If you’re hosting a dinner party, a birthday party, or even a home meal, the dessert portion of the evening should end on a high. The classic go-to is a cake, and although these sweet treats are delicious, there are hundreds of different dessert options to show off.
We want to widen your recipe book and showcase the best desserts around the world. We will give you their difficulty level, brief history, and a link to a great recipe to make a new delight.
Before we start this culinary adventure, we want to say a quick hello to all our new readers from CakesCove.com. We have recently acquired the website, and can’t wait to show off the wonderful cakes and treats they have shared with us. That’s right, we aren’t going to ignore cakes in this encyclopedia, but we will show you how to make them stand out from the crowd.
Buns And Pastries
Buns are an underrated type of dessert. The non-sweet element of a traditional bun doesn’t mean that a snack-like alternative can’t be made. As long as the creation has a bread-like texture it can still be called a bun, so check out these recipes for sweet alternatives to a classic roll.
Babka
Babka is a type of chocolate bread created among the Jewish community. The name translates to “grandmother’s cake” which references the dancing lines in the loaf, which looks like a flowing skirt.
Making a babka is hard, and requires a skilled hand. It’s the kneading that most people get stuck on, as the kneading process can be difficult to judge.
Bánh Cam – Sesame Balls
Treats in the shapes of balls are a common theme in Vietnamese cooking. The Bánh Cam is no different. This glutinous treat is made from rice balls that have been rolled in sesame seeds for a delicate yet indulgent treat. They are very sweet with a crispy exterior paired with a light earthy flavor from the sesame seeds.
Chè Trôi Nước
These Vietnamese sticky rice balls are a sweet little treat to have after a meal. They take a long time to prepare and can be very difficult to create, but if you already have some skill in Asian-style foods, the Chè Trôi Nước could be right up your alley.
The balls are made of rice and are fried or boiled to contain their shape. They are then soaked in ginger syrup with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
Croissant
One of the most iconic pastries in the world is the decadent croissant. This French delight should ideally be eaten as it is with no added anything, but in the US we just love to include toppings and fillings.
If you’re like us and want to add a little extra sweetness to your croissant, then try one of our 26 suggestions for fillings.
Everything from chocolate, to pumpkin puree. Ice cream to apples. When you know what to pair your sweet ingredients with, you can add anything to a croissant.
Éclair
Éclairs are another French pastry we cannot be without. The dough is soft and filled with either cream, chocolate, or custard. And along the top is a thick strip of milk chocolate, creating the iconic long profiterole.
The hardest part of this dessert is creating the dough and piping the filling. The flavors are easy to master, but it might take you a couple of tries before perfecting the look.
Gizzada
If you want to create a coconut-flavored pastry, then we suggest picking up our recipe for the Jamaican gizzada. This spicy dessert has a distinctive shape of a rounded star. To make it, you need to pinch your pastry while keeping the round shape. The topping of the treat is a spicy mix of coconut, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clover.
These ingredients are fried together and then laid on top of the cooked pastry to create an autumnal snack.
Glazed Orange Sweet Rolls
Orange sweet rolls are very similar to cinnamon rolls. They are baked and presented in the same way, but the difference is in the flavor. Where one is an autumnal dessert, the other is a summertime treat.
To make the rolls you add orange zest to the batter and orange juice to the milk and liquids portion of creation. Once you whisk everything together, you roll out the batter and twist the dough around itself, like a swirl.
When you’re happy with the shape, pop it into the oven to bake. Before you serve the rolls add on some orange glaze and hey presto! You’ve made an orange sweet roll!
Kanelbullar
Kanelbullar are Swedish cinnamon buns. They have the same overall taste as an American cinnamon bun, but the texture is more like a pastry. They also come out of the oven much bigger than the American version, making them perfect for a cheeky winter snack.
They aren’t difficult to make and are a common sight in Sweden during the festive season.
Lussebullar
One of the classic flavors of a Swedish dessert is the mixture of sweet and floral. The Lussebullar, also known as Saffron Buns is the perfect combination of these tastes. Created by swirling the batter into clef and treble clef-like shapes, the shape is just as beautiful as the taste.
At the center of the swirls, you typically find a raisin.
Mallorca Bread
Also known as Pan de Mallorca, this bun is a type of sweet bread. The rolls are swiveled to create a cone shape, as the light and fluffy buns rise in the oven. They don’t have an overpowering taste and instead get their main sweetness from the added sugar dusting or extra butter layered on top.
The process is easy to follow and doesn’t contain any unusual ingredients, which is why so many Puerto Ricans create this dessert as a standard sweet option.
Qatayef
Qatayefs are little pastry pockets filled with hazelnuts, raisins, and pine nuts. The pastry is actually made out of yeast-based pancakes. You need to create the little holey treats first, put the filling ingredients in the middle, and then fold them over like a pasty. Once folded, you hold them firmly with your fingers to create a natural mold keeping the ends together.
When you’re happy with how they’re stuck together, you can deep-fat fry these little treats to create a golden brown color. Once they’re cool, cover them in sugar syrup for a sweet, crunchy, and nutty Egyptian snack.
Quesitos De Guayaba
This sweet pastry translates to “little cheese”, which is just a hint at the type of dessert you would be making. Using a puff pastry base, this dish is created with a line of cream cheese, topped with guava puree, and wrapped in the edges of the pastry.
If you make the pastry yourself, then this recipe can be tricky. But if you’re happy to buy a packet pastry, then creating a quesitos de guayaba is super simple.
Scone
Scones are a traditional British baked good that can easily be compared to a biscuit in the US. They are often slightly sweet but with a crumbly and almost dense texture. That denseness is coupled with a moist finish, which is perfect for spreading cream or jam on.
You can make scones even tastier by adding Nutella into the mix. The hazelnut chocolate spread pairs wonderfully with the dense and sweet baseline, and there are a myriad of ways to make the combination. From simply spreading a layer of Nutella in the middle like a sandwich, to adding it to the batter. Use one of our 10 delicious Nutella scone recipes to help start the experiment.
Semlor
Semlor buns have a beautiful shu pastry exterior, flavored with a unique cardamom taste. After baking, the top of the cake is removed to create a lid, and whipped cream is stuffed into the center. This cream normally tastes like almonds but can change to fit any taste you prefer.
They are a traditional Swedish treat normally eaten on Shrove Tuesday or Shrove Monday, but you can also find them in bakeries throughout the year.
Znoud El Sit
Very similar to baklava the Lebanese dessert, named znoud el sit, uses the filo pastry and pistachio nut filling but wraps it like a crepe while stuffing it like a cannoli.
This creates a flaky texture, as you bite into a nutty and creamy delight all contained inside a roll.
The Lebanese often eat this meal during Ramadan, but you can find it in shops and bakeries all year round.
Cakes
When you think of cake, you probably imagine a spongy texture with a light frosting. But there are so many different types of cakes, that there isn’t a need to stick to this classic.
Baghrir
You could argue that pancakes shouldn’t be in the same category as general cakes. But, seeing as we are traveling around the world in this article looking for the unusual, we can stretch the definition slightly, to include all manner of desserts.
The Baghrir is also known as the Semolina pancake. The biggest difference between American pancakes and Semolina is the holes. The yeast used to create the dough purposefully creates bubbles, producing an unusual texture in every bite. The taste is often nuttier than an American pancake too. They are super simple to make, as long as you have an electric mixer.
Brownie
Brownies are a classic cake in the United States, and you can make so many different versions of this treat. Although you can make complex brownies such as a walnut brownie, that doesn’t mean the original chocolate brownie is unloved.
The gooey yet cakey texture is something that any baker strives for, and the crisp crunch of the top layer is divine.
Cabezotes De Capuchino
These small baked goods look like cupcakes, but their coffee flavor makes them more adult. Despite the coffee flavor, there is no real coffee on the ingredient list. Instead, the aroma is created using cinnamon, lime peel, lime juice, vanilla, and the most important one of all – anise seed.
Mixing these flavors together creates a coffee-like taste. It can be hard to balance these flavors but that’s the only difficult element of the bake.
Cheesecake
We couldn’t talk about cakes without mentioning the classic American cheesecake. There is so much you can do with this iconic recipe. In fact, in our link above, we have 17 suggestions to make your cheese look beautiful. Ideas from adding fresh strawberries, to creating a raspberry compote.
You could include a branded legend like oreo cookies or create a more decadent taste such as mint chocolate.
If you’re worried that your cheesecake is becoming too familiar and bland, switch it up with one of our 17 suggestions.
Enyucado
This cake is both airy and cheesy, as one of the main ingredients in the cake is cheese – specifically queso fresco. The actual main ingredient is a little surprising – cassava. This root vegetable is similar to a potato, but with a nutty flavor.
The mixture of cheese and nuts creates a warming and enriching taste, typical of Colombian dishes.
Flancocho
This Puerto Rican dessert is a mixture between a flan and a chocolate cake. You may have seen it under a different name such as a chocoflan or the impossible cake. Either way, the silk texture of the flan tops the fluffy crumble of a chocolate cake.
The flavors are just as different as the textures, which you can experience when the caramel lightness and chocolate denseness marry together in your mouth.
It’s easy to see why some people call this cake impossible, creating an explosion of flavor in every bite.
German Chocolate Cake
Although we could just talk about generic chocolate cake, we couldn’t ignore the fact that the German traditional version is taking the States by storm.
What makes the German chocolate cake so special is the pecan topping coated in brown sugar syrup. The rest of the cake could be mistaken for any other chocolate cake, but when you see the pecan topping, you can expect pecan surprises in the frosting and creamy slices too.
Hummingbird Cake
First created in Jamaica, the hummingbird cake has become so famous that other countries, such as America, are trying to claim it as their own. The main ingredients are crushed pineapple, mashed bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pecans. Mix the ingredients into a batter to create a spicy and sweet cake, which is topped off with a cream cheese frosting.
This cake is an iconic Jamaican dessert and the perfect treat for a summer’s day.
Kärleksmums
Kӓrleksmums are a Swedish chocolate coconut cake. The exterior is white with flakes of coconut shavings and the exterior is just as fluffy. The whole cake is extremely sweet, perfect for a summer’s day.
The recipe is easy to follow and you can cut them into squares to create an elegant plate of sweet treats.
Lime Cupcakes
Key lime pies are very popular in the States, but that doesn’t mean we only have one method to sweeten limes. Lime cupcakes are small delights that have the refreshing taste of lime mixed with the cooling topping of ice frosting. You can add a margarita flavoring to create an adult-themed cupcake, or go wild and allow the rind of the lime to create a pastel green color.
Use the link above to find out how.
M’hanncha
Also known as the Snake Cake, the M’hanncha is a Moroccan dessert that is created using spiraling filo dough which has been flavored with cinnamon and orange juice. Once the long and thick rope of dough has been made, you twist the pastry into a wheel creating the snake-like shape.
As you can expect with a filo pastry dish, the hardest part of creating a M’hanncha is mastering the dough. The rest of the process is relatively easy.
Ostkaka
Ostkaka is a Swedish cheesecake. Unlike American cheesecakes, this version is rather light, is covered in almonds, and has a crispy exterior. It’s common for an ostkaka to be served with cream or ice cream and even strawberries. It is the perfect cake for a summer’s day.
Pineapple Rum Cake
Following the traditional recipe of Puerto Rican pineapple rum cakes, means creating a gooey center with a tropical sweetness without missing the dark edge of rum.
The actual cake element of this dessert is both fluffy and light, yet following the recipe in the link above will help you keep this cake light while also holding the dense flavor of rum.
Service with ice cream and you’ll have a winner.
Prinsesstårta
Prinsesstårta is the Swedish name for a Princess Cake. To follow the Swedish tradition, you should decorate the marzipan topping with a pink rose. There are two main fillings to this cake – a creamy top, and a jelly bottom.
Although this cake is normally rather short, you can easily turn it into a 6-inch extravaganza by increasing the layers. This would turn the 5 people sharing capacity into 10!
Torta Negra
Also known as the black cake, this Colombian classic is normally created for special events such as birthdays and weddings. The dark coloration comes from the rum, wine, figs, and raisins used in the batter.
The dense dessert is often lightened by adding cherries to the top of the cake as decoration.
Toscakaka
Toscakaka is a delicious almond and caramel flavored cake. With almond flavorings mixed into the batter and sliced or crushed almonds baked into the top as decoration, each bite should be filled with a nutty flavor.
But once you cut through the crispy exterior, you can explore the soft and fluffy textures of the cakey interior.
Toscakake is easy to make if you know how to work with nuts. A lot of Scandinavian countries claim this cake originated with them, but it seems to be the most popular in Sweden.
Tres Leches Cake
Translated into the Three Milks Cake, this South and Central American classic is very popular in Colombia. With a long list of ingredients that mostly consists of dairy, a mixture of baking and broiling is needed to cook the cake.
In the end, you’ll have created a cooling cake filled with a light and sweet taste made up of cheap ingredients.
Ube Halaya
How could we mention cakes from around the world and not bring up Ube Halaya? This bright purple cake is famous in Asian countries, especially the Philippines.
The color is produced from the Ube root vegetable (also known as yams), which also contributes to the delicious flavor. It’s often created when people are celebrating, like birthdays and weddings, but you can also see this cake during the festive holidays.
Cookies
Cookies are the perfect dessert to watch movies with and enjoy a sweet treat after a big meal. They contain just a bite or two of sugar, letting your taste buds finish the day on a sweet high.
Apricot Hamantaschen
Hamantaschen are a type of triangle baked good stuffed with apricot jam. You can put any type of jam into the stuffing, some people even use chocolate, but apricot is traditional in Jewish culture.
The dough of hamantaschen is like a buttery shortbread, which means the folds can be delicate after they are baked. To create the triangle shape, you need to mold the shortbread while it’s still wet and pinch the edges together.
Chebakia
Chebakia is a type of Ramadan cookie. You can find them around the globe, but most commonly in Morocco. The cookie is shaped like a swirl, made of thin dough which is wrapped around itself. Instead of baking the cookie, you fry it and then soak the remains in honey. While it’s still sticky, sesame seeds are thrown on top, and then you wait for it to dry.
The process is complex, but if you have the time to learn, the Chebakia could become a new classic.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
How can we mention cookies without adding in the American classic, chocolate chip? There are so many ways to make this delicious snack, from the classic low ingredient mix to a vegan variety. From white chocolate sweetness to peanut butter insides.
