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Quick desserts

Desserts and sweets ready in 30 minutes or less. (201 recipes)

MajareteCoconut rice-flour pudding

Puerto Rican grandmothers cook majarete on the stove in one pan, pour it into a dish and leave it to set while the Sunday dinner is eaten; it shows up again at Christmas beside the tembleque. Rice flour, coconut milk and whole milk are stirred with cinnamon and a little orange zest until they thicken into a silky, spoonable pudding, dusted with more cinnamon. In the Dominican Republic the same name goes to a version made with fresh grated corn. The common mistake is walking away from the pan; rice flour lumps and catches in seconds, so whisk constantly. Chef's tip: whisk the rice flour into the cold milks before the pan goes on the heat, and it will be perfectly smooth.

30 minPuerto RicanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MarzanThick flour pudding with butter

When snow cuts off the villages of Baltistan around Skardu and Khaplu, marzan is the dish that keeps people going: wholewheat flour stirred into boiling water until it becomes a thick, smooth, heavy pudding, shaped into a mound with a well in the centre filled with melted butter and apricot-kernel oil. It is eaten communally by hand, each person pulling a piece from the edge and dipping it in the fat, and it is made for new mothers, for guests after a cold journey and for winter mornings. Some families eat it plain and savoury, others sweeten it with a little sugar or serve it with dried apricots, which is how it is written here. Lumps are the usual complaint, so add the flour slowly. Chef's tip: whisk the flour into the water a spoonful at a time, then switch to a sturdy wooden spoon and beat hard as it thickens; and use only food-grade culinary apricot-kernel oil, or more butter.

30 minPakistaniDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RømmegrøtSour cream porridge

Rømmegrøt is the porridge of Norwegian celebrations: full-fat sour cream simmered and thickened with flour until the butterfat seeps out, then loosened with milk into a rich, silky pudding and served with cinnamon sugar, melted butter and a side of cured meats or flatbread. It is eaten at midsummer, weddings and on St Olav's day, and in the summer farms of the mountains; in Oslo it is bought in tubs for Saturday treats. A common mistake is using low-fat sour cream, which will not release its butter. Chef's tip: skim off the golden fat that rises and drizzle it back over the porridge in the bowl; that is the traditional 'smørøye' (butter eye).

30 minScandinavianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tobago benne ballsSesame molasses candies

Benne is the West African word for sesame that survived in Tobago, and benne balls are the little brown, crunchy candies sold in paper bags at Scarborough market and by vendors on the beach roads. Toasted seeds are stirred into molasses and sugar boiled to the hard stage, then rolled while warm into marble-sized balls. The common mistake is under-boiling the syrup, which gives soft, sticky balls that never set; test it in cold water. Work quickly and carefully, as the syrup is very hot. Chef's tip: toast the seeds only to pale gold; they keep darkening in the hot syrup and turn bitter if they start dark.

30 minTrinidadianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Curd and treacle

Driving the southern coast road past Tangalle towards Hambantota, you pass stall after stall stacked with round clay chatties of meekiri, the firm, slightly sour curd made from buffalo milk, with bottles of dark kithul treacle hanging beside them. Turned out into a bowl and flooded with treacle, it is the South's great dessert: cool, rich and tangy against the smoky, toffee-like sweetness of the palm syrup, eaten after lunch or as a snack in the heat of the day. Setting it at home is easy with pasteurised buffalo milk or creamy whole cow's milk, a spoon of live curd and a warm spot overnight. The mistake that ruins most first batches is adding the starter while the milk is still too hot, which kills the culture and leaves you with warm milk in the morning. Chef's tip: unglazed clay pots draw out a little whey, which is why traditional curd is so thick; soak them in water and dry them well before using.

25 minSri LankanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

VispipuuroWhipped lingonberry semolina

Vispipuuro, 'whisked porridge', is a Finnish childhood favourite: semolina cooked in lingonberry juice and water with sugar, then cooled and whisked hard until it turns pale pink, light and fluffy like a mousse. It is eaten for breakfast, as a dessert at school, or as a snack, with cold milk poured around it. Cranberries or redcurrants work too. A common mistake is whisking it while still hot, which never lightens it. Chef's tip: cool the porridge in a sink of cold water, then whisk with an electric mixer for 10 minutes; it will double in volume. Serve with oat milk to keep it vegan.

30 minScandinavianDessertsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TalkhanMulberry and walnut cake

Around Bamiyan and Daikundi in the central mountains, where mulberry trees line the irrigation channels, families dry the white berries on rooftops in summer and pound them with walnuts into talkhan, a dense, chewy sweet that keeps for months. It was the food shepherds and travellers carried in a cloth for long days on foot, and it is still offered with green tea to guests in Hazara homes in winter. The flavour is honeyed, faintly fig-like and nutty, with no added sugar at all. Grinding it too fine and too long is the usual misstep, as the walnuts turn oily and the cake goes greasy; stop while there is still some texture. Chef's tip: toast the walnuts lightly and let them cool before pounding, which takes away any bitterness from the skins.

25 minAfghanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Haft mewaSeven dried fruit compote

Haft mewa is the first thing many Afghan families offer visitors on Nowruz, the spring new year on 21 March, and in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul it sits in a big glass bowl on every table set for the holiday. Seven kinds of dried fruit and nuts, typically green and red raisins, apricots, walnuts, almonds, pistachios and senjed (dried oleaster berries), are steeped in water for two days until the fruit swells and releases its sugar into a pale amber syrup, while the nuts soften to a fresh, milky crunch. It is ladled into small bowls with plenty of liquid and eaten with a spoon. Skipping the peeling of the almonds is the most common shortcut, and it leaves bitter, papery skins floating in the syrup. Chef's tip: use cooled boiled water for the soak and keep the bowl in the fridge, which keeps the syrup clear and sweet.

20 minAfghanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HangopHung buttermilk with fruit

Hangop means 'hang up', and that is the method: buttermilk poured into a cloth, hung up over a bowl overnight until it thickens into something like a tangy, creamy fresh cheese. It was a summer dessert on Dutch farms, eaten with rusk crumbs, brown sugar and fresh fruit, and is having a revival in Amsterdam restaurants. A common mistake is straining it at room temperature, which lets it turn too sour. Chef's tip: strain it in the fridge, and use a clean tea towel rather than cheesecloth; the finer weave keeps more of the creamy curd.

10 minDutchDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MaleedaCrumbled flatbread with ghee and sugar

Maleeda is a sweet with a purpose: Afghan women make it as nazr, an offering promised when they pray for something, a recovery, a safe journey or a child's exam, and then share it out among neighbours or at a shrine on a Thursday evening. Thin breads are cooked on a griddle, torn up while still hot and rubbed between the palms with melted ghee, sugar and cardamom until they become soft, fragrant, golden crumbs, a bit like a warm, buttery crumble topping. It is eaten from the hand or with a spoon, sometimes with chopped pistachios. Letting the bread cool before rubbing is where it goes wrong, as cold bread will not soak up the ghee and stays in tough flakes. Chef's tip: a quick pulse in a food processor gives you even crumbs, but finish by rubbing with your fingers so the texture stays soft.

30 minAfghanDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tamina (roasted semolina with honey)

Word of a birth in an Algiers household brings a steady flow of visitors, and each is offered a small dish of tamina with coffee: semolina roasted in a dry pan until it smells like toasted hazelnuts, then bound with melted butter and honey and dusted with cinnamon. It is soft, crumbly and sweet, a little like a spoonable halva, and is said to give strength to the new mother. Tamina is also made for Mawlid and served with tea, with the cinnamon often sifted over in a lattice pattern. Chef's tip: toast the semolina slowly over a medium-low heat and stir without stopping; burnt dark specks make the whole batch bitter and cannot be picked out.

