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World's 50 best desserts:It was hard to choose just 50 of our favorites! Here they are in alphabetical order. South America'salfajores are shortbread cookies with a variety of fillings can be found in neighborhood bakeries all over South America.
From childhood treats to a grandparent's favorite recipes, beloved foods are deeply personal. This seems especially true of desserts, which often take pride of place at celebrations and traditional holidays.
For all the nostalgia of sugary treats, though, some sweets rise above local flavors. Head to any country to find tender slices of Italian tiramisú at the bottom of cafe menus or sniff out the creamy scent of Hong Kong's dan tats in cities around the globe. In the unofficial elections of the stomach, both have been voted to a permanent place in the world's food hall of fame.
And like dan tats, many of these recipes aren't desserts at all -- the eggy tart is more often eaten as an afternoon snack. The idea of serving a sweet at the end of a coursed meal is relatively recent, and in some destinations, including Africa and Asia, desserts are a foreign import.
But with food, like language or culture, determining what's "foreign" turns out to be complicated. Tiramisu relies on chocolate, coffee and sugar that arrived in Italy through global trade, while Hong Kong's most iconic sweet has roots in the Portuguese age of exploration.
Alfajores, South America
Step into a neighborhood bakery from Argentina to Peru, and you're likely to find these tender, filled cookies piled high behind the counter. 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.
The very simplicity of the cookies has proved to be the perfect base for creative cooks across Latin America. 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.
Apfelstrudel, Austria
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For a floury lesson in gluten's architectural wonders, whip up a batch of traditional strudel dough. 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.
Once extended, the delicate dough is wrapped around a sweet, apple filling that's enriched with buttery fried breadcrumbs, raisins and sometimes walnuts. The delicious result can be found in pastry shops around the world, but for the classic experience, head to Vienna's Café Korb for a slice followed by a lush cup of cream-topped Viennese coffee.
Baklava, Turkey
Dozens of delicate layers melt into a single tender bite in this syrupy confection, which is among the sweetest legacies of the Ottoman Empire. While it remains a sought-after treat through the Levant, Balkans, the Caucasus and North Africa -- regions that were once ruled from Constantinople -- the spiritual home of baklava is surely the modern-day country of Turkey.
There, pastry shops serve great trays sliced into diamonds, filled with ground nuts and dripping with honeyed syrup. This is just the most famous of the Ottoman Empire's syrup-soaked pastries, but it's snagged the limelight for good reason. With a simple list of ingredients and endless variations, it easily ranks among the world's most tempting treats.
Black Forest Cake, Germany
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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. Dark rounds of chocolate cake are doused in a cherry syrup spiked with kirschwasser, a sour cherry brandy, then stacked atop a thin, chocolate base with deep layers of whipped cream and fresh cherries.
If that wasn't flavor enough, the whole thing is swathed in more cream, dusted with shaved chocolate and studded with cherries. The resulting cake is a frothy dream dessert that's the star of pastry cases around Germany, where it's known as a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
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Borma, Middle East and Turkey
Threads of crisp, golden knafeh dough wrap around a rich nut filling in this sweet dessert, which is an elegant and aromatic relative of baklava. 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.
And while baklava hides its filling inside a modest layer of filo dough, borma is rolled and sliced, showing off a cross-section of colorful pistachios, pale pine nuts or walnuts. That eye-catching presentation makes borma especially popular as a present. Pastry shops across the Middle East and Turkey tempt passers-by with piles of borma stacked high on enormous platters.
Brownies, United States
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Fudgy or cakey? Corner piece or slice from the middle? Aficionados of this beloved American sweet are sure to have a take on the best -- and worst -- way to make a brownie. One of the earliest recipes appeared in Fannie Farmer's 1906 "Boston Cooking School Cook Book," using the unsweetened chocolate that lends brownies a fudgy texture.
In more than a century of brownie making, they've become a mainstay treat, the base for sundaes and a seriously addictive ice cream flavor.
Even the actress Katharine Hepburn had an opinion on how to bake them, and an old story holds that the glamorous star once dispensed the following advice: "Never quit, be yourself and don't put too much flour in your brownies."
Cannoli, Sicily
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. With origins at the wild Carnival celebrations at Palermo, the traditional cannolo is filled with silky-smooth ricotta cheese made from sheep's milk.
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.
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Cardamom Buns, Sweden
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. One of a family of vetebullar, or wheat buns, cardamom buns are best enjoyed as a part of fika, the coffee break that comes twice daily in many Swedish workplaces.
While a freshly baked cardamom bun is a memorable treat, it's also a simple and comforting one. In a classic recipe from author Johanna Kindvall, crushed cardamom seeds are stirred into lightly enriched, yeasted dough, then rolled up with a sweet layer of sugar and spice.
For the perfect fika, whip up a batch of cardamom buns, brew some strong coffee and call a friend, since the iconic Swedish coffee break is as much about talking as it is about treats.
Cendol, Singapore
On sweltering afternoons in Singapore, locals cool off with this chilled and silky sweet, which is a favorite at seaside restaurants and sidewalk stands. Iced coconut milk is sweetened with a palm sugar syrup, which lends it a lightly smoky, caramelized flavor.
The rich liquid is a lush base for tender threads of green rice-flour jelly, which gets its vivid color from the pandan juice that's extracted from leaves of the tropical screw pine.
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.
Chocolate Chip Cookies, United States
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.
Whatever your favorite version, a perfect chocolate chip cookie is a delicate balance of textures and flavors. A crispy rim gives way to a tender, melting center, and the buttery sweetness of the dough sets off the slight edge of bittersweet chocolate and brown sugar.