Creating a cookie is easy, and one of the first types of baking most of us attempt. You can follow a classic recipe or try to make something wildly different, all by adding in more ingredients to the batter. Simple!
A much-loved variation of the classic cookie is mint chocolate chip. You could use fresh mint, chunks of mint chocolate, or even make your whole cookie green. The limit is your imagination.
Cocadas Blancas
This type of cookie is more of a patty. Cocadas Blancas is a Colombian coconut sweet that needs a plate or napkin to be eaten, as the delicate structure can easily collapse in your hands.
With only 5 ingredients, making the cookie is extremely easy. You simply boil all of the ingredients together, stir the mixture, and then use a spoon to dollop them onto the baking sheet to cool.
The most important part of the process is the baking sheet dollop, as without it the visual won’t be right and you may end up with cocadas blancas stuck to your plates.
Egg Kichel
Egg Kichels has two other names, “bow tie cookies” and “nothing”. Both nicknames refer to the style of the bake. When buying or finishing baking a kichel, you’ll be picking up a twisted cookie in the shape of a bow tie. And when you bite into the sweet, the texture is both light and airy (like “nothing).
The biggest ingredient in this Jewish bake is the humble egg. You need roughly 13 large eggs to create 36 cookies. That’s a ridiculously high number, but you won’t regret it once you bite into the light and sweet delight.
Ghoriba
The Ghoriba is a Moroccan cookie that’s made out of shortbread. As with most Moroccan desserts, you can expect almonds in the flavorings. The cookies are simple to make and are perfect for dipping in coffee, creating an elegant coffee and cookie after-dinner treat.
Havreflarn
Havreflarn is a type of oatmeal cookie that you can find in Sweden. If you have ever been to the famous furniture shop IKEA, you may have noticed these cookies being sold in the food aisle. These delicious and moreish cookies aren’t super sweet. They are very easy to make and are relatively healthy in comparison to other cookies.
If you’re not sold yet, head to IKEA and grab a box before making them yourself.
Jalebi
Jalebis are an Egyptian treat of shallow fried batter covered in sugar syrup. Just like most Egyptian desserts, this crunchy delight is super sweet. Creating the batter is simple, you just need to mix the ingredients together.
It’s the frying that takes some time to master. If the oil isn’t hot enough, you’ll create a light color and chewy texture. If you leave it in the oil too long, the jalebi will shrink. Creating a balance of heat and time is what you need to create a good crispy texture and a beautiful golden color.
Koloocheh
You’ll most likely find koloocheh on Nowruz, the Persian new year. These crumbly cookies are made with flour, butter sugar, vanilla paste, and rose water. But you can also expect to see walnuts and dates added to the batter for more flavor.
The most iconic part of this cookie is its shape and design. Along the golden bread-like shine of the top, you’ll find a ring of bumps surrounding a sharp-edged swirl.
Creating this important decorative style is probably the hardest part of the bake. You can start off baking the cookie for the flavor, and then work on the design after.
Linzer Heart Cookies
Linzer hearts are a type of sandwich-style cookie that has a hole in the middle to create a well for a jelly filling. Baking these cookies isn’t necessarily difficult, but you need to have enough space in the oven to bake two separate shapes. One without a whole in the middle to create a base, and the other with a whole to create the well.
You can either make your own jelly or buy some in, but either way, you want the jam or jelly to have a glazed finish to stop it from spilling over the edge. This is the hardest part of the recipe.
Maamoul
If your main meal is saucy, and you need a dry dessert, we suggest making maamoul or a date cookie. They are created using shortbread, which produces a crumbly texture. In Morocco, the inside is filled with crushed dates, but in the states, you can find a variety of almonds, pistachios, and walnuts.
Mantecaditos
These tiny cookies are a Christmas treat in Puerto Rico. They are made by creating a shortbread dough and baking the cookie while leaving a well in the middle. Once the base has been baked, jelly is poured into the well, set, and then sprinkles are added on top.
The nuttiness of the shortbread and the sweetness of the jelly creates a wonderfully autumnal delight of magic.
Pepparkakor
Pepparkakor is a ginger cookie like no other. Imagine the texture of a thin mint and the flavor of a ginger cookie and you are somewhat close to the Swedish pepparkakor. They are light, crisp, and melt in your mouth. You can expect these treats in every Swedish home around Christmas time.
Their peppery kick makes them a little spicier than an American ginger biscuit, but they are just as tricky to make. Shaping the cookie dough is the most important part of the process, get it wrong, and the beautiful Christmas tree you’ve created will be cut in half like deforestation.
Pebernødder
Pebernødder is a little nutmeg cookie that is brittle after your first bite. They are traditionally eaten by the Danish during the Christmas season, and although they also contain cinnamon, anise, clove, and mace, the main flavor you taste is nutmeg. Creating these tiny delights is easy, and you’ll want to make as many as possible as the moreish flavors will mean they won’t last long.
Polvorosas
Polvorosas are a Colombian version of a shortbread cookie. The main difference between this and the American version is the method of creation. To bake a polvorosas, you don’t roll or cut the cookie, instead, you use a spoon to dollop the dough into shape. Surprisingly, this method creates a smooth finish.
Solteritas
These orange cookies are very different from all the others in this section of our article. They are sweet and crunchy, sure but they have a texture closer to a chip than a cookie. Making this dessert can be extremely complicated, but if you’re up to the challenge, this chip-like cookie will become a family favorite on movie night.
Donuts
Donuts are a type of thick dough that is fried to create a cakey-crispy texture. They can be left plain or decorated with sprinkles, sauces, and glazes.
Churros
Churros are a big deal in South American countries such as Cuba. They are the go-to dessert that you can buy in street stalls, making them the most loved dessert in the region.
Making your own churros isn’t difficult, as long as you have a deep fat fryer. It may take a while to create the correct shape, but the flavors will be easy to master.
Picarones
Picarones are a type of Peruvian donut. Most of the time, when you make any type of donut, no matter what country you’re from, you need to use flour and eggs as the main ingredient. That’s how you create the batter.
With Picarones these ingredients aren’t the main event. Instead, pumpkins and sweet potatoes are used to create the Picarones unique flavor, while the flour is simply there to create a donut shape.
Picarones are also more detailed than an American classic. You can expect flavors of cinnamon, chancaca, anise, pineapple, and aniseed, to create an explosion of deep flavor mixed with sweet syrups.
Roscon
Donuts are very similar to bread, but the main difference is the sweet filling. Inside the roscon, you can expect an outpour of dulce de leche or caramelized milk. The dessert is rather messy, which is perfect for children. You can cut into the loaf to create smaller portions, but you should serve them up quickly as this Colombian treat will spill onto the plate.
Sfenj
In Morocco, the classic donut has a less unified shape. Sfenjis or sponges have the same classic cakey texture, but the dough itself is much sweeter.
Zalabya
The zalabya is the Egyptian version of a small donut. Created in multiple little balls, the cornstarch flour in the batter mixture is dipped into a deep fat fryer to create little balls of delight. Once they’re cooked, you can either melt chocolate on top or pour syrup, powdered sugar, or even yogurt.
These balls tend to be rather sweet already due to the vanilla sugar powder added to the batter mixture, so if you want to add in extra flavors, we recommend having a taste test first.
Drinks
Okay, so drinks aren’t really desserts, but a milkshake and a smoothie should be counted as a sweet after-meal choice. There are more options to choose from than these two classic American drinks.
Blackberry Spritzer
A blackberry spritzer is an extremely easy drink to make. Simply put some blackberries, and club soda into a glass with ice to keep the beverage cool. You can add in extra flavors such as lime juice, basil levels, or even vodka, but the refreshing taste of blackberries is enough to make this drink a winner.
If you can blend some blackberries and add it to the drink, you can make the beverage even sweeter – creating a stronger taste to indulge in.
Coquito
A sweet dessert is a perfect treat for a festive occasion. And nothing fits better than the Puerto Rican coquito. Similar to eggnog, this beverage is sweet and strong. You can expect to taste the white rum along with the sweet flavor such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
This drink is super easy to make, and if you keep the ingredients in your pantry, you can whip it up whenever the feeling strikes.
Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is the perfect sweet beverage for a winter’s evening. You can either melt real chocolate, and mix it with milk or cream to create an extremely sweet drink, or you can use chocolate powders for a less sickly option.
And of course, you can make the hot chocolate special by adding marshmallows and whipped cream or even creating a “bomb” to melt in your cup. But you can go one step further and change the color completely.
By simply adding in some food coloring, you can turn your hot chocolate pink! Match the theme of the evening for Disney princess night, Halloween, Christmas, or any other event to make the drink even more special.
Salpicón De Frutas
This fruity drink is very similar to a fruit cocktail. The Columbian classic requires you to cut up a bunch of different fruits such as pineapple, watermelon, and grapes, then pour in some condensed milk and flavored soda. And to top it off, scope on some vanilla ice cream.
It’s a delicious and simple way to eat fruits while also cooling down on a summer’s day.
Finger Food
Finger foods are snacks and desserts that you can eat with your fingers. No cutlery necessary. They are perfect for casual events when an evening sweet helps keep your guests content, or you can make a batch and keep them in your cupboard to snack on over a couple of days.
Æbleskiver
Æbleskiver is a type of Danish pancake. They are little round balls that you often find in every home at Christmas time. Æbleskiver translates to apple slices, but like the British mince pie, the named ingredient no longer exists in most modern recipes.
Minced pies used to have minced meat (normally chicken, beef, or pork), but now the “minced meat” is fermented fruit such as raisins and cherries.
The same goes for Æbleskiver, instead of using just apples, you can find any number of filling inside the pastry. The most common are custard, jam, chocolate, and fruit.
Baklava
Baklava is a type of pastry, which uses filo to create a layered flakey outside and nuts with syrup for a sweet and nutty inside. Countries around the world make this dish differently. In Lebanon, you’ll find orange blossoms, in Turkey you can expect pistachios, and in Morocco, the filling is stuffed with almonds.
In the link above you’ll find a recipe to create 60 different baklava squares. The hardest part of the bake is creating the dough. If that aspect is outside of your skill set you can always buy the filo pastry premade, and start the process with the ingredients.
Besitos De Coco
The name Besitos De Coco translates to coconut kisses, which is the perfect fit for these Puerto Rican delights. The outside is crunchy and flaky while the inside is soft and sweet. Getting the balance of crunchiness and softness can be challenging but the more you make these delicious treats, the better you’ll get.
Who cares if that means eating hundreds of these little kisses. It’s worth it.
Brevas Con Arequipe
Also known as a stuffed fig, this dessert is a simple no-cook recipe. You simply let the figs sit in syrup, cut a cross into the top, and push until it goes halfway down. Then you pour a couple of teaspoons worth of caramelized milk (also known as dulce de leche) into the cut area. Once you’ve made enough for your appetizer, sprinkle some cheese on top and hey presto, your dessert is complete.
You can make your own caramelized milk to create a more complex recipe, but buying a tub will work just as well.
Bolitas De Tamarindo
These little candy balls are a mixture of sweet and sour. With a Bolitas De Tamarindo you’re creating a small ball with the texture of truffle, but the taste of tamarind. Tamarind is a popular south Asian and African fruit that naturally tastes both sweet and sour.
Turning it into pulp and forming it into a ball allows you to harness these natural flavors, creating an elegant bite without difficulty.
Chak Chak
Although some people describe Chak Chak as a fried honey “cake”, we see it as more of a nibble to place on the table during a movie night or big game. The long and crispy sticks are made out of dough, which has been rolled out into thin pieces and then cut into lines.
They are then fried to create a golden flavor. You can drizzle honey on top to create a sweet taste or mix in any other flavor you prefer. In Russia, you can expect a mixture of nuts in the bowl alongside the Chak Chak.
Fudge
Fudge is an underrated dessert. The silky sweet bite of a caramel delight is enough to make your evening decadent. They are made out of milk, sugar, salt, and whatever flavors you want to add in.
Making your own fudge can take some time to master, but once you learn how, it can become the best potluck dessert to share at your next gathering.
Khanom Chan
Also known as steamed coconut-pandan cakes, this small gummy treat is more of a fun snack than an actual cake. With coconut and pandan flavorings you can expect a mild taste to contrast the bright colors.
We suggest making a large tub of the gummies and cutting a square out of the dessert whenever you want a treat.
Mochi
Mochi is a traditional Japanese sweet. They can be super easy to make if you don’t start your journey aiming at the more complicated recipes. Our list of 23 easy Asian desserts can help you follow a simple recipe that still stays traditional.
To make the treat, all you need is a cup of rice flour, a cup of sweet bean paste, some matcha powder, a cup of water, and a cult of cornstarch.
Although the list is small, you may need to go to an Asian store to find some of those unique ingredients.
Obleas
Obleas are a type of thin wafer snack. They always come in circles, but sometimes you can see them used as a sandwich with chocolate or another sweet spread in the middle.
You can imagine the flavor to be similar to an ice cream cone, with the same kind of texture.
Although most Colombian people simply eat it as a snack, you could create an Obleas and add it as decoration to your cakes or other desserts.
Pashmak
Want to make cotton candy at home, while also aiming for something more sophisticated? Then try the Persian pashmak. This sugar dessert is almost completely made out of the sweet stuff.
By following the recipe in the link, you can learn to make cotton candy at home while also creating colors and flavors that match your aesthetic. Perhaps you have been serving a raspberry-themed dinner and want something small and sweet to finish off the evening? Pashmak is your best choice. You can easily add raspberry extract into the mixture along with some pink food coloring. Then wisp the sugar into a small and delicately presented plate for an adult version of a childhood snack.
Peanut Drops
Peanut drops are a Jamaican treat of maple syrup-covered peanuts. Creating these drops is super easy, all you need is peanuts, maple syrup, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Simply put all the ingredients (apart from the peanuts) into a pan and heat them up. Once they have all mixed together to boil, chuck in your roasted peanuts.
Lastly, put them back into the oven to harden up, and then you’ll have created a sticky and sweet peanut crunch.
Pretzels
Pretzels can either be hard or soft, either way, they are loved by millions. The hard variety is more like a chip or a cookie, whereas the soft version is closer to bread.
Either way, you can make these American foods at home with ease. Adding sugar, salt, or even chocolate is a great way to add some excitement to your pretzels without taking them far away from their original flavors. Use our recipes above to find out how.