25 minAlgerianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChokladbollarNo-bake chocolate oat balls

Chokladbollar are the first thing Swedish children learn to make: oats, butter, sugar and cocoa mashed together by hand, rolled into balls and coated in desiccated coconut or pearl sugar, then chilled. They sit in every café cabinet in Sweden for fika, and grown-ups add a spoon of strong coffee to the mix. This version uses milk, with coffee as an option for adults. A common mistake is using soft, melted butter, which makes a greasy mix that won't roll. Chef's tip: use butter at cool room temperature and chill the mix for 20 minutes before rolling.

20 minScandinavianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Leipäjuusto with cloudberriesBread cheese with cloudberries

Leipäjuusto, 'bread cheese', comes from Lapland, Ostrobothnia and Kainuu in northern Finland: a flat round of fresh cheese baked or flame-grilled until it is spotted brown, squeaky and mild. In Lapland it is cut into cubes and dropped into hot coffee, or warmed and served with cloudberry jam and cream as a dessert at Christmas and celebrations. Sold as 'Finnish squeaky cheese' outside Finland; it is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian version. A common mistake is warming it too long, which turns it rubbery and leaks whey. Chef's tip: warm it in a hot oven for just a few minutes, until soft and steaming, and pour over a little cream for the last minute.

15 minScandinavianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RahashTahini and sugar slab sweet

In the souks of Kuwait City and Manama, slabs of rahash appear on the sweet stalls as Ramadan approaches, cut into squares to nibble with tea after iftar or handed round at Eid. It is close to halva: tahini beaten with hot sugar syrup until it sets into a firm, crumbly, fudgy block that melts on the tongue, with a gentle cardamom perfume and pistachios on top. The trick is the syrup temperature. Undercooked syrup leaves a soft, oily paste that never sets; cook it to the soft-ball stage. Stir the tahini well in its jar first, as the oil separates. Chef's tip: stop stirring as soon as the mixture loses its gloss and starts to pull away from the bowl; keep going and it turns sandy.

30 minGulf ArabianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SaqoSago pudding with saffron

Saqo is a sweet that Gulf grandmothers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates make for Ramadan nights and family gatherings: tiny sago pearls cooked with saffron and cardamom until clear, glossy and suspended in a golden, wobbly syrup. It is eaten warm or cold from small bowls, often scattered with pistachios, and is gentle enough after a big iftar. The texture is soft and jelly-like with little pearls that pop. The typical mistake is under-cooking, which leaves white chalky centres in the pearls; cook until every pearl is fully see-through. Stir often, as sago sticks to the pan. Chef's tip: add the rose water off the heat at the very end, or its perfume cooks away.

30 minGulf ArabianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HininyDate and bread crumble

When the first cold nights reach Najd and Qassim, Saudi families make hininy, a warm sweet of soft dates melted into crumbled brown bread with plenty of ghee and cardamom. It is eaten from a shared plate in the evening or at breakfast with tiny cups of saffron-tinted Arabic coffee, and it is said to keep you warm on desert nights. The texture is soft and fudgy with a little crumb, the flavour like sticky toffee and toasted bread. The mistake to avoid is using hard, dry dates, which never melt; choose soft, moist ones or soak them first. Serve it warm, pressed into a mound. Chef's tip: toast the bread crumbs in a dry pan for two minutes before mixing; it gives a nutty depth that plain crumbs lack.

25 minGulf ArabianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Raib (set yogurt with orange-flower water)

Every Moroccan town has a mahlaba, a dairy café, with a fridge full of little glass pots of raib: soft, wobbly set yogurt, lightly sweetened and often scented with orange-flower water or flavoured with strawberry. It is eaten with a spoon as a snack, as a dessert after dinner, or with msemen at breakfast. The texture is delicate and spoonable rather than thick like strained yogurt. The oldest versions were set with rennet; this home version uses live yogurt as a starter (if you try rennet tablets, choose a vegetarian one). It needs 6–8 hours to set and a few hours to chill. Chef's tip: let the milk cool to 43 °C before adding the starter; too hot and the cultures die, so the raib never sets, which is the most common mistake.

30 minMoroccanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RaspaoShaved ice with blackberry syrup

On a hot Barranquilla afternoon, the raspao cart is the fastest way to cool down. The vendor scrapes a block of ice with a metal plane, packs the snow into a cup and floods it with bright syrups: kola, tamarind, lime, blackberry. Many add a ribbon of condensed milk on top, but this version stays vegan and lets the fruit carry it. Children love it, and it is a fun one to make at home with a blender and a jug of syrup. The usual misstep is pouring warm syrup over the ice, which melts it to slush in seconds, so chill the syrup completely first. Make the syrup a day ahead if you like; it keeps a week in the fridge. Chef's tip: freeze water in a shallow tray, then blitz the slab in pieces with a few pulses for fluffier, snow-like ice than ice cubes give.

20 minColombianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salame de chocolateNo-bake chocolate biscuit log

Every Portuguese child seems to have helped make one: crushed Maria-style tea biscuits folded through rich chocolate, rolled into a log, chilled and dusted with icing sugar until each slice looks like salami. It turns up at birthday parties, in café display cases around Lisbon and on Christmas dessert tables. The traditional mix uses raw eggs; this version leaves them out and sets with melted chocolate and butter instead, so there is nothing raw in it. A splash of port is often added, which contains alcohol; leave it out or use milk. A common mistake is crushing the biscuits to crumbs; leave some larger pieces, or the slices lose their marbled look. Chef's tip: break the biscuits by hand into pieces the size of a fingernail; crumbs turn it into fudge and you lose the salami look.

25 minPortugueseDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PaparajotesLemon leaf fritters with cinnamon sugar

Paparajotes are the sweet of the Murcian huerta's spring festivals, above all the Bando de la Huerta, when the city fills with people in traditional dress and stalls fry them by the hundred. A lemon tree leaf is dipped in a light batter, fried and dusted with cinnamon sugar; you hold it by the stalk, pull off the crisp coating with your teeth and leave the leaf, which flavours the batter but is not food. Newcomers who try to eat the whole thing are a long-standing local joke. Chef's tip: use only leaves from an unsprayed lemon tree, washed and dried.

30 minSpanishDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Crémet d'AnjouLight cream dessert

Angers and the Anjou countryside have served crémets since the 1800s: a mixture of fresh cheese, whipped cream and whisked egg white, drained in muslin until it holds its shape, then unwrapped onto a plate with berries or a red fruit coulis. It is soft, cool and barely sweet, and Angevin cheese shops sell it by the pot in spring and summer. This version swaps raw egg white for a little extra whipped cream, so it is safe for everyone. You need muslin or a clean J-cloth and small sieves or ramekins with holes. Chef's tip: give it a full 12 hours in the fridge; it firms up and turns light and mousse-like as the whey drips away.

20 minFrenchDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PasteliSesame honey bars

Pasteli is one of the oldest sweets in Greece, and on islands like Sifnos and Andros it is still made in the home kitchen for weddings and feast days, sometimes cut into diamonds and served on lemon leaves. Toasted sesame seeds are bound in hot honey and set into a thin sheet that snaps cleanly but softens slightly as you chew, tasting of nuts and wild thyme. Common mistake: taking the honey off the heat too early, which leaves bars that stay sticky and bend instead of snapping. Chef's tip: test a drop of the honey in cold water; when it sets into a firm ball you can press without it flattening, it's ready.

30 minGreekDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

CuajadaSheep's milk junket with honey

In the green valleys of northern Navarre, Ultzama and Roncal above all, sheep's milk is set into cuajada, a wobbly, faintly tangy junket that is eaten as dessert in village restaurants and sold in little clay pots at Pamplona's markets. Shepherds once warmed the milk by dropping a red-hot stone into a wooden pot, which is why some cuajadas taste lightly smoky. It is always eaten cold, with honey and walnuts. Most rennet is made from calves' stomachs; for a vegetarian cuajada use a microbial or vegetable rennet. Chef's tip: once the rennet is in, don't move the pots at all until they have set, or they turn grainy and weep.

