Iced coconut milk is sweetened with a palm sugar syrup, which lends it a lightly smoky, caramelized flavor. In the Nablus version, a tangy filling of goat cheese is covered by threads of fine pastry or a tender blanket of baked semolina. Whatever your favorite version, a perfect chocolate chip cookie is a delicate balance of textures and flavors.

Like its namesake city in Austria, this slender torte is an old-fashioned favorite that's still a star in the 21st century. The secret to the longevity of the trifle might be in its forgiving nature. The real thing is stretched -- not rolled -- into an improbably thin sheet; according to legend, it should be transparent enough to read a newspaper through.

Are you ready to take the Pavlova challenge.

While modern-day kulfi appears in dozens of flavors, classic versions are infused with some of India's most lilting tastes. In its glory days, the Austro-Hungarian empire stretched across central Europe, and a century after the empire fell its creamy legacy can still be found in pastry shop windows from Vienna to Sarajevo. A base of soft cake is studded with chopped dates, then drowned in a creamy sauce. The simple cookies are shaped in wooden molds carved with intricate patterns, emerging as finely-wrought rounds or detailed cones. Piled high atop the meringue are fluffy whipped cream and tart fruits, a lofty topping whose richness and bright flavor offset the sugary base for a world-class dessert. Bite into the crisp shell of a deep-fried jian dui to discover a sweet filling within the golden, sesame-seed-studded exterior.

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From a lightly golden color to its distinctive aroma, the creamy treat is the essence of spring. Wander through a market in East Africa to find this golden sweet, which blends the satisfying crunch of caramelized sugar with the rich heft of peanuts, fresh coconut or a blend of the two.

The secret is an unusual technique of blending beaten egg whites -- a meringue -- into a warm batter that is rich with cream cheese and vanilla. As sweet as the name of this dessert seems Mochi is a traditional Japanese dessert which is prepared with sticky rice. Served on a cardboard paper on various festive occasions, Poffertjes are a dessert meant to be relished in breakfast by topping it up with some tasty toppings. Flan might have arrived in Latin America from Spain, but it's since been claimed and reinvented by generations of cooks here. The "three milks" that the sweet is named for are usually sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream, which combine for a delightful cake so wet it's almost a drink. Beloved for a silky texture and rich flavor, the seductive cake was named for a love story that caught the world's attention with racy images and juicy details. For all the nostalgia of sugary treats, though, some sweets rise above local flavors. The wafers' mild flavor and crispy texture are the perfect foil -- and conveniently shaped handle -- for the rich and aromatic ice cream, which is beloved from Tehran to Tehrangeles. Isnt it? While the old-fashioned version remains a beloved stand-by, some of the best tarts in Paris offer intriguing twists: try Sadaharu Aoki's yuzu tart, made with an aromatic relative of the lemon, or head to Pierre Herm to taste an extra lemony version topped by bits of candied citrus. Unusual shaving technique and complex toppings elevate the Taiwanese version above the competition. Traditional recipes for gulab jamun dough start with a scoop of khoya, a reduction of cow or buffalo milk that simmers for hours over a low flame, lending the finished product a melting texture.

Some versions of qatayef can be eaten just like that -- perhaps with the addition of some aromatic syrup -- but classic recipes are fried before serving, adding an additional layer of crunch and flavor before the beloved sweets hit the holiday table. Versions of this cheesecake are available everywhere from Japanese convenience stores to top-shelf bakeries. When perfectly executed the result is dessert heaven, and the simplicity of the tart makes it a fitting icon of the French pastry kitchen.

Frying gulab jamun in ghee provides a second injection of fatty flavor before the dumplings are soaked in an aromatic syrup infused with cardamom seeds and roses.

From childhood treats to a grandparent's favorite recipes, beloved foods are deeply personal. This traditional sweet begins with the glutinous rice that's grown in paddies across Southeast Asia, and the starchy grains combine with rich coconut milk and palm sugar for a treat that retains a chewy bite even when it's perfectly soft.

Her brand-new recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, and the rest was pastry history. Pastry-loving Aussies and Kiwis get riled when dinner conversations turn to Pavlova, a wonderfully messy meringue dessert that's a long-running sore point between Australia and New Zealand. Dadar means pancakes whereas gulung means to roll and hence the name.

Despite the minimalist, all-white color scheme, the coconut cake is an over-the-top, old-fashioned pleasure. A shattering-crisp shell gives way to a creamy cheese filling in this Sicilian classic, whose roots reach deep into the island's diverse culinary history. In Mexico, where the dessert is served everywhere from neighborhood cafes to family celebrations, the silky texture of a classic flan is the perfect foil for a meal with fiery chiles and aromatic spices. Once extended, the delicate dough is wrapped around a sweet, apple filling that's enriched with buttery fried breadcrumbs, raisins and sometimes walnuts. This seems especially true of desserts, which often take pride of place at celebrations and traditional holidays. In cities across the country, visit a kulfiwallah for a transporting sample of rose, cardamom, saffron or pistachio kulfi; while recipes change with time, the sweet treat you're tasting is thought to have roots in the Mughal Empire. Since the tender fruits are more perishable than their sweeter cousins, if you live outside the Midwest or Northeast United States you might never have seen one.