Spettekaka
Although Spettekaka translates into “cake on a spit”, the ingredients and texture don’t match our idea of cake. Instead, the main ingredient is potato.
Making a spettekaka is rather difficult, as the delicate rounds of layering takes time and can easily snap. In the end, you’ll have created a colorful dessert perfect for a kid’s birthday party.
Tejas
Tejas is a type of Peruvian truffle. They are very hard to make, as the outside is a hard layer of rounded and molded chocolate, while the inside is a soft manjar blanco with pecan nuts creating a barrier between the two.
When you bite into the hard shell, the manjar blanco (or milky caramel) melts into your mouth like a waterfall of flavor.
Truffles
Truffles are an indulgent treat. Using chocolate ganache as the main ingredient, you coat a ball in any chocolate of your choice to create a hard outer shell. Then you decorate this coating before it hardens, normally with coconut shavings, sprinkles, or even nuts.
If you have the time, we suggest making a variety of flavors for your friends and family to try. It will make the plate look more adventurous, and will show off your amazing baking talents.
White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
A simple way to make a delicious and decadent dessert is to embrace the two most loved ingredients in the group – chocolate and fruit. We think the best mixture of these two delicious ingredients is the classic white chocolate dipped strawberry. It’s a simple recipe to follow and can be created by children, so have fun and start dipping.
Pie
Pies can come in all shapes and sizes. In the UK pies tend to be savory main meal dishes, while in the US we expect them to be sweet and delicious desserts. You can have a crumbled top, a pastry top, or even a breaded top. As long as a top is covering the main ingredient, we can call it a pie.
Blueberry Pie
Blueberry pie is a staple of American culture. With a crumbly base and a thatched pasty top, the dark black and blue of the filling are what really matters. You can add cardamom, lemon zest, whipped cream, or cinnamon and everyone would still recognize the blueberry pie.
This delicious autumnal dessert is the perfect treat to feed a family.
Chocolate Tart
A chocolate tart is exactly what the name suggests. You can either make a large pastry bottom to fit in a singular pie or create lots of little pastry bottoms to make individual desserts. Either way, the pastry contained the chocolate center which is often spongy and gooey at the same time.
These tarts are normally very rich, so whipped cream or ice cream is served on the side.
Egg Custard Tart
The egg custard tart is a small type of pie. It has very basic ingredients of most eggs, butter, sugar, and flour but you can make the flavors even better by adding a sprinkle of nutmeg.
The hardest part of this bake is creating the custard. You can skip this element, but buying custard premade, or you can try to create the dessert from scratch. The issue to watch out for is curdling. As the egg gets beaten and cooked, you don’t want to end up with a scrambled egg mush instead of a liquid creamy topping.
Halawet El Jibn
Okay, so halawet el jibn isn’t really a pie. But this unusual sweet cheese dessert is hard to place. It’s essentially a sugary dough roll with sweet cheese stuffed in it, and pistachio nuts sprinkled over the top. The Lebanese classic is absolutely delicious. You’d find it in pastry shops up and down the country.
Although they look very elegant, that doesn’t mean they are hard to make. It might take a couple of tries to get the shape right, but the taste will be simple to copy. Use our recipe linked above.
Pumpkin Pie
This American classic had to make it on the list. Pumpkin pie is a Thanksgiving tradition, and making your own couldn’t be easier. To get the most out of the pumpkin flavor, you should use ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and other festive flavorings to enhance the depth of the vegetable while still keeping the sweet taste.
You can buy pumpkin puree which means you don’t have to worry about grinding down a ridiculous amount of the veg to feed your family. We also suggest buying a pie crust separately, so you can focus all of your energy on the pumpkin flavor – that’s what everyone will rave about.
Smulpaj
The Swedish pie, smulpaj, is a type of crumble often made in the summer. It is a light dessert made with mostly fruits such as berries, apples, and rhubarb. The crumble element is made of oats and a dash of flour, which can easily be substituted for gluten-free options without any issue.
Although crumble is made all around the world, it’s the oat element of the Smulpaj that makes it stand out. Oats add extra crispiness to the dish that other crumbles lack.
Pudding
Puddings are any sort of sweet dish with a wobbly consistency. Sometimes they are savory, but they are mostly sweet. Americans, the UK, Canada, and other English-speaking countries all call pudding something different. Depending on your culture, you may look at one of our puddings below and scoff and their categorization, but whatever you call these delicious desserts, you’ll still enjoy their taste.
Boniatillo
Boniatillo is a type of sweet potato pudding, made in Cuba. You’ll find the smooth puree texture mixed with festive flavors such as cinnamon, sugar, and lime peels. The color and smell might remind you of a pumpkin pie, but the taste is more earthy.
Making a boniatillo isn’t difficult, and you can dress it up or allow it to be plain depending on your skill set.
Creme Brulee
There is a reason why the creme brulee is considered a difficult pudding to master. The main ingredient is custard, but that doesn’t stop the dish from having a sophisticated history.
Just like any custard-based dessert, the hardest element is preventing your eggs from curdling or turning into a scrambled variation.
Don’t be fooled by the short ingredient list and easy-to-follow instructions. This bake is difficult.
Cuajada Con Melao
Starting our list of mostly Colombian milk puddings is the cuajada con melao. This dessert is made by curdling milk in a syrup mixture to create a wobbly sweet texture. Although the process may sound gross, this simple recipe allows you to create a smooth jelly treat that many restaurants serve as a specialty.
Flan De Queso
This rich dessert is both creamy and silky. A flan de queso is very similar to a cheesecake in texture, but there is no hard edge containing the jello middle, and the taste is more akin to custard.
The Puerto Rican classic can be hard to master as you avoid curdling the milk, but once you get the hang of the whisking process, everything will become smooth.
Koldskål
This dish is less of a pudding and more of a soup. Extremely well-loved in Denmark, the sweet soup is considered a summer treat. It’s made out of buttermilk, vanilla essence, lemon juice, yogurt, sugar, and eggs.
If you travel to Denmark in the summer, you’ll see this dish displayed in cafes and restaurants as an afternoon snack or evening dessert. It’s easy to make, and easy to adjust to fit your favorite flavors. Using strawberry essence or chocolate powder can change the flavor without much effort.
Mazamorra Morada
Most puddings are made out of milk and one or two other ingredients, but the mazamorra morada doesn’t include one drop of milk. Instead, corn and dried fruits are the stars of this dessert, along with cinnamon and cloves to add a spicy Peruvian kick.
You can expect a deep purple color from the purple corn pudding, with a thick and starchy liquid texture. The main flavors come from the pineapple, prunes, and dried fruits creating an instant sweet taste that then slips into a deep earthy finish from the sweet potato starch and corn.
Apart from the ⅓ cup of raw sugar and ½ cup of starch, this dessert is extremely healthy, as only fruits and vegetables are the only ingredients.
Meyer Lemon Parfait
Meyer Lemon Parfaits are French creations that use lemon curd to create a tart sourness, mixed with whipped cream to cut through the lemon and layers of cookie crumbs. Making these delights are easy. If you really want to, you can buy lemon curds, cookie crumbs, and whipped creams from a store and simply mix them together to create this dessert.
Or you can make each ingredient yourself to really create a unique version of this summertime classic. We have a recipe for a miniature version in this link.
Mousse
The most popular mouse is arguably the chocolate mouse. However, you can make this dessert in a myriad of flavors. The texture is soft, light, and airy – melting in your mouth from the first bite.
This pudding is perfect for children and adults alike, as it doesn’t take much to make a mousse feel decadent, and children will enjoy the smooth texture.
Natilla Colombiana
This pudding is flavored with coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, and an extra dollop of cinnamon powder. The level of cinnamon showcases a very autumnal taste in an otherwise classic Colombian milk pudding.
Postre de Natas
Postre de Natas is a type of Colombian milk pudding. There are only 5 ingredients needed to make this dish, and if you would rather keep the flavoring simple you can easily reduce it down to 4.
As you can guess, the most important ingredient is milk. You need a whole gallon of the stuff to create 4 portions of the pudding.
The steps are simple too, just add all the ingredients together with a whisk. It’s a cheap way to still enjoy a treat.
Rice Pudding
This dish has many names around the world. In the UK and US, we call it rice pudding, but in Puerto Rico, you’d expect the name Arroz Con Leche on the menu. To really make your iconic rice pudding stand out, add cinnamon and lemon zest to create a warming kick.
Shwe Yin Aye
This dessert is popular in Thailand, and often eaten during the Burmese New Year – Thingyan. To compare it to anything western would be a mistake, but we want to make sure you understand what each of the desserts in this article is – so we will give it a go.
The easiest way to describe shwe yin aye is to picture a cold coconut milk soup with water chestnuts and red food coloring to create a whimsical color.
It’s eaten on hot days to create refreshing delight during the festive season.
Tembeleque
This Puerto Rican delight has a main ingredient of – that’s right you guessed it – milk. This time, however, the pudding contains coconut milk which has a nutty and sweet flavor already added to the ingredients. Because of this additional flavor, the only extra piece of taste you can expect is cinnamon.
The pudding is delicious and only takes around 15 minutes to make, but serves 6 people. Adding this quick and simple recipe to your repertoire means you can always create a dessert even if the request was unexpected.
Tiramisu
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that mixes coffee and sweet tastes into a deliciously smooth delight. Although you can make this dessert large for a group gathering, most people prefer to serve tiramisu in small individual cups. We have a recipe that creates a tiramisu pudding shot for a mini dessert, in this link.
Summary
The list could go on, as the world of dessert is ever-growing. These delightful treats that we have shared with you today span from across the globe. The next time you want to create something special for your family, you don’t have to stick to the typical Victoria sponge. Instead, pick something new!