20 minSpanishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

CholadoShaved ice with fruit

On a hot afternoon in Jamundí, just south of Cali, the stalls along the road to the river build cholados in tall plastic cups: a base of shaved ice drenched in bright fruit syrups, layers of chopped mango, papaya, pineapple, banana and strawberries, then a ribbon of condensed milk and a shower of coconut. It is half drink, half dessert, eaten with a long spoon as the ice melts into fruity, creamy slush. Children love it, and it is quick to build at home. The commonest mistake is shaving the ice too early; it melts into water before you finish assembling, so crush it at the last moment. Chef's tip: chill the fruit and glasses well beforehand and squeeze a little lime over the fruit so it stays bright.

15 minColombianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mel i matóCurd cheese with honey and walnuts

On the road up to Montserrat, farm women once sat at stalls selling fresh mató, a soft, mild, unsalted curd cheese, and the dessert of mató drizzled with honey became a fixture of Catalan restaurants. It is as simple as dessert gets, and best with the freshest cheese. Shop-bought mató and some ricottas are set with animal rennet; this home version is set with lemon juice instead, so it is vegetarian. If you buy cheese, check the label for a vegetarian or microbial rennet. Chef's tip: heat the milk gently and stop at 90 °C; boiling makes the curds tough and grainy.

30 minSpanishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sakızlı muhallebiMastic milk pudding

Çeşme looks across the water to Chios, the island where mastic trees weep their resin, and the town's pudding shops have long used it to perfume a simple, wobbly milk pudding. The flavour is hard to describe: piney, a little floral, very fresh against cold creamy milk. It is the dessert to order after a long fish lunch in Alaçatı. Chef's tip: grind the mastic with a teaspoon of sugar in a mortar; on its own it gums up into sticky lumps.

25 minTurkishDessertsGluten free
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Bici biciRosewater starch jelly with ice

When Adana's July heat pushes past 40 °C, handcarts on every corner serve bici bici: cubes of wobbly starch jelly piled with shaved ice, splashed with rose syrup and dusted with icing sugar. Children eat it in the shade of the clock tower; grown-ups claim it is the only thing that works in that heat. The jelly is just cornflour, water and a little sugar, set and cut into cubes. The usual mistake is undercooking it, which leaves a cloudy, floury jelly that won't hold a cut. Chef's tip: freeze water in a shallow tray and scrape it with a fork for snowy ice if you have no ice shaver.

25 minTurkishDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HöşmerimCheese and semolina halva

Höşmerim is a winter dessert of the Erzurum plateau and the Bolu highlands, made from unsalted fresh cheese melted with butter and semolina until it turns golden and gives off its own butter, then soaked with syrup. It's eaten warm in small bowls, chewy and rich, topped with crushed walnuts or pistachios, often after a long cold day. Common mistake: using salty or aged cheese, which turns oily and bitter; you need a soft, unsalted fresh cheese such as lor or ricotta. Chef's tip: keep cooking until the fat starts seeping out at the edges and the mixture is the colour of light toffee; that's where the flavour comes from.

30 minTurkishDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SupangleChocolate pudding on sponge

Supangle is the chocolate pudding of Turkish pudding shops and school canteens, a favourite of children from Istanbul to Ankara: a thick, dark cocoa custard set in a bowl, traditionally with a piece of sponge cake or biscuit hidden at the bottom to soak up the edges. Served cold with grated chocolate or pistachios on top, it is rich but not heavy. Use proper dark chocolate as well as cocoa for depth. Common mistake: adding the chocolate before the pudding has thickened; it can seize and turn grainy. Chef's tip: whisk the butter in at the very end, off the heat, for a glossy, almost shiny surface.

