Desserts Around the World

  From cookies to cakes, any of these decadent treats will end your meal on a high note. Indulge in one of these all-time favorite delicious treats, from a home-style cobbler to decadent brownies for the perfect ending to dinner. Desserts can be defined as a usually sweeter course that concludes a meal. This definition includes a range of courses ranging from fruits or dried nuts to multi-ingredient cakes and pies. Many cultures have different variations of dessert.

Prinsesstårta

A princess cake is a traditional Swedish layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, jam, pastry cream, and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. This is topped by marzipan, giving the cake a smooth rounded top. Equipment and preparation: for this recipe, you will need a piping bag with a 1cm/½in plain nozzle, a medium star nozzle, a 23cm/9in springform tin, and a sugar thermometer.

Apple Pie

An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling ingredient is an apple. It is, on occasion, served with whipped cream, ice cream, or cheddar cheese. The pastry part is generally used top-and-bottom, making it a double-crust pie; the upper crust may be circular or latticed.

Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée, also known as burnt cream or Trinity cream, is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a texturally contrasting layer of hardened caramelized sugar. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the caramelizing process tends to warm the custard producing a cool center.

Belgian waffle

In North America, Belgian waffles are a variety of waffle with a lighter batter, larger squares, and deeper pockets than ordinary American waffles. Belgian waffles were originally leavened with yeast, but baking powder is now often used.

Tarta de Santiago

Torta de Santiago or Tarta de Santiago, literally meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with origin in the Middle Ages. The Galician for cake is Torta whilst it is often referred to as Tarta, which is the Spanish word for it.

Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki.

Banoffee Pie

Banoffee pie is an English dessert pie made from bananas, cream and toffee, combined either on a buttery biscuit base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. Some versions of the recipe also include chocolate, coffee or both.

Gelato

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream. It starts out with a similar custard base as ice cream but has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or no eggs at all). It is churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream.