Food family · 97 dishes · 32 regions
The dessert
family.
Sugar, fat, and starch shaped into celebration. Sweet preparations followed trade in cane, honey, and fruit — gifted between courts, carried by merchants, adapted by every cuisine that received them.
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30 dishes from Italy
Abbamele
A honey syrup from rural Sardinia, made by concentrating honey extracted from crushed combs, with lemon or orange rinds. It is commonly served with ricotta or yogurt and added to fruit salads, pasta, or vegetables.
DessertExplore →baci di dama
Northern Italian sandwich biscuits with two hazelnut cookies joined by chocolate filling, a common bakery treat across Italy and Italian diaspora communities. Modern variations use almonds, pistachios, or cocoa.
DessertExplore →Brutti e buoni
An Italian hazelnut- or almond-flavoured biscuit made with egg-white-and-sugar meringue and roasted chopped nuts, crunchy outside and soft within. Produced in Prato, Tuscany, it is also known as mandorlati di San Clemente.
DessertExplore →Crocetta of Caltanissetta
An Italian marzipan sweet from Caltanissetta, Sicily, named for the nearby Church of Santa Croce and once made by Benedictine sisters for the feast of the Most Holy Crucifix; forgotten after 1908, it has recently been rediscovered.
DessertExplore →Cupeta
An Italian dessert of honey, dissolved sugar, and diced almonds, eaten at Christmas in Calabria, Campania, Apulia, and Sicily, but prepared year-round in Ponente Ligure.
DessertExplore →biscuits of Saint Martin
Sicilian biscuits prepared for the feast of San Martino di Tours on November 11. The hard version, called tricotto, is anise-flavored, baked three times, and traditionally soaked in wine.
DessertExplore →Bustrengo
A dense, moist Christmas cake from Italy’s Romagna and San Marino, made with flour, cornmeal, leavening, olive oil or shortening, sugar or honey, breadcrumbs, dried fruit, apples, and citrus rind.
DessertExplore →Cassatella di Sant'Agata
A Sicilian pastry from Catania made for Saint Agatha’s February 3–5 festival. Round sponge cakes soaked in rosolio are filled with sheep’s-milk ricotta, chocolate drops, and candied citrus, then coated in white icing and topped with a candied cherry.
DessertExplore →Giurgiulena
A Sicilian and Calabrian Christmas nougat of sesame seeds set in honey and caramelized sugar, sometimes enriched with almonds and candied orange peel and cut into diamonds or rectangles.
DessertExplore →Guastedda dolce nissena
A Caltanissetta, Sicily, dessert of soft wheat flour fried in lard and brushed with melted honey, also used as the folded pastry around ricotta filling for raviola di ricotta nissena.
DessertExplore →cassatella di Agira
A Sicilian dessert from Agira in Enna, found throughout the province and much of eastern Sicily. It is officially recognized among Italy’s traditional agri-food products.
DessertExplore →castagnaccio
An Italian autumnal chestnut flour cake made with water, olive oil, pine nuts, and raisins, then baked. In Livorno, a 3-centimeter-thick version is called toppone.
DessertExplore →Holy Spina
Holy Spina is an Italian Nisseni sweet, prepared by cloistered nuns at the Benedictine monastery adjoining Santa Croce and donated on September 14 for the feast of the Holy Crucifix.
DessertExplore →'Mpanatigghi
Sicilian stuffed cookies from Modica, shaped like half-moons and filled with almonds, walnuts, chocolate, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and minced beef.
DessertExplore →'Nzuddi
Traditional cookies from Messina and Catania in Italy, shaped into slightly flattened golden spheres and made with flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, egg whites, and vanilla.
DessertExplore →Neccio
A chestnut-flour galette from the mountain areas of Tuscany and Emilia in Italy and Corsica in France, now considered a dessert but once eaten with savory food.
DessertExplore →Nocciolini di Chivasso
Small round meringue cookies made with hazelnuts, typical of Chivasso in Turin Province, Italy, and similar to the protected Lombardy speciality nocciolini di Canzo.
DessertExplore →Pan meino
A Lombard sweet flatbread of flour, eggs, milk, cream, butter, sugar, and elderflower, flattened into a circle and baked.