25 minTurkishDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Layali LubnanSemolina pudding with cream and pistachios

Layali Lubnan — 'Lebanese nights' — is the cool, wobbly pudding Beirut families make for Ramadan evenings and summer gatherings, because it is quick and feeds a crowd from one dish. A base of milk thickened with fine semolina and scented with orange blossom is topped with a thick layer of cream, then finished with pistachios, rose petals and a trickle of sugar syrup at the table. It is gentle and milky rather than very sweet; the syrup lets everyone choose. Common mistake: pouring the cream on while the semolina is still hot; it melts in and the layers blur. Chef's tip: whisk the semolina in slowly and keep whisking for the first minute — that is what keeps it perfectly smooth.

30 minLebaneseDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bananas Foster

Bananas Foster was invented in the 1950s at a family restaurant in the French Quarter, when New Orleans was the main port for bananas from Central America, and it is still flamed at the table there for birthday dinners. Bananas are cooked in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, then flambéed with dark rum and banana liqueur and spooned over vanilla ice cream. It contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version replace the rum and liqueur with 4 tbsp orange juice and a few drops of rum flavouring and skip the flaming. Chef's tip: use bananas that are ripe but still firm, or they turn to mush.

15 minAmericanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

New Orleans pralines

In New Orleans a praline (say 'praw-leen') is a flat, fudgy disc of pecans set in brown sugar and cream, sold in waxed paper from candy shops along Decatur Street and by street vendors since the 1800s. It melts on the tongue rather than snapping like brittle. Chef's tip: use a sugar thermometer and take the pan off at 114 °C; a few degrees more and they turn grainy and hard.

30 minAmericanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HaneenehWarm dates with breadcrumbs and ghee

Haneeneh is desert comfort food from the Bedouin tents of the Jordanian Badia: soft dates mashed into hot samneh with crumbs of yesterday's flatbread, scented with cardamom and pressed into a rich, fudgy sweet. It is made for guests, for new mothers and for cold mornings before herding, eaten by hand with black tea or Arabic coffee. It takes ten minutes and uses only store-cupboard things. The mistake to avoid is cooking the dates too long once they meet the ghee; they turn stiff and chewy instead of jammy. Chef's tip: toast the crumbs in the ghee first until nutty, then add the dates off the heat so the mixture stays soft.

20 minJordanianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Funnel cake

Funnel cake started in Pennsylvania Dutch kitchens and became the smell of every American county fair and boardwalk, from the Kutztown Folk Festival to the Jersey shore. A thin batter is poured through a funnel in loops into hot oil, so it fries into a crisp, lacy, golden nest that you tear apart with your fingers under a snowfall of icing sugar. Chef's tip: keep your finger over the funnel until it is right over the oil, then move in quick overlapping circles from the centre out.

30 minAmericanDesserts
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Hawaiian shave ice

Shave ice came to Hawaii with Japanese plantation workers, and on hot afternoons on Oahu's North Shore families still queue at roadside stands for a towering, soft cone of ice soaked in rainbow syrups. The ice is shaved so fine it is like fresh snow and soaks up the syrup instead of letting it run to the bottom. Without a shaver, freeze ice in a block and scrape it with a fork. Chef's tip: let the ice block sit out for 5 minutes before shaving; slightly tempered ice gives fluffier flakes.

30 minPacific IslanderDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Eton mess

Eton mess is served at Eton College's cricket match against Harrow each June, and it has become the English summer pudding for picnics and garden parties when strawberries are at their best. Crushed meringue, whipped cream and macerated strawberries are folded together at the last moment, so you get crunch, cream and juice in every spoonful. Chef's tip: fold it together just before serving; if it sits, the meringue dissolves into the cream.

20 minBritishDessertsGluten free
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Summer pudding

Summer pudding is the high-summer pudding of English country gardens, made when redcurrants, raspberries and blackcurrants ripen together in July. Slices of day-old white bread line a basin and soak up the juices of lightly cooked berries overnight, turning a deep crimson and setting into a dome. Serve with cream (or a plant cream for a vegan pudding). Chef's tip: keep back a few spoonfuls of juice to paint over any white patches after turning it out.

30 minBritishDessertsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

CranachanOat, raspberry and whisky cream dessert

Cranachan began as a harvest-home dessert in the Highlands, made when the raspberries ripened in June and July, and it is now served on Burns Night and at Scottish weddings. Layers of whipped cream sweetened with heather honey, toasted pinhead or rolled oats and fresh raspberries make it crunchy, rich and sharp all at once. The traditional splash of Scotch whisky contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version use a few drops of vanilla and a squeeze of orange juice instead. Chef's tip: toast the oats until they smell nutty and look golden; raw oats taste floury.

20 minBritishDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ballycastle yellowmanHoneycomb toffee

Yellowman is the bright yellow, brittle honeycomb toffee hacked from great slabs at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, County Antrim, at the end of every August, often eaten with dulse. Golden syrup, sugar and butter are boiled to the hard-crack stage and then foamed with bicarbonate of soda into a crunchy, airy toffee. Chef's tip: have the tin and the soda ready before you start; once it reaches temperature you have seconds.

20 minBritishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rote GrützeRed berry pudding

Rote Grütze is the summer dessert of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, made when the gardens are full of redcurrants, raspberries and sour cherries. The fruit is cooked briefly, thickened with a little cornflour and chilled until it sets to a glossy, spoonable jelly, tart and deep red, with whole berries still in it. Northerners pour cold vanilla sauce or plain cream over it; with a plant-based vanilla sauce it is fully vegan. A common mistake is boiling all the berries: add the soft raspberries last, off the heat, so they keep their shape. Chef's tip: frozen mixed berries work beautifully out of season, and their juice gives an even deeper colour.

20 minGermanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Manjar de cocoCoconut blancmange with prune syrup

Sunday lunch at a grandmother's in Rio, Minas or Pernambuco often ends with a manjar, a snowy ring of coconut blancmange turned out of its mould and drowned in glossy, nearly black prune syrup. It is smooth and cool, with a soft wobble, the mild sweet coconut cream set off by the deep, winey taste of the prunes. The dessert is set with cornflour alone, so it is gluten free, and it has to be made at least 4 hours ahead. Under-cooking the cornflour is what usually goes wrong: the manjar tastes chalky and breaks when turned out. Chef's tip: wet the mould with cold water instead of greasing it, then shake out the drops; the manjar slides out cleanly with a coconut taste unspoilt by oil.

30 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PoulakiThin saffron sugar candy

Poulaki are the paper-thin golden sugar coins sold by weight in Isfahan's sweet shops, meant to be held between the teeth while you sip strong black tea. The name comes from 'poul', the old word for coin, and Isfahanis serve them with tea to guests at any hour, flavoured with saffron, cardamom or sesame. Only sugar, a little vinegar and spice are needed, but timing matters. A common mistake is pouring the drops too big: they should spread no wider than 4 cm or they stay chewy in the middle. Chef's tip: work on a cold, lightly oiled marble or steel tray, which sets the coins in seconds and keeps them glassy.

30 minPersianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mousse de cupuaçu

Cupuaçu, a cousin of cacao with a velvety white pulp, smells of pineapple, banana and chocolate at once and is one of the great flavours of Pará. Belém's ice-cream parlours and lunch restaurants turn it into this light, sharp-sweet mousse, and home cooks make it the night before a birthday or Sunday lunch because it is just whipped and chilled. Condensed milk and cream soften the fruit's sourness; a spoon of cupuaçu syrup on top adds colour and bite. Outside Brazil, buy frozen unsweetened cupuaçu pulp from Brazilian or Latin shops. Many cooks blend the cream with everything else, which leaves the mousse runny; whip it separately and fold it in. Chef's tip: thaw the pulp in the fridge rather than in hot water, so it keeps its perfume, and chill the mousse for at least 4 hours.