It is the simplest to bake even by an amateur baker if he/she has an oven at home. When making your own or shopping for the perfect slice, watch for a characteristic jiggle that hints at the light, tender texture to come. Shiny, burnt sugar tops this creamy dessert, and the perfect crme brle is a study in contrasts. Read more of her work at, There's a perfect beach for every week of the year.

Bet you dollars to doughnuts, their answer is different from yours. The brand is so associated with American cheesecakes that it's often called out by name on menus around the globe, where tarta de queso Philadelphia or gteau fromage Philadelphia are rich diplomats for a beloved New York sweet.

Variations on medovik differ widely, but the most popular takes incorporate one of two very Russian ingredients into the sweet filling. The worst-case scenario? To top it all off, blend your own perfect mix of treats. Even in a crowded field of tempting Moroccan sweets, these filled pastries are perennial favorites, and the labor-intensive dessert appears at celebrations and special meals throughout the year. The quintessential American treat is deceptively simple: a basic, creamed-butter cookie recipe turns out to have endless subtle variations that produc dramatically different results. Others get their flavor from sweetened condensed milk, which became an icon of Russian cooking during the Soviet era, when fresh milk could be hard to come by. Like a croissant, the kouign amann is rolled and folded with layers of butter, but fewer folds mean the kouign amann has a toothier, more rustic texture than its sophisticated city cousin. The hearty fruit preserve is the delicious prize inside these crescent pastries. Unlike baklava, borma is often fried, adding an extra infusion of flavor and a crisp texture that stands up to a sugary bath in flavored syrup. The ultimate in comforting British desserts, this homey sweet is a warm serving of sticky nostalgia.

Gallic chefs have been whipping up chocolate mousse -- the word means "foam" in French -- for at least a few hundred years, but the quest for foamy chocolate is much older.

While often compared with vanilla, pandan has a lilting aroma all its own, but for tub tim krob lovers the "rubies" are the real treasure.

Taste that rich filling for evidence of the Arab influence that infuses Sicilian cuisine: The candied citrus that often flavors the creamy interior remains beloved throughout the Middle East.

Dessert goes to the heart.".

After establishing a foothold in Hong Kong via nearby Macau, they were re-exported to Chinatowns around the globe, where they tempt passersby from steaming pastry cases and shop windows. In the classic version, a thin layer of dough curves around a filling of ground almonds scented with orange blossom water. If that wasn't flavor enough, the whole thing is swathed in more cream, dusted with shaved chocolate and studded with cherries. A lush, syrupy distillation of milky flavor, these deep-fried Indian treats are anything but a simple doughnut.

While many mandazi lovers trace the origins of these fried treats to South Sudan -- where they're often served with a rich chocolate dipping sauce that lands them firmly in dessert territory -- mandazi are also a beloved snack across Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda. After a fiery meal of Thai cuisine, tub tim krob cools with crushed ice and a sweetened coconut liquid infused with pandan leaves.

Lower fat content and a warmer serving temperature help flavors shine brighter than in ice cream, whether you're savoring a sunny scoop of lemon gelato, a rich hazelnut version or classic chocolate. The Big Apple's most iconic dessert seems to defy pastry physics. The crust, with a texture that's similar to a shortbread cookie, retains a fatty crunch that's an ideal contrast to the silky filling.

We, homo sapiens solemnly swear to diggin to all desserts in the world and relish it to our hearts delight. Scented with saffron, rosewater and pistachios, it's no wonder that this Iranian ice cream is a favorite at Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Aficionados of this beloved American sweet are sure to have a take on the best -- and worst -- way to make a brownie. Fudgy or cakey? A crunchy, crispy ball of sweetened batter studded with raisins or currants, then dunked in powdered sugar, oliebollen are best eaten hot from street stands called oliebollenkrams. Versions of this blissfully cool dessert can be found throughout southeast Asia, but with the addition of a scoop of sweetened red beans, Singapore's take on the classic treat remains especially tempting.

October 4 might be Cinnamon Bun Day on the Swedish calendar, but many bun aficionados insist that the aromatic cardamom version outshines cinnamon's more assertive charms. A creamy base, which can be flavored with everything from green tea to fruit pures, is frozen solid then shaved into a lofty pile of crumbling ice flakes. In some versions, a pinch of ground cardamom provides an extra jolt of spice, and the simple doughnuts are an invitation to get creative with flavors, toppings and sides. Not that kifli are limited to fruit preserves. Once the famous author, Jane Austen quoted Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness." The heart of every Indian occasion is Gulab Jamun. Perfectly sized for eating out-of-hand, dan tats are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, when the warm custard meets a perfectly crisp crust. With a name that translates to "pick me up," it's a combination of coffee, chocolate, cream and optional booze that's sure to pique even the most jaded palates.