DessertExplore →Pane coi santi
An Italian fruit bread speciality of Siena and the Maremma, baked in a wood-fired oven and eaten around I Santi on 1 November and I Morti the following day.
DessertExplore →Piada dei morti
A sweet focaccia from Rimini, in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, topped with raisins, almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts, and traditionally eaten in November for All Souls’ Day.
DessertExplore →Pistiddu
An Italian sweet pastry from Nuoro, shaped as a flat, round tart and filled with vincotto and orange peel. Incised drawings in the dough reveal the filling.
DessertExplore →Rollò
A dessert from the Nisseno area, produced by local pastry chefs and eaten year-round, without being tied to any particular event or occasion.
DessertExplore →Struffoli
Neapolitan deep-fried sweet-dough balls, crunchy outside and light within, mixed with honey, diavulilli, cinnamon, and orange rind, then shaped into mounds or rings. Often served at Christmas, sometimes warm.
DessertExplore →Torcetti
Torcetti are yeasted cookies from Piedmont in northern Italy, named for their twisted shape and resembling sweet grissini. They are commonly made in Turin, the Lanzo Valleys, Canavese, and Biella.
DessertExplore →Torta delle rose
An Italian cake from Mantua and Brescia, made with butter- and sugar-rich leavened dough rolled into a baking tin as a basket of rosebuds.
DessertExplore →Zelten
A South Tyrolean fruitcake made with rye and wheat flour, dried and candied fruits, orange zest, and spices, usually prepared only at Christmas.
DessertExplore →Zuccotto
A Florentine dessert of alchermes, cake, and ice cream, Zuccotto is an Italian semi-frozen or chilled dessert shaped in a pumpkin mould. Its form is widely believed to echo Florence’s duomo dome or a cardinal’s skullcap.
DessertExplore →raviola di ricotta of Caltanissetta
A Sicilian dessert from Caltanissetta made with puff pastry and a ricotta filling, distinguished from Catania’s fried raviola by its dough composition despite a similar shape.
DessertExplore →sugolo
A northern Italian dessert combining red grape must with flour and sugar. It is slowly cooked and cooled, then served like pudding or preserved in jars like jam.
DessertExplore →zabaione
Zabaione combines egg yolks, sugar, and sweet wine in Italy, where it may be served as either a dessert or drink. Some versions add cognac; the dessert is whipped into a light, aerated custard.
DessertExplore →
10 dishes from Turkey
quince dessert
A Turkish dessert of quince, boiled in water or oven-cooked with cloves and sweet syrup, filled with apple or quince meal and raisins, and topped with kaymak or ice cream. It is served in halves, warm or cold.
DessertExplore →bici bici
A light Turkish dessert associated with southern Turkey and the Mediterranean, especially Adana and Mersin, where it is eaten in summer. Its name comes from the sound of starch being squeezed between the fingers.
DessertExplore →bülbülyuvası
A Middle Eastern filo dough dessert called “nightingale’s nest” for its hollow, circular shape. After baking, warm syrup is sprinkled on it, the center filled with walnuts or pistachios, and a walnut half set on top.
DessertExplore →torpedo dessert
A buttery, flaky viennoiserie bread roll filled with pastry cream, sometimes flavored with rosemary. Its layered yeast-leavened dough is folded with butter to create a flaky texture.
DessertExplore →güllaç
A Turkish dessert of thin pastry layers, made with milk, rose water and pomegranate. Dough prepared with corn starch and wheat flour encloses walnuts, and the layers are placed in milk. It is eaten especially during Ramadan.
DessertExplore →Izmir bomb
A Turkish dessert cookie from İzmir, filled with chocolate spread, with a crisp dough exterior and a fluid cream center.
DessertExplore →Kemalpaşa dessert
A Turkish dessert from the Mustafakemalpaşa district of Bursa Province, traditionally made with a cheese variety specific to the region.
DessertExplore →Sütlü Nuriye
A milk-white Turkish dessert similar to baklava but made with milk instead of syrup. Its name means “Nuriye with milk,” and it is a specialty of Diyarbakir.
DessertExplore →pişmaniye
A Turkish confection of flour roasted in butter and blended into pulled sugar, shaped into fine strands and sometimes garnished with ground pistachios.