20 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
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Mousse de maracujáPassion fruit mousse

Three ingredients, a blender and a fridge: Brazilian home cooks from Recife to Curitiba lean on mousse de maracujá for Sunday lunch dessert because it takes ten minutes and nobody ever refuses it. The acid in passion-fruit juice thickens condensed milk and cream almost instantly, so it sets into a light, tangy, pale yellow mousse without gelatin, topped with the glossy black seeds and pulp. Sharp and sweet at once, it is perfect after a feijoada or a barbecue. Buy wrinkly, heavy passion fruit, which are the ripest and juiciest; frozen unsweetened pulp works too. The trap is diluting the juice: any added water stops the mousse setting, so use pure strained juice. Chef's tip: keep back the pulp of one fruit, warm it for a minute with a spoonful of sugar, and pour it over the mousse just before serving for shine.

17 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
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Cuscuz de tapiocaTapioca and coconut cake

Breakfast stalls in Salvador and the street markets of Recife and Fortaleza sell cuscuz de tapioca by the slice from a big round tray, often with a drizzle of condensed milk on top. It needs no cooking at all: granulated tapioca (tapioca granulada) soaks up hot sweetened milk and coconut milk and swells into a firm, white, bouncy cake with a chewy, pearly texture and a gentle coconut taste. It is eaten cold, at breakfast or as an afternoon sweet with coffee. Granulated tapioca is a Brazilian product made of small irregular crumbs, not pearls; Brazilian shops sell it in bags. Cutting it too early is the usual mistake, and the slices crumble because the granules are still dry at the centre. Chef's tip: pour the liquid in while it is steaming hot and cover the dish straight away; the trapped steam swells the granules evenly.

20 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
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Salzburger NockerlSweet soufflé peaks

Salzburger Nockerl is the dessert Salzburg serves to visitors after a concert or a walk through the old town: three golden, sugar-dusted peaks said to stand for the hills around the city. Under the airy egg-white soufflé is a layer of tart lingonberries or redcurrants, warmed with vanilla milk in the baking dish. It is meant to be shared from the dish and eaten the moment it leaves the oven, before it sinks. This version uses cornflour instead of wheat flour, so it is gluten free. A common mistake is over-folding the yolks into the whites; streaks are fine, and too much stirring makes it collapse. Chef's tip: keep the oven door shut until the end; the peaks are ready when they are golden outside but still creamy inside.

28 minAustrianDessertsGluten free
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CartolaFried banana with cheese and cinnamon

Sweet, salty and hot all at once, cartola ('top hat') is a Pernambuco dessert that sounds odd and tastes like it was always meant to be. Bananas are fried in butter until caramel-edged, covered with slices of coalho or queijo manteiga that melt into a blanket, then showered with cinnamon sugar. It turns up on Recife lunch menus, in hotel buffets and in home kitchens after Sunday lunch, and needs nothing else, though a scoop of vanilla ice cream is welcome. Bananas-prata or ripe plantains are used locally; firm, just-ripe bananas are the nearest swap. Coalho is often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian version or a vegetarian halloumi. Avoid overripe fruit; it collapses in the pan and the cheese slides off. Chef's tip: finish under a hot grill for a minute so the cinnamon sugar bubbles into a thin, crackly crust.

20 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SchokofrüchteChocolate-dipped fruit skewers

Schokofrüchte stalls glow under strings of lights at almost every German Christmas market, from Stuttgart to Hamburg, with rows of strawberries, grapes and banana chunks on wooden skewers dipped in dark, milk and white chocolate. Children choose with their noses pressed to the glass, and at home they are a fun job for small hands. The usual mistake is dipping wet fruit: even a drop of water makes chocolate seize into a grainy lump and stops it sticking. Chef's tip: melt the chocolate gently and let it cool to just warm before dipping; it then clings in a neat, thin shell and sets glossy. Many chocolates contain milk, so check the label if you need it dairy free.

20 minGermanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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