Traditional recipes, which can require hours of constant stirring, start by simmering fresh milk over a low flame, a slow reduction that lends a caramel sweetness to the milk's natural sugars.

Along with fairy tales and mountain-top castles, Germany's Black Forest region is known as the namesake -- if not the origin -- of the country's most luscious cake.

On the global heat map of frozen desserts, though, gelato's sweet innovations earn top honors. It got famous after being served at cafe Mozart in the year 1974. They execute the job with everything from a blow torch to a traditional salamander, a cast-iron disk that can be heated to blazing temperatures and is said to produce the most even results. Having three decks of tart that doesnt require any baking, the lower decker includes waffle bits, whereas there are a creamy icing and chocolate glaze to top it up with. Among the Olmec, Maya and Aztec peoples who consumed chocolate long before contact with Europeans, a hefty layer of foam was considered the height of good taste, and ancient codices depict cooks pouring chocolate from several feet in the air to create a froth. Often made using pure cream, crme brle is among the richest of all the custard desserts, and it must be gently cooked in a water bath to prevent curdling and overbaking.

The name dates back to at least the 16th century and is probably older, though the ingredients of the dessert have evolved over time.

Dessert blogger and author Anita Chu writes that for many Chinese people, jian dui offer a special symbolism during that time: both the spherical shape and golden color are good omens for the year to come, as is the way the jian dui puff up when fried in hot oil.

Prepared with milk solids that are kneaded into a dough and then deep-fried into desi ghee, gulab jamuns are topped up with saffron, green cardamom, and rose water to add a dash of royalty. Try versions that are dunked in dark chocolate, coated in a sweet layer of white chocolate, rolled in coconut and dressed up with spices, or opt for the classic -- it's among the world's most comforting snacks.

There are dozens of versions, but every single one is cloaked in a frothy layer of shredded coconut preferably fresh. Such is this kind of relationship that every human being shared with all the desserts in the world. Robert Lachman/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images, David Carson/St. It earns the name. Sour cherries have plenty of acid to counterbalance the sugar in the filling, and they're rich in tannins, too. Some use the rich sour cream that adds flavor to some of Russia's most comforting foods, from borscht to blini.

Even Katharine Hepburn had an opinion on how to bake them, and an old story holds that the actress once dispensed the following advice: "Never quit, be yourself and don't put too much flour in your brownies.". Pastry shops across the Middle East and Turkey tempt passers-by with piles of borma. Since cornes de gazelle are baked just until they're lightly golden, the dough retains a tender texture that melts into the center. While the heat of the craze has passed, this sensuous dessert remains one of the world's most sophisticated ways to end a meal. Let the sweet exploration begin! The addition of coconut milk lends a tender bite and subtle aroma to these satisfying fritters, whose light sweetness is especially appealing when paired with a cup of milky coffee or chai tea. Cut into this golden spiral of pastry to uncover a rich filling of ground nuts, orange blossom water and mastic, a natural resin that perfumes sweets from Tangier to Turkey. Jen Rose Smith is a pastry chef-turned-writer whose work explores travel, adventure and food. This dessert stands out just the way its name does.

Ignore the chalky versions sold in restaurants that are 10 time zones from a mango tree; a ripe, tender dish of sticky rice with mango is among the world's most perfect desserts. But it's latter day American doughnuts that earn a place on this list for their creative approach to fillings and flavors. Creamy layers of whipped mascarpone cradle coffee-soaked ladyfingers in this modern Italian dessert, which has become a sweet mainstay around the globe. In between the cake layers, which can be stacked 10 high in the most elaborate versions, is a creamy frosting that melts into the honeyed rounds. The rich and labor-intensive sweet is a favorite at Indian celebrations from Eid al-Fitr to Diwali, but the name points to origins in Persia.

In a classic recipe from author. Get One for Your Loved Ones, Perfect gifts for best friend as friendship day is about to come, Copyright 2022 flowerAura.

While a freshly baked cardamom bun is a memorable treat, it's also a simple and comforting one. The crumbly bite of shortbread gives way to a sweet layer of dulce de leche, a caramel-like candy made by gently cooking sweetened milk until it turns into a rich, mellow treat. There, pastry shops serve great trays sliced into diamonds, filled with ground nuts and dripping with honeyed syrup. The very simplicity of the cookies has proved to be the perfect base for creative cooks across Latin America. A world away from the architectural, lacquered creations that fill Parisian pastry shop windows, the very best of these are a humble mess with heavenly flavor -- preferably topped with a generous dollop of tangy crme frache. The pastry seals the filling into a steamy enclosure, allowing the sugar to caramelize as the apples melt into tender perfection. When the balance is perfect, however, the treat blends the tender bite of a chocolate cake with the oozy pleasure of a melted chocolate bar.

Anna Pavlova, the globe-trotting Russian ballerina that the dessert is named for, visited both countries.