DessertExplore →şöbiyet
A Turkish dessert similar to baklava, made with phyllo dough stuffed with kaymak (clotted cream) and walnuts or pistachios. The name has Arabic roots.
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6 dishes from Spain
Alajú
A Castilian cake from Cuenca made with an almond base, roasted breadcrumbs, spices, and honey, then covered on two sides with wafers. Other nuts, such as pine nuts, may replace almonds.
DessertExplore →Cuajada
Cuajada is a dairy product traditionally made from sheep’s milk, though now more often produced industrially from cow’s milk. It is popular in northern Spain, Colombia, Venezuela and parts of Central America.
DessertExplore →Mantecadas de Astorga
Spongy sweet breads from northwestern Spain, traditionally produced in Astorga, in the province of León, and the nearby Maragateria comarca. Their flavor resembles pound cake.
DessertExplore →Mazamorra
Mazamorra, also called masamorra, is a name shared by numerous traditional dishes across the regional cuisines of Spain and Hispanic America.
DessertExplore →Quesada Pasiega
A dense pudding from Cantabria, Spain, made with milk, sugar, butter, wheat flour, and egg, flavored with lemon zest and cinnamon, and served hot or cold.
DessertExplore →turrón
A Mediterranean nougat confection of honey, sugar, egg white, and toasted almonds or other nuts, formed into a rectangular tablet or round cake and eaten as dessert around Christmas in Spain and Italy.
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6 dishes from United States
Baked Alaska
A dessert of ice cream in a pie dish, lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue, then briefly baked or torched until the meringue browns without the ice cream melting.
DessertExplore →bananas Foster
An American dessert of bananas cooked with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur. The alcohol is ignited tableside, and the bananas and sauce are often served over vanilla ice cream.
DessertExplore →Chocolate pizza
A pizza made with chocolate as its primary ingredient and prepared in varied styles and techniques. It may be made as either a dessert or a savory dish.
DessertExplore →cobbler
An American fruit or savory filling baked in a large dish under a topping of batter, biscuits, or dumplings.
DessertExplore →fried ice cream
In Chinese and Mexican cooking, this dessert wraps a hard-frozen ice cream scoop in breading or batter, then gives it a brief deep-fry for a crisp exterior and a cold center.
DessertExplore →Vinegar pie
An American custard pie associated with Pennsylvania Dutch and Appalachian cookery in the Upper Midwest. Its simple form combines butter, eggs, sugar, and vinegar; elaborate versions add spices and toppings.
DessertExplore →
6 dishes from Portugal
aletria
A custardy Portuguese dessert of vermicelli, compact enough to cut into slices in the Beiras region and creamier in Minho.
DessertExplore →Encharcada
A Portuguese convent dessert of egg yolks cooked in sugar syrup and finished under a broiler, believed to have been created at the Convento de Santa Clara in Évora, Alentejo.
DessertExplore →Fatias de Tomar
Fatias de Tomar (“Slices of Tomar”) is a Portuguese dessert from Tomar. Nuns in the Convent of Christ originally made it.
DessertExplore →Natas do Céu
A layered Portuguese dessert of whipped cream topped with egg cream over crumbled cookies. Its name means “cream of the sky,” and it resembles Spanish natillas.
DessertExplore →Molotof
A Portuguese dessert of whipped egg whites and sugar, sometimes flavored with vanilla, folded into caramel sauce and baked until light and fluffy with a caramelized top.
DessertExplore →Tigelada
A Portuguese dessert baked in a wood-fired oven in a preheated unglazed clay bowl, forming a 2 cm-thick, 10–12 cm disk with a honeycomb-textured base. Made with eggs, milk, unleavened flour, sugar, lemon, and salt.
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4 dishes from France
Dame blanche
In Belgium and the Netherlands, dame blanche combines vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and warm molten chocolate. Escoffier’s original version used almond milk ice cream, poached peach, lemon sorbet, and white currants.
DessertExplore →bombe glacée
A French ice cream dessert frozen in a spherical mould to resemble a cannonball, giving rise to the name ice cream bomb. It appeared on restaurant menus by 1882, and Escoffier lists more than sixty recipes for it.
DessertExplore →café liégeois
A French cold dessert of lightly sweetened coffee, coffee-flavoured ice cream, and Chantilly cream, assembled in a large glass just before serving and topped with crushed roasted coffee beans.
DessertExplore →riz à l'impératrice
A French haute-cuisine dessert made by setting rice pudding with Bavarian cream in a charlotte mold, unmolding it, and decorating it with candied fruits steeped in alcohol such as kirsch or maraschino.
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3 dishes from Indonesia
es buah
An Indonesian iced fruit dessert of diced honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, papaya, squash, jackfruit, and kolang kaling mixed with ice and sweetened with sugar or syrup.
DessertExplore →kolak
An Indonesian sweet dessert of palm or coconut sugar, coconut milk, and pandanus leaf, with bananas or other additions such as pumpkin, sweet potato, jackfruit, plantains, cassava, rice balls, tapioca pearls, and kolang-kaling.
DessertExplore →timphan
An Acehnese steamed banana dumpling made with glutinous rice flour, ground banana, and coconut milk, filled with sweetened serikaya or grated coconut mixed with sugar, and wrapped in banana leaves.
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3 dishes from Philippines
Sili ice cream
Filipino ice cream made with labuyo chili, coconut milk, puréed strawberries, and sugar. Invented at the 1st Colonial Grill restaurant in Albay in 2004, it draws on Bicol’s spicy coconut-milk dishes.
DessertExplore →mango float
A Filipino icebox cake built from graham cracker crust, whipped cream, condensed milk, and ripe carabao mangoes, chilled for hours or frozen for an ice cream-like consistency.
DessertExplore →pichi-pichi
A Filipino dessert of steamed cassava flour balls mixed with sugar and lye, flavored with pandan leaves and rolled in grated coconut, cheese, or latik.
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2 dishes from United Kingdom
apple crumble
A baked fruit dessert pairing cooked apples with a streusel of butter, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. An early version was mentioned in print in 1915.
DessertExplore →Jam tart
A small, open British tart with a shortcrust pastry base, filled with strawberry, raspberry or apricot jam, or with lemon curd, and baked.
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2 dishes from Argentina
Imperial ruso
An Argentinian dessert from Buenos Aires: a French meringue cake filled with almonds and buttercream, with fruit optionally added.
DessertExplore →pastafrola
A sweet tart from Italy, made principally from flour, sugar, and egg, with a thin lattice over jam or dulce de leche; it is common in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Egypt, and Greece.
DessertExplore →
2 dishes from Japan
honey toast
A Japanese dessert from Shibuya that emerged during the Japanese asset price bubble and is often served at karaoke bars. Also called Shibuya toast, brick toast, or hanitō.
DessertExplore →shirokuma
A Japanese kakigōri dessert of shaved ice flavored with condensed milk and accompanied by small colorful mochi, fruit, and sweet bean paste, usually azuki bean paste.
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2 dishes from India
Pootharekulu
An Indian dessert from Andhra Pradesh made by wrapping sugar, dry fruits, and nuts in a paper-thin rice-starch sheet. It is popular at Telugu festivals, religious occasions, and weddings.
DessertExplore →Unnakai
An Indian sweet shaped like a spindle and made mainly from banana, associated with Mappila cooking on India’s Malabar coast and often eaten at weddings, Iftar, and other festivities.
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2 dishes from Brazil
Quindim
Brazilian baked custard with Portuguese heritage, made chiefly from sugar, egg yolks and ground coconut. Usually presented in an upturned cup with a glistening surface; a ring-mold version, quindão, is served in slices.
DessertExplore →Romeu and Julieta
A traditional Brazilian dessert pairing a slice of cheese with goiabada, or combining both in other preparations. Named for Romeo and Juliet, it casts cheese as Romeu and goiabada as Julieta.
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1 dish from Germany
1 dish from Malaysia
1 dish from Vietnam
1 dish from Scotland
1 dish from Latin America
1 dish from Uruguay
1 dish from Ukraine
1 dish from Thailand
1 dish from Lebanon
1 dish from Georgia
1 dish from Samoa
1 dish from Poland
1 dish from Azerbaijan
1 dish from Croatia
1 dish from Sweden
1 dish from Iran
1 dish from Hong Kong
1 dish from Peru
1 dish from Ottoman Empire
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