Dessert

Slovenia

Ajdovi krapi are traditional buckwheat dumplings filled with a mixture of cottage cheese and millet porridge. They are traditionally served topped with sour cream and sprinkled with cracklings. Although ajdovi krapi are a typical Slovenian side dish, they can easily be enjoyed as the main course. There is also a sweet version which is usually filled with hazelnuts and served doused in vanilla sauce.

Ajdovi krapi

Japan

Akafuku wagashi is a variety of mochi (a Japanese pounded rice confection) prepared only in the area central to Ise City in Mie Prefecture. It consists of smooth koshi-an, or sweet red bean paste coated around soft, yet firm mochi. That composition is somewhat unusual because wagashi are usually made by enclosing the paste inside the mochi, so akafuku is to wagashi what an inside-out roll is to sushi. Its shape symbolizes the Isuzu River: the ridges in the paste are skillfully hand-pressed in order to represent the clear water flowing through the river, while the white mochi interior depicts the pebbles lying on the riverbed. Tourists like to buy akafuku as a souvenir, but it should be enjoyed quickly, as it expires after only two days.

Akafuku

Greece

Akan&eacute;s is a traditional sweet originating from the town of Serres. It's very similar to loukoumi, but the flavors are quite different because akan&eacute;s is flavored with fresh goat butter instead of fruit essences. This sweet dates back to the Ottoman occupation in Greece &ndash; the Ottoman rulers boiled molasses with water from the Lailias springs. It is believed that the spring water gave akan&eacute;s its distinct flavor. Over time, molasses was replaced with cane sugar. As the mixture developed a thick consistency, fresh butter and nuts were added to the cauldron. During the preparation, the mixture was usually stirred by slaves, as akan&eacute;s needs several hours of stirring. After it has cooled down, the thick mixture was (and still is) cut into small pieces and served as a dessert.

Akanés

Akoumia is a traditional sweet specialty, a unique type of donut that is prepared on the island of Symi. What makes this dish stand out from other versions of Greek donuts is the addition of boiled rice and ouzo to the dough. It is typically made with a combination of flour, boiled rice, yeast, ouzo, and oil (often corn oil). The deep-fried pieces of dough are usually enjoyed while still warm, with cinnamon sugar or honey on top. On Symi Island, people prepare this deep-fried dessert for special occasions such as engagements, weddings, christenings, birthdays, and name days. Akoumia donuts are also an inevitable part of the island&rsquo;s New Year&rsquo;s tradition, which involves placing a coin in one of the donuts, and the person who gets the one with the coin inside is believed to be blessed with a year of luck.

Akoumia

Akumaki is a traditional dessert made by soaking mochigome rice wrapped in bamboo leaves in lye overnight. Similar to mochi, but less sticky, akumaki is not everyone&rsquo;s cup of tea - if eaten on its own, it has a slightly bitter flavor, so it is usually enjoyed soaked in honey or enriched with sweet toppings such as blended sugar and toasted soybean flour called kinako. Akumaki is traditionally served on Children&rsquo;s Day (formerly known as Boy's Day), a Japanese National holiday which takes place annually on May 5, with a goal of celebrating children&rsquo;s personalities and praising their happiness.

Akumaki

United States

Akutaq is an Alaskan delicacy also known as Eskimo ice cream. Don't expect a creamy, sweet ice cream most of us are used to - akutaq consists of reindeer fat, seal oil, fresh snow, berries, and optionally, ground fish. Made by Alaskan Natives a long time ago, its name comes from a Yupiq word that translates to mixed together. It can be eaten as a dessert, a snack, or a spread and it is a common dish in most Alaskan celebrations. Originally, it was invented as a dish that people could carry with them on hunts, so it was more of a body warmer than a dessert. According to local customs, once you choose the berries for akutaq, it is a lifetime decision, and if you're ever caught in the act of making the dish with any other berries, you will be socially shunned. Unusual and intriguing, akutaq is a truly unique treat.

Akutaq

Spain

Alaj&uacute; is a traditional dessert that's popular throughout Castilla-La Mancha, but the best ones are usually found in the province of Cuenca. The dessert consists of a dough of almonds, spices, boiled honey, and toasted breadcrumbs that's sandwiched between two wafers. The ingredients include breadcrumbs, honey, almonds or walnuts, and grated orange or lemon rind. These little cakes are about the thickness of a finger and the name is derived from the arabic al-has&uacute;, which means filling.

