Dessert

Soursop ice block is a unique Trini treat that is especially popular on extremely hot days. It is made with soursop pulp, water, condensed milk, and a small amount of bitters. The ingredients are simply blended together until smooth, then transferred to ice trays to freeze. After being frozen, this tasty ice cream is ready for consumption.

Soursop Ice Block

Soursop ice cream is a Caribbean dessert that is especially popular in Trinidad and Tobago. It is made with ripe soursop, water, cornstarch, condensed milk, salt, and sometimes a few splashes of bitters. After the combination has been churned, it is then stored in the freezer until firm in texture. This unique ice cream variety is enjoyed throughout the year.

Soursop Ice Cream

Netherlands

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE CLAIMS THAT EATING SPACE CAKES CAN LEAD TO PSYCHOSIS OR PSYCHOSIS SYMPTOMS FOR SOME PEOPLE, THERE'S STILL NOT ENOUGH CONCLUSIVE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THEM. Originating from Amsterdam, space cake is a notorious delicacy that belongs to a group of cannabis-infused edibles. Variations on this specialty abound, and any baked good that contains cannabis butter may be called a space cake. This Dutch specialty is usually prepared with typical cake ingredients such as flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, milk, and eggs, which are combined with a certain quantity of cannabis. A great variety of ingredients can be added to the base to enrich the cake, including cocoa powder, chocolate drops, dried fruit, buttercream, vanilla, or various spices, and the baked cakes often come dusted with powdered sugar, glazed, soaked in rum, or stuffed with cream or custard. As with other cannabis intake methods, the consumption of cannabis in the form of space cakes also provides psychotropic effects upon its consumers due to the presence of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and other compounds. In the case of space cakes, the effects are usually prolonged and much stronger, and consumers typically feel high within 3 hours from the consumption. Space cakes with different shapes, flavors, and varying strengths can be savored at nearly any coffee shop in Amsterdam and they&rsquo;re typically enjoyed alongside a cup of coffee, herbal tea, or beer. When it comes to the legal status of these cakes in the Netherlands, the country&rsquo;s court allows the sale only of those cakes that are made with crushed weed.

Space Cake

Germany

Spaghettieis is a traditional ice cream that&rsquo;s made to look like a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese. This dessert was invented in Mannheim, Germany in 1969 by Dario Fontanella, the son of an ice cream making Italian immigrant. In order to prepare it, he pushed vanilla gelato through a spaetzle press on a dollop of whipped cream, then topped it with strawberry syrup and white chocolate shavings. A cookie or wafer is often placed on the side to mimic a piece of Italian bread. Nowadays, spaghettieis can be bought at almost every ice cream parlor, known as eisdiele, because Fontanella didn&rsquo;t patent his invention. Today, there are different spaghettieis flavors such as banana, chocolate, kiwi, or melon.

Spaghettieis

A cake that is closely tied to Austria's history, spanische windtorte is a meringue-and-whipped-cream creation that acts as a beautiful centerpiece for any dinner party. Believed to have truly become a staple of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the baroque period, it appears in many 19th century cookbooks and has once been described as ''the fanciest cake in Vienna.'' The recipe involves very few ingredients, yet it is considered a technical challenge that requires a lot of patience. Egg whites and caster sugar are whisked together to create a glistening, stable meringue that will be piped onto a baking sheet and act as the layers of the cake. After baking in the oven and waiting for the meringue layers to cool down, the whipped cream is mixed with a large portion of fresh berries and interlaced between the layers. The cake must be served immediately and cannot be cut in a graceful manner, which does take away from the overall aspect, but actually improves the consistency, as the meringue and berries are blended together. The cake is often served with fruity sparkling wines or a glass of fresh fruit juice on the side.

Spanische Windtorte

Speculaas are spiced cookies mainly made in Belgium and the Netherlands, although they are also popular in Germany (Rhineland and Westphalia), Luxembourg and northern France. With an intense fragrance of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, the cookies are traditionally baked on the eve of St Nicholas Day, celebrated on December 5 and December 6. Before going to bed, the children put their shoes by the chimney, and if they behaved well, they are rewarded with speculaas in their shoes. There are a few theories on the origin of its name - one says it derives from the Latin word speculum, meaning a mirror, referring to the mirrored images that the cookies are decorated with. Another popular theory claims the origin of speculaas stems from specerij, the Dutch word for spice. The third theory suggests that it derives from the Latin speculator, referring to a bishop, such as St Nicholas. And how about the issue of speculaas vs. speculoos? Apparently, speculoos is just the Belgian word for these cookies, but without any (or most of) the once-expensive spices, as loos means without in Dutch. Also, the word speculaas doesn't exist in French, so they're always called speculoos in France. Today, the cookies are not reserved only for the St Nicholas Day or for Christmas, but are available the whole year round, ideally paired with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Speculaas

Italy

Spongata is a traditional cake with a flat, round shape, consisting of thin and crunchy pastry dough that is filled with crumbled amaretti cookies, white wine, toasted bread, walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, and a variety of flavorings such as honey, sugar, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and orange peel. The name spongata is derived from the word spugna, meaning sponge, referring to the texture of the filling and small holes on the exterior of the cake. Spongata is traditionally dusted with confectioners' sugar on top. In the past, the cake was always made during the winter, but today it can be found throughout the year in the region of Emilia-Romagna.

Spongata

Spotted dick is a traditional sponge pudding made from a suet (mutton fat) pastry which is then sprinkled with a variety of dried fruits such as raisins or currants. Its flavor is slightly sweet since it is only flavