10 of the World’s Best Desserts
Everyone (well, almost everyone) loves dessert. From tart and savoury to sweet and creamy, the best desserts come in all shapes and sizes. And while we might deny ourselves the pleasure of finishing off the meal with something special, when we travel the opportunity presents itself for some can’t-miss temptations. So splurge, enjoy yourself, and walk it off the next day with any of these ten of the world’s best desserts.
Mont Blanc at Angelina’s in Paris
The only thing better than relaxing on the River Seine at Sunset is savouring a cup of coffee or tea while enjoying a Mont Blanc at Angelina’s, the best bakery in Paris the world. It’s just a few minutes walk from the Louvre, and people usually come here for the renowned hot chocolate. (I don’t like it – but it’s a drinking chocolate. Not my thing.) But this concoction of think whipped cream and chestnut creme is simply the world’s best dessert. Without question. I could go to Paris just to have one of these. Stunning.
Quindim in Brazil
Quindim is another world-class best dessert, and appearances might be deceiving as sometimes its presented a bit like a Brazilian doughnut! Don’t be fooled, though; it’s of course much more than that. One of the many Portuguese-influenced treats in Brazil, it’s made with lots of eggs and sugar infused with coconut, which gives it this wonderful texture. The best ones are homemade if you can find them – some of the store ones aren’t nearly as fresh or as tasty.
Beingets from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans
The beingets from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans are almost as famous as Mardi Gras itself. I wonder how much powered sugar this place goes through in a year – it’s piled high to ensure your sugar rush is set for warp speed. I have it on good word these are good for a hangover too, a useful bit of knowledge in this part of town, though brace yourself for the long queues to get yours.
Gelato from Anywhere in Florence
It’s tough to choose which Italian dessert to feature as indeed many of the world’s best desserts come from Italy. But since I’m doing the choosing here, I’ll go with gelato – and Florence has some of the country’s best shops. Vivoli is probably the one the most famous, but I wouldn’t say it is the best. Others to try are Carabè, Badiani and Grom; just finding the places is difficult, but just get lost in the maze that is Florence and enjoy yourself.
Galub Jamun in India
Akil wrote about some of her favorite Indian desserts, and it is no surprise that Galub Jamun made the list. It is simply a fried dough in sugar, but I love the different flavours of syrup you can get: sometimes its a hint of cardamom, other times it’s a little ginger-y. An excuse to try them a few different times during your stay.
Maple Taffy in Canada
Canada has no shortage of world’s best desserts, but if you visit in spring then you simply must try a bit of maple taffy – just trying it is a bit of an experience! You see, it’s hot maple syrup poured into the snow and rolled around a stick. (Don’t worry, they use clean snow.) It tastes so pure and wholesome, the perfect treat after a day of Canadian adventures.
Hokey Pokey Ice Cream in New Zealand
I love ice cream, so it gets two turns to be on the world’s best desserts list. And what else but ice cream can be used as an excuse to visit New Zealand, my favourite country? Hokey pokey is vanilla ice cream with sponge toffee bits thrown in for good measure. You can find it at any place that services ice cream – in fact, if the parlours only have one flavour, it will be hokey pokey. But what else could satisfy your sweet tooth after a day of hikes and extreme adventure sports than some hokey pokey?
Churros from Anywhere
I love churros – and thankfully they are easy to find in many places. The world’s best churros are in Tijuana, in my opinion, but chocoholics will not want to miss churros y chocolat for breakfast in Madrid. Pretty much any Spanish speaking or influenced country will be serving up these tasty treats. Yum.
Naleśnik in Poland
Naleśnik is basically a Polish crepe or light pancake. It’s a difficult decision to make for me, because I do love pierogi filled with fruit as a dessert, but these tasty pancakes are easier to find. I think because the Polish ones come with lots of different fresh fruits, fresh cream, and a heavy dose of cinnamon, they win for me against their (delicious) French counterparts.
Umm Ali in Egypt
We close in the middle east, where desserts are often a touch less sweet than elsewhere – which I appreciate because although I love sweets, sometimes people go overboard. Umm Ali (translation: Ali’s Mother) is essentially what you would call bread pudding in the US or UK. But it’s far tastier. It’s a bit lighter and airy, and just heavenly. It’s worth going to Egypt just for this, really. Or find a local Egyptian restaurant where you are and ask for it. One of the world’s best dessert, indeed.
What’s your favourite dessert?
Photos by ramonline, stella dauer, navinea, beggs, jasonlam, chim0, noplans, mushroom & rooster, meaduva
Andy Hayes is the managing editor of Sharing Travel Experiences. Featured in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Traveler, and other major publications, he travels for up to seven weeks at a time and spends the other seven right here with you. Follow him on Twitter, @andrewghayes.
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February 22nd, 2010 at 3:13 pm
My mouth is watering. Mmmmmm. What deliciousness. Luckily, I will be able to at least try a few on my upcoming trip!
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I have to vote for Thai dessert.
Even though, Thai food is well-known to most travelers, I don’t think Thai dessert has the same popularity. Many of Thai dessert has the origin from Portuguese so I could see myself enjoy the quindim in Brazil.
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
While churros are not eaten as a dessert in Spain, they are wonderful for breakfast, as a late afternoon snack or perfect in the wee hours of the morning after a long night out on the town.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Jane, I know they’re not dessert, but I would have felt self indulgent giving them their own article. Although in hindsight…
Amy, you’d love quindim, I’m sure of it. The smooth texture, the sweet flavour… ahh.
D, see if you can get all 10!
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Mmmmmhhh… they all look yummy
And since you asked what my favorite dessert is, here`s my Top 5: http://www.isabellestravelguide.com/pastries-and-desserts.html
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I never met a dessert I didn’t like. Gelato is my fav on your list- but nothing beats a good Tarte Tatin in France
Mmmmmmm.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
As an Indian dessert I think Kulfi beats anything else hands down!
We have great Mont Blanc in Italy, too. In fact, go into any pasticceria and they’ll have it.
And I agree with Amy about Thai desserts! I love anything in coconut milk!
And Korean rice cakes are yummy, there’s a wonderful shop at Seoul’s Incheon airport where you can get so many different kinds of them.
I loooove desserts anywhere in the world!
February 27th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
I would say any desserts with mangoes are great! I just love the juicy mangoes…. and anything with chocolate is also yummy!
February 27th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Oh yes, mangos go well with every course!
February 28th, 2010 at 2:50 am
SACHER tort at Sacher Hotel, in Wien/Austria!
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Oh man! You have hit on four of my favs and given me six others to look forward to!!
I’ve got my eye on that Brazilian treat.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Its a tie between Spanish churros and Italian lime ice cream for me!
March 4th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Without a doubt, my favorite dessert is the shaved ice and “snow” ice from Taiwan. Rather addicting, but sufficiently healthy enough to justify multiple visits a month. Imagine finely shaved ice mounded high in a large bowl and covered with fresh chunks of mango, strawberries, kiwi, then 2 scoops of homemade kiwi and strawberry sorbet, and finally, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. The ice is so fine and soft, nothing like the coarse Hawaiian snow cones most people think of. And the snow ice is hard to describe, but when shaved it resembles thin fluffy sheets folded over and layered in the bowl. My favorite is the regular with fresh passion fruit drizzled over, but the most popular is the green tea snow ice topped with red beans and condensed milk.
Next to the ice desserts here in Taiwan, I think fresh Liege & Brussels are a close second. There is nothing quite like standing by the Manneken Pis in Brussels and devouring a fresh waffle covered in fresh strawberries, bananas, whipped cream and Belgian chocolate. Aaahhhh…
April 5th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Huh…I didn’t realize the Canadians put their maple on a stick and called it taffy. We just pour it in the snow and let it harden and call it sugar on snow. It’s a little more difficult to eat that way (requires a fork). That’s definitely my favorite. But I also do love a good gelato on a hot day.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I would have to add cannoli freshly filled anywhere in Sicily and macarons from La Duree to your awesome list.
April 6th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Oh, now those sound great, Kathy!
April 19th, 2010 at 1:24 am
i love the donut as well as the churros… however, i also liked the umm ali when i went to egypt… pretty mouth watering indeed…
May 23rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
All of these desserts look fantastic. HOWEVER, I am from Vermont (my family has been here for 8 generations), so of course I feel that maple products from Vermont are absolutely the best. What is referred to as “Maple Taffy” in this article, is called Sugar on Snow here. Instead of on a stick, it’s served on top of the snow, similar to ice cream and sauce. We also have maple cotton candy, which is absolutely fantastic. In either case, I strongly suggest trying both and seeing for yourself why Vermont is considered the best maple sugaring country in the world.
May 23rd, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Vermonter, should we have a STE-sponsored cook off and taste test to see who wins?
July 3rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Ooh yes, I’m a big fan of the beingets (well in fact most of these desserts)! Cafe du Monde is quintessentially New Orleans… such great memories.
July 13th, 2010 at 4:30 am
Wow I found this very interesting!
August 6th, 2010 at 7:20 am
I haven’t tried any of the foods listed above but hope to taste everyone of them some day. So far the best foods I’ve tasted are Chinese bird’s nest soup, Chinese shark’s fin soup and Haagen Dazs Butterscotch ice-cream.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
They all seem delicious! I wish I could afford to travel around the world…
By the way, churros are also found in Portugal and some Portuguese speaking or influenced countries. Actually, I’m going to eat one tonight
August 12th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Hey Andy! Kash here…just ’stumbled’ upon this article.
Just about to sit for dinner and darn there ain’t no dessert tonight…except for some Lemon Sherbert!
Gulab Jamun obviously am biased is a personal favourite but love Gelato and Churros…..
August 31st, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Umm Ali is indeed delicous, I tryed it more than once many years ago in Cario. I will take your word for it that Naleśnik tastes good, but I have sampled quite a few Polish foods and they were all terrible!