knife and fork,
but rather with your hands.
And no syrup. Maybe fruit or whipped cream at most.
Maurice Vermersch was the one who changed the name
from Brussels waffle to Belgian,
because Americans did not know where Brussels was.
Partly influenced by British colonial occupation,
this dessert actually has health benefits.
Currants are high in fiber;
manganese, which helps strengthen bones;
potassium; and copper, which helps with metabolism.
Trinidadians eat the rolls casually
as an afternoon snack or sometimes breakfast.
This dessert actually is not pudding at all.
Malva pudding, like many other desserts,
has an unknown origin story.
Some say Dutch, while others say South African.
Similar to toffee pudding,
its warm, spongy texture coated in a warm cream sauce
is a recipe for deliciousness.
And how can I forget the key ingredient? The apricot jam.
The cake's name is derived from the liquor
of the Black Forest mountain region,
known as Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser.
The liquor is distilled from tart cherries.
Black Forest cake was invented in 1915
by confectioner Josef Keller.
Some people suggest that the look of the cake
is a visual pun on the traditional bollenhut
worn by the women in the Black Forest.
As popular as this dessert is in India,
according to food historian and former chef Michael Krondl,
it's derived from a fritter
belonging to Central Asian Turkic invaders.
Folklore in India says that gulab jamun
was accidentally created by a Persian priest
and presented to the people as a royal dessert.
Although it shares similarities
with the Arabic luqaimat, a staple during Ramadan,
gulab jamun is unique because it's covered
in a rose-water-scented syrup.
As someone who took out loans to pay for college,
the story of this next dessert really hit home.
If you're searching for an easy,
no-bake dessert option, look no further.
The Nanaimo bar consists of three layers.
The base is made up of wafer, nuts, and coconut crumbs,
the middle is custard,
and the top layer is chocolate ganache.
The bar is named after the city
of Nanaimo in southwest Canada.
The earliest recording of the name "Nanaimo bar"
was in 1953.
Susan Mendelson popularized the dessert
and commercialized it in the 1970s
to help pay her tuition.
She then opened up her own café,
The Lazy Gourmet, selling the dessert.
Khao niaow ma muang is most likely
to have originated in northern Thailand.
This traditional Thai dessert is made with glutinous rice,
coconut milk, a pinch of salt, sugar, and mangoes
garnished with toasted sesame seeds or split mung beans.
The best time to eat this dessert
is in the peak mango season in Thailand,
April through June.
Translated from Italian as "pick me up,"
this espresso- and alcohol-infused dessert
is sure to do a bit of that and more.
Pastry chef Loli Linguanotto was identified
as the creator in the '70s.
However, Italian food writers discovered evidence
that the same ingredients were first combined
and called "tirime su" by chef Mario Cosolo in the '50s.
This, of course, sparked much controversy,
but regardless, the origin remains in Italy.
Baklava's origins are still debatable.
Both Turkey and Greece claim ownership of the dessert.
In Turkey, baklava is traditionally made
with pistachios, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts,
and in 2008, the Turkish patent office
registered a certificate for Antep baklava,
or baklava with pistachios.
And in Greece, traditionally,
baklava is made with 40 filo sheets
to represent the 40 days of Lent.
Similar to the famous baklava,
galaktoboureko is filled with semolina custard
and covered with several layers of filo.
It's soaked in a syrup, making it a sweet, light dessert
that can take the shape of rolls or squares.
Either way, it's undisputably delicious.
Giving up my sugar addiction for Lent
was my go-to as a child.
But for Dominicans who observe Lent
and/or have eaten this as a child,
know that this dessert
will teleport you back to your childhood.
Habichuelas con dulce is a signature dish
in the Dominican Republic during Lent.
Traditionally, the treat is garnished
with galletas de leche,
or tiny round cookies engraved with a cross.
It consists of red kidney beans,
sweet potatoes, milk, cinnamon, and sometimes raisins.
In the 18th century, monks and nuns in Lisbon
had leftover yolk after using egg whites
to stretch their clothing.
Legend has it that the monks used this leftover yolk
to create delicious desserts
and potentially sold these desserts
to help them in their times of financial hardship.
This financial hardship eventually led the monks
to selling their recipe to a bakery
in the capitol of Lisbon in the 1830s.
In its peak season, this bakery today
makes up to 50,000 tarts a day.
Since the time of the vikings,
skyr has remained relatively unchanged.
Its recipe has been passed down between women
from generation to generation.
What separates skyr from other yogurt is its consistency,
which is thick in comparison to the yogurt
you may be used to eating with fruit and granola.
Skyr comes in many different flavors and has health benefits
that may make you want to ditch your yogurt.
Sopa borracha, which translates to drunk soup,
will not get you drunk, nor is it a soup.
It is a delicious sponge cake drenched in a liquid mixture
of boiled raisins and prunes with cinnamon,
sugar, rum, sherry, and lemon zest.
This is a festive dessert
and is served during special occasions.
I don't think any dessert has as much controversy
as the Australian lamington,
or is it the New Zealand Wellington?
What started out as an April Fool's joke by The Guardian
has sparked much controversy over
whether this famous dessert
belongs to Australia or New Zealand.
To clear speculation,
the sponge cake covered in chocolate
and coated in coconut shavings is Australian.
But the controversy over whether jam should be included
may not get settled anytime soon.
Syrniki, or fried quark pancakes,
date back to Russian texts from the 10th century.
Quark is a dairy product that is created
by warming soured milk until it curdles.
It is dried and crushed, rolled in flour, and then fried
to create a crispy exterior and soft interior.
Top it with sour cream and fruit,
and you may just have yourself a syrniki.
Picarones are a mix of sweet potatoes and squash,
flour, and salt shaped and fried with syrup on top.
Enslaved African cooks who were brought to Peru
by the Spaniards created this delicious treat
inspired by the Spanish buñuelos.
Though the spelling, pronunciation,
and exact recipe of this dessert
changes throughout the region,
kanafeh is traditionally a favorite
amongst people in the Middle East.
Think shredded phyllo dough or semolina dough
with melted cheese, cream, or nuts
topped with sweet rose-water syrup.
This stacked dessert features eight thin layers of dough
with dulce de leche sandwiched between,
topped with whipped Italian meringue.
This dessert gets its name from alfajores,
Argentinian shortbreads that the dessert resembles.
The three colorful layers of che ba mau
are the yellow mung beans, red beans,
and the green agar jelly mixed with pandan,
which gives the jelly a chewy taste
similar to a gummy bear.
Topped with crushed ice,
condensed milk, and coconut milk,
this dessert is not as sweet as you may think,
but it is refreshing and perfect
for the hot days in Vietnam.
Though many of these desserts
have unknown, dark, or legend-like histories,
each place has really made it its own.
Our memories associated with these desserts
make each one unique to us.
So go and create a new, exciting memory
by trying any one of these desserts,
and let us know how it was in the comments below.