Desserts
18 recipes
Tiramisu
Espresso-soaked savoiardi layered with a whipped mascarpone cream and dusted with bitter cocoa. Made with pasteurized yolks so nothing needs cooking, and it sets overnight in the refrigerator.
Tarte Tatin
Apple halves cooked down in butter caramel in the pan, covered with puff pastry, baked, and turned out upside down. Deep amber, barely sweet, and best served warm the day it is made.
Sesame Balls
Glutinous rice dough wrapped around sweet red bean paste, rolled in white sesame, and fried in two stages so they puff up hollow. Crisp shell, chewy layer, soft filling.
Picarones Squash Doughnuts
Peruvian fritters of yeasted squash and sweet potato dough, fried into rings with a crisp shell and soft center, then served under a spiced raw-sugar syrup scented with orange and clove.
Peach Cobbler
Sliced summer peaches baked under spoonfuls of buttermilk biscuit dough, so the fruit bubbles thick at the edges while the topping stays craggy and golden.
Orange Blossom Semolina Cake
A dense semolina and yogurt cake soaked in cooled orange blossom syrup the moment it leaves the oven, so the crumb stays wet and grainy. Cut into diamonds with an almond in each one.
Mexican Flan
A dense condensed-milk custard baked over dark caramel in a water bath, then chilled until it unmolds cleanly with the syrup running down the sides. Smooth, very sweet, and set without a single crack.
Lemon Icebox Pie
A cold-set pie of sweetened condensed milk and fresh lemon juice in a pressed crumb crust, sharp and dense, with softly whipped cream folded through to lighten the filling.
Hotteok Sweet Filled Pancakes
Yeasted dough sealed around brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts, then pressed flat on a griddle until the filling melts to syrup. Chewy from a little glutinous rice flour, crisp at the edges.
Gulab Jamun
Indian milk-solid dumplings fried slowly at low heat so they cook through to the center, then soaked in a cardamom and rose syrup until they swell and turn spongy.
Crema Catalana
A Catalan stovetop custard thickened with cornstarch and egg yolks, infused with lemon, orange and cinnamon, then finished with a sheet of burnt sugar cracked over the top.
Chocolate Mousse
Bittersweet chocolate lightened with whipped egg white and cream so it sets airy and rich without gelatin. Pasteurized eggs keep the uncooked mixture safe to eat.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Creamed butter with both white and brown sugar, chopped chocolate instead of chips, and a rest in the refrigerator before baking. Crisp at the edge, soft through the middle.
Che Chuoi Banana Coconut Pudding
Ripe bananas simmered in sweetened coconut milk with tapioca pearls until the pearls turn clear and the liquid thickens. Served warm with toasted peanuts and sesame for crunch.
Caribbean Sweet Potato Pudding
Hand-grated sweet potato baked slowly with coconut milk, dark brown sugar and warm spice into a dense, moist pudding. Fine cornmeal stands in for wheat flour and gives it a sliceable body.
Brigadeiros
Brazilian party candies of condensed milk and cocoa cooked down in one pan until the mixture pulls from the bottom, then cooled, rolled into balls, and coated in chocolate sprinkles.
Bibingka Coconut Rice Cake
A rice flour and coconut milk batter baked in a banana leaf until set, then buttered, sugared, and browned under the broiler. Soft and slightly chewy, finished with grated coconut.
Baklava
Thirty sheets of filo brushed with butter around a cinnamon-walnut layer, baked until brittle, then soaked in cooled lemon and honey syrup. It needs a night uncovered to set properly.