History and Variety of Dessert
DESSERT
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In world cultures
there are a wide variety of desserts including cakes, tarts, cookies, biscuits,
gelatins,
pastries,
ice creams,
pies, puddings,
custards,
and sweet soups.
Fruit
is also commonly found in dessert courses because of its naturally occurring
sweetness. Many different cultures have their own variations of similar
desserts around the world, such as in Ukraine and Russia, where many breakfast
foods such as nalysnyky or bliny, mlyntsi or oladi (pancakes), and syrniki
can be served with honey
and jam
to make them popular as desserts. The loosely defined course called dessert can
apply to many foods.[1]
Desserts were first made using natural ingredients
that were locally available.[1]
In ancient civilizations people enjoyed dried fruits, honeycomb,
or nuts.[1]
These were considered the first candies. When sugar began to be manufactured in the Middle Ages
more sweet desserts became available. Even then sugar was so expensive usually
only the wealthy could indulge on special occasions. Ice cream
can be dated back to 3000BC[citation
needed] and may be considered to be an early
“dessert” in the modern sense of the word. The first apple pie
recipe was printed in 1381. Also in 1740 the first cupcake
recipes were recorded. Ice cream was a Chinese invention although Marco Polo
expanded the technique to Europe in his travels. By the 1800s, recipes for how
to make ice cream were very popular. Vanilla
also plays a large role in many desserts including ice cream. Vanilla was
mostly grown in Mexico where they discovered if the vanilla pod was picked and
dried then vanillin
was produced which can be sweetened into a dessert on its own.
Desserts are constantly changing with the new
techniques and ingredients available at the time or in the local area. They
have changed from natural candies and nuts
to complex souffles
and multi-layered cakes.
The ingredients available affect the range of desserts that can be made in each
region. The first desserts required minimal effort or preparation since ancient
cultures were more focused on the nutrition in foods in order to survive. Now,
however, modern day cultures have more options in the desserts available.
Ice Cream went from being a shaved ice
substance with flavoring to the dairy based, sweet treat modern children crave.[citation
needed] Desserts also went through a major change
in manufacturing. The Industrial Revolution in America
and Europe
changed desserts (and food in general) because they began to be mass-produced,
processed, preserved, canned, and packaged. The iconic foods soon became a
staple in many households because of their availability. Frozen foods became
very popular starting in the 1920s when freezing emerged.
Also around the 1920s lunch
counters and fast food restaurants were established
with increasing popularity. These processed foods became a huge part of diets
in many industrialized nations. Food has always varied with each culture and
area, and, despite the boom in mass-produced processed desserts, they have
still represented regional and ethnic cultures. Many countries have desserts
and foods distinctive to their nations or region.[4]
One example of this is the churro historically from Spain. These sticks of dough are now
deep fried. They are available all throughout North and South America along
with many other areas. They started with Spanish shepherds as a substitute for
bread. Now they have been passed through generations and cultures and changed
to a sweet confection different for each culture.[5]
Varieties
Dessert
can come in variations of flavors, textures, and looks. Desserts can be defined
as a usually sweeter course that concludes a meal.[2]
This definition includes a range of courses anywhere from fruits or dried nuts
to multi-ingredient cakes and pies. With the many different varieties of
desserts the many cultures have different variations. In modern times the
variations of desserts have usually been passed down or come from geographical
regions. This is one cause for the variation of desserts. These are some major
categories in which desserts can be placed.[8]
- Cakes- Cakes are sweet tender breads made with sugar and delicate flour. Cakes can vary from light, airy sponge cakes to dense cakes with less flour. In addition, small-sized cakes have become popular in the form of cupcakes and petits fours.
- Chocolates and candies- Many candies involve the crystallization of sugar which varies the texture of sugar crystals. Candies can be found in many different forms including caramel, marshmallows, and taffy.
- Cookies- Cookies are similar to cakes (the word coming from the Dutch word koekje meaning little cake). Historically cookies were small spoonfuls of cake batter placed in the oven to test the temperature. Cookies can come in many different forms. Examples include layered bars, crispy meringues, and soft chocolate chip cookies.
- Custards and puddings- These kinds of sweets usually include a thickened dairy base. Custards are cooked and thickened with eggs. Baked custards can include crème brûlée and flan. Puddings are thickened with starches.
- Donuts-Donuts are a sweet that can be considered a breakfast or dessert. It is considered a deep fried dessert made from flour. It is the shape of a circle, and sometimes has a hole in the center. There are two-types of donuts: ring-shaped with the circle in the middle, and filled. A filled donut differs from a ring-shaped donut as it is often filled with fruit preserves, cream, custard or other sweet fillings. Square-shaped donuts are commonly referred to as fritters.Fritters are fried and consist of batter or breading that is often filled with fruit, or other ingredients. Fritters are made up of eggs, milk, batter, deep or pan-fried, wheat flour, cornmeal, or a mix of two can make the batter. Donuts can be homemade or found at bakeries, grocery stores, and speciality outlets. Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts are two well-known donut companies that are known for their ring-shaped and filled donuts. In May 2013, the cronut was introduced by Dominique Ansel at the Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City. It is best described as a donut and croissant combined. Cronuts are shaped in a circle and sometimes have a hole in the center. It is dough that is sugared, filled and glazed. Donuts are not always in the shape of a circle; some other shapes of donuts include twists, rings, and balls.
- Frozen desserts- ice cream and gelato both fit into this category. Ice cream is a cream base that is churned as it is frozen to create a creamy consistency, while gelato uses a milk base and has less air than ice cream. Thirdly, sorbet is made from churned fruit and is not dairy based.
- Pastries- Pastries can either take the form of light and flaky bread with an airy texture or unleavened dough with a high fat content. Pastries can be eaten with fruits, chocolates, or other sweeteners and are often eaten with tea.
- Pies- Pies and cobblers are a crust with a filling. The crust can be either made from either a pastry or crumbs. The fillings can be anything from fruits to puddings.
- Miscellaneous desserts- Many desserts cannot be categorized such as cheesecake. Though cheesecake is a similar to a custard, it is named "cake". Many desserts can span the categories and several don't fit in a category at all.[9]
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