Legend has it that the chocolate chip cookie has its origins in a happy accident, when Massachusetts inn owner Ruth Wakefield stirred chopped chocolate into her cookie dough in an attempt to make uniformly chocolatey cookies. Her brand-new recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, and the rest was pastry history.
Chocolate Mousse, France
An airy confection made with just a handful of ingredients, chocolate mousse is a delicious paradox: the richer it is, the lighter it seems. 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.
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.
Coconut Cake, Southern United States
Bouncy, buttery rounds of vanilla cake are piled high with shredded coconut and seven-minute frosting for a classic Southern dessert. This is the kind of all-American sweet that stars at potlucks, cake walks and church picnics, and it's often made with recipes passed down on hand-written recipe cards.
There are dozens of versions, but every single one is cloaked in a frothy layer of shredded coconut ... preferably fresh.
Layer cakes weren't invented in the United States, but the distinctive profile of the coconut cake is pure Americana, and there's no mistaking the high, round shape of an American layer cake for a slim European torte.
Despite the minimalist, all-white color scheme, the coconut cake is an over-the-top, old-fashioned pleasure. The tooth-achingly sweet meringue frosting is a throwback that's rarely seen outside of the South, and it's worth making the original version for a taste of a unique American tradition.
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Cornes de Gazelle, Morocco
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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.
In the classic version, a thin layer of dough curves around a filling of ground almonds scented with orange blossom water. Since cornes de gazelle are baked just until they're lightly golden, the dough retains a tender texture that melts into the center.
While cornes de gazelle are prepared across Morocco -- as well as in the nearby countries of Tunisia and Algeria -- the most visually elaborate versions come from the Moroccan port city of Tetouan, where bakers use intricate molds to create patterns in the dough before baking.
Crème Brûlée, France
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Shiny, burnt sugar tops this creamy dessert, and the perfect crème brûlée is a study in contrasts. Each bite should blend a bit of crispy caramel -- burned just to the very edge of bitterness -- with the aromatic flavor of vanilla custard.
Often made using pure cream, crème brûlée is among the richest of all the custard desserts, and it must be gently cooked in a water bath to prevent curdling and overbaking.
For pastry chefs, part of the appeal of preparing crème brûlée is the fiery drama of burning the sugar topping. 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.
Dan Tats, Hong Kong
Follow the wafting scent of egg custard into a Hong Kong bakery to sample one of the territory's most iconic treats. 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. And with a map-spanning backstory, dan tats are among the tastiest symbols of globalization.
Many trace dan tats to the similar pastéis de nata of Portugal; those eggy tarts traveled with Portuguese traders and colonists to cities around the world. 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.
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Doughnuts, United States
In the Pantheon of world desserts, fried dough is a mainstay. Everything from French beignets to Greek loukoumades are doughnuts of a kind, and it's no wonder they're so beloved; a quick swim in boiling oil transforms simple bread dough into a fast and filling treat. But it's latter day American doughnuts that earn a place on this list for their creative approach to fillings and flavors.
From Portland, Maine's The Holy Donut to Voodoo Doughnutin Portland, Oregon, the old-school doughnut has been loaded down under piles of maple frosting, crispy bacon, fresh fruit glazes and boozy toppings that take the sweet into uncharted territory
Eszterhazy Torta, Hungary
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.
For this elegant cake, slim rounds of almond meringue are piled high between stripes of chocolate buttercream, then topped with a marbled spiderweb of chocolate and vanilla fondant.
A melting texture and rich sweetness make this old-fashioned cake a perennial favorite in sweets-loving Budapest, but it's just as easy to find in Vienna, the grand city that once led the empire. It remains deeply influenced by a shared culinary tradition.
Flan, Latin America
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In the sprawling family tree of custard desserts, Latin America's flan is the coolest cousin, blending perfect simplicity with creamy sophistication.
A whisper-thin layer of dark caramel tops the dessert, melting into syrupy sauce around the base. Flan might have arrived in Latin America from Spain, but it's since been claimed and reinvented by generations of cooks here.
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.
Gâteau Fondant au Chocolat, France
Cut into a warm round of gâteau fondant au chocolat -- that means "melting chocolate cake" in French -- to release the slow flood of chocolate from the interior.
This dark and rich cake is a high-wire act of time and temperature: Serve too early and it's a sticky pool of hot cake batter; serve too late and it's a brownie. 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.
In the 1990s, the cake became a menu star as a lava cake or molten chocolate cake. While the heat of the craze has passed, this sensuous dessert remains one of the world's most sophisticated ways to end a meal.
Gelato, Italy
From shaved ice to sorbet, frozen desserts are melting evidence of one of the world's great food truths: there's nothing so welcome as a cold, sugary treat on a summer afternoon.
On the global heat map of frozen desserts, though, gelato's sweet innovations earn top honors. 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.
In Italy, the year-round treat in an essential food experience, and true aficionados even make the pilgrimage to the Gelato Museum in Bologna, where tours include a guided tasting at the museum cafe.
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Gulab Jamun, India
A lush, syrupy distillation of milky flavor, these deep-fried Indian treats are anything but a simple doughnut.
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.
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.
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 -- legend has it that gulab jamun arrived in medieval India with Persian troops.
Japanese Cheesecake
For the cheesecake aficionado who finds the New York version a trifle heavy, this Japanese treat might be a revelation. In the creamy sweet, which blends the flavorful tang of cheesecake with the loft of a sponge cake, the richness of lightly cultured cheese is offset by a light and airy texture.
- 作者:龚老师
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