Alajú

Saudi Arabia

Al-Bukayla is a dessert from the Al-Jouf Region made by kneading together sweet, de-pitted dates and ground Al-Samh seeds. The mass is shaped into a ball with a big indentation in the center into which melted ghee is poured. Al-Bukayla is served cold, and whole dates can be replaced with date paste or molasses.

Al-Bukayla

This traditional Portuguese dessert is prepared with pasta, typically of a thin variety such as angel hair or capellini, which are cooked in sweetened milk that is enriched with cinnamon and lemon. When cooked, the pasta is mixed with egg yolks and is then placed in a flat baking pan and left to set. Before serving, the top is decorated with cinnamon, usually in a crisscross pattern. Aletria is a Christmas staple that can be enjoyed warm or well-chilled.

Aletria

Alfajor de Medina Sidonia is a sweet gingerbread traditionally produced for centuries in the Municipality of Medina Sidonia. The original recipe dating back to the Arab period has remained unchanged, and to this day consists of honey, nuts, breadcrumbs and spices. Alfajor de Medina Sidonia is made by adding all the ingredients into warm honey and shaping the mixture into cylinders which are then cooled and dipped in syrup before they are coated with sugar and cinnamon powder. This gingerbread owns its characteristic taste to the traditional spice blend of coriander, cloves, aniseed, sesame and cinnamon.

Alfajor de Medina Sidonia

Peru

Alfajor de penco is a traditional cake from the Peruvian city of Moquegua, notably larger and harder from other alfajor varieties, and in fact can't even be considered an alfajor variety. Its prepared with egg yolks, anise, baking powder, flour, and pisco, and filled with homemade manjar blanco, with possible additions of coconut, peanuts, chestnuts, and honey.

Alfajor de penco

Argentinian alfajores are sandwich cookies consisting of two round, crumbly sweet cookies with a dulce de leche or milk jam stuffing between them. The combination is then coated with a layer of chocolate or sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. The name alfajor stems from the Arabic word al-has&uacute;, which means stuffed or filled. Although the cookies can be found throughout Latin America, they are originally from Andalusia, Spain. When the Spaniards came to America, they brought their foods and traditions along the way, and with time, almost every country in Latin America has adapted the Spanish alfajor to make it their own. In Argentina, you can find alfajores with different flavors of dulce de leche, like chocolate, vanilla or various fruits. They are also packaged in different shapes and sizes, and are usually enjoyed with tea or coffee.

Alfajores

Alfajor is an old Spanish dessert that is mainly associated with Andalusia and Murcia. In its basic form, this cookie-like dessert consists of ground almonds and other types of nuts that are combined with honey and various spices before they are shaped into cylindrical forms and dusted with sugar. The alfajor varieties can be found throughout the country, especially in southern Spain, and they may differ in their shape and basic ingredients. Some regional varieties such as the Medina alfajor consist of a honey-flavored filling that is enclosed between two thin wafers. It is believed that the alfajores were developed under the Moorish influence and that they reached American soil during Spanish expeditions, which eventually led to the creation of South American sandwiched cookies which are also known as alfajores. In Spain, they are traditionally associated with Christmas.

Alfajores (Spain)

Almendrados are traditional Spanish cookies. They're made with a combination of blanched almonds, granulated sugar, eggs, and lemon zest. Egg whites are first beaten until stiff, then combined with sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, and ground almonds. The combination is spiced with cinnamon, if desired, and it's then shaped into mounds or pyramids and baked until golden. Dating back to the 15th century or before, almendrados are often made during the festive Christmas period as a tasty dessert or snack.

Almendrados

In its basic form, this traditional Sri Lankan dessert combines toasted rice flour, sugar syrup, ground cashew nuts, and spices such as cardamom or cloves, while some versions replace sugar with treacle (molasses) and cashews with mung beans or other types of nuts. The mixture is spread into pans and is then sliced, usually into diamond-shaped pieces. Aluwa is a staple dessert served on Avurudu - the Sinhalese New Year celebrated in April.

Aluwa

Amanattō is a traditional dry dessert consisting of boiled beans (usually azuki or black soybeans), sugar, and sugar syrup. It is believed that the dessert originated in the early 1860s, when sugar became available in Japan for the first time. The first amanattō was invented by Hosoda Yasubei, who opened a wagashi store in Tokyo shortly after. He used azuki beans, sasage cowpeas, and soramame green beans to make the first amanattō. Today, amanattō is extremely popular in Japan, especially among the older generations, since it is regularly served with tea in numerous Japanese retirement homes. In Hokkaido, amanattō is often used in cooking sekihan red rice during the festival season, and that is the main reason that the red rice of Hokkaido is slightly sweet.

Amanattō

Amandine is a traditional chocolate cake that's filled either with chocolate or almond cream. The cake has four components &ndash; the sponge cake, the syrup, the filling, and the glaze. The sponge cake is made with eggs, sugar, water, flour, oil, and cocoa, the filling (chocolate buttercream) consists of eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and cocoa, the syrup is made with water, sugar, and rum, and the glaze is made with chocolate and whipping cream. Of course, there are many recipes for this cake, so the ingredients may vary in some cases. Amandina has been popular in Romanian confectioneries ever since the 1960s, and it's usually decorated with a bit of the cream and a thin, diamond-shaped chocolate piece on top.

Amandine

Croatia

This traditional Croatian dessert hails from the Dalmatian island of Korčula. It is prepared with a combination of whipped egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds. The dessert is usually enrichened with grated lemon or orange zest and bitter almond flavoring. The combination of these ingredients results in a dessert with a soft center, while the outer layer remains crispy. Amareta can keep fresh for a long period of time, and it perfectly pairs with pro&scaron;ek or Maraschino.

Amareta

These delicious almond-flavored biscotti have an ancient history, as they were supposedly first made during the Middle Ages. Their name is derived from the Italian amaro, meaning bitter, in reference to the sharp flavor of bitter almonds or apricot kernels, which are traditionally used in the recipe, together with egg whites and sugar. They can be made either dry and crispy, or soft and chewy&mdash;secchi or morbidi, respectively&mdash;though amaretti are today synonymous with the crispy amaretti di Saronno from the homonymous Lombardian town, commercialized by Lazzaroni family and often referred to as the original amaretti. Over time, they have become ubiquitous in Italy, and each region has its own version of the recipe, using different proportions of the basic ingredients or different stiffness of egg whites, temperatures, and times of baking, or additional ingredients such as egg yolks, flour, or leavening agents. Piedmont&rsquo;s version, amaretti di Mombaruzzo are also crunchy and made exclusively with sugar, egg whites, sweet almonds, and apricot kernels, while the small town of Sassello in Liguria is renowned for their round-shaped, very soft and chewy amaretti, with almost marzipan-like interior, due to a very high percentage of almonds in the dough. Lombardy's version, amaretti di Gallarate, are also very soft, but irregularly shaped, while amaretti Casperiani - from the province of Rieti - are made with hazelnuts instead of almonds. Amaretti di Carmigiano, also known as amaretti di Fochi, can be found in Tuscany - they are soft, imperfectly shaped, and smaller than the others, with characteristical amber color and strong almond aroma. In Lazio, soft and oval-shaped amaretti of Fiuggi and of Guarcino are made with both sweet and bitter almonds, egg whites, and sugar, and they are traditionally placed on a disc of wafer paper. Also made with the combination of sweet and bitter almonds is Emilia-Romagna&rsquo;s version, amaretti di Modena, which are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Regardless of the type, amaretti are an excellent after-meal snack that pairs perfectly with the sweet, almond flavored liqueur called amaretto Disaronno, but they also go very well with a cup of coffee or Italian espresso.

Amaretti

Italy

Amaretti, the famous Italian almond cookies are so popular in their homeland that almost every region has their version of the recipe, using different proportions and combinations of the basic ingredients: sweet and bitter almonds, apricot kernels, eggs, and sugar. Casperia, a city in the province of Rieti, is renowned for their version of amaretti cookies made with egg whites, sugar, bitter almond essence, vanilla, and toasted hazelnuts instead of typically used almonds.