Dessert is the sweet course eaten at the end of a meal. The term “dessert” can apply to many confections, such as 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.
The word “dessert” originated from the French word desservir, meaning “to clear the table.” The word “dessert” is most commonly used for the final food course in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland while “pudding” is more commonly used in the United Kingdom.
Sweets date back to ancient
civilizations where people enjoyed fruits and nuts candied with honey. Desserts
as are commonly known today became popular through culinary experimentation. Europeans
began to manufacture sugar in the Middle
Ages, and more sweet desserts became available. Even then sugar was so
expensive usually only the wealthy could indulge on special occasions.
The Industrial Revolution in America and Europe caused desserts (and
food in general) to be mass-produced, processed, preserved, canned, and
packaged. Frozen foods, including desserts, became very popular starting in the
1920s when freezing emerged. Here are some interesting facts about your
favorite desserts:
1.
Baked Alaska is
Actually From New York City-Baked Alaska got its name from the famous Delmonico's Restaurant in
New York City, where it was presented to celebrate Alaska's annexation in
1876.The restaurant didn't invent Baked Alaska, though. Credit goes
to an eccentric fellow who went by Count Rumford (his real name was Benjamin
Thompson), a physicist and rumored spy.
As Count Rumford was
experimenting with dessert techniques, he realized that while pastries could
conduct heat and protect a cold core, a layer of meringue could do it even
better. Count Rumford dubbed his dessert "omelet surprise” or "omelet
à la norvégienne," which translates to “Norwegian omelet” — a reference to
its snowy appearance.
2.
Blondies Came
Before Brownies-If you delve into old cookbooks, you'll find that blondies
were in rotation decades before brownies. The first recipes for brownies didn't
start cropping up in cookbooks until the early 1900s. Although not called
blondies, some mid-19th-century recipes combined the flavors of
butterscotch (a popular candy at the time) with flour and a leavening agent.
3.
Boston Cream
Pie is Cake-Why call it pie instead of cake? It may be a case
of "lost in translation." The dessert was made famous at
Boston's groundbreaking Parker House Hotel.
Boston Cream Pie was
developed by an Armenian-French pastry chef, Augustine Francois Anezin, who
led the hotel's culinary staff from 1865 to 1881. At
the time, pie tins were far more common in American households than cake pans.
If the cake was originally baked in pie tins, it's easy to see how the chef,
whose first language wasn't English, might use the terms "pie" and
"cake" interchangeably.
4.
Chocolate Chips
Came after Chocolate Chip Cookies- The chocolate
chip cookie is the most popular kind of cookie in America. 7
billion chocolate chips are consumed annually in the United States. That equals
over 19.2 million cookies a day. Chocolate chip cookies were actually invented in error. Sometime around 1938 Massachusetts baker Ruth Graves
Wakefield added bits of chopped chocolate to cookie dough trying to make
quickie chocolate cookies. That obviously didn't happen, but the "mistake" became a hit. The cookies
became so popular
that pre-made chocolate chips
followed a few years later.
5.
Croissants
Aren't Technically French-Croissants were not invented in France, but Austria. The
croissant is a descendant of a simple, slightly dowdy Austrian pastry called kipferl. It's said that the concept
was taken to France in the 19th century by a man named August Zang, who went on
to start a Viennese bakery in Paris. He introduced yeast into the butter
pastry, and the croissant as we know it was born.
6.
German
Chocolate Cake isn't German- The
"German" behind the cake was an American named Samuel German who
worked for an American chocolate company. He developed German's Sweet Chocolate
baking bars nearly 100 years before the cake happened. That cake was first dubbed "German's chocolate cake,"
a name eventually shortened to "German chocolate cake." Sam German
died long before he got to taste the now-famous cake that bears his name.
7.
Girl Scout
Cookies Didn't Always Come From a Box-The Girl Scouts
began selling homemade cookies at a fundraising bake sale in 1932. They soon
realized they'd do better if they spent more time selling than baking thus the
shift to boxed cookies. Word spread fast. By 1937, more than 125 Girl Scout
Councils were selling cookies in boxes.
8.
Winemakers Take
Credit for Snickerdoodles-Wine already
does so much for human happiness, but it also deserves a "thank you"
for producing the cream of tartar that makes meringues
so lofty and Snickerdoodles so tender. Cream of tartar comes from the
sediment that collects in barrels during the winemaking process. In fact,
there's evidence of this residue dating back 7,000 years.
[i] Sources used:
·
“Boston cream pie” From
Wikipedia
·
“Geek Out on Dessert History & Amaze Your Family
and Friends with Fun Factoids!” By Jessie Oleson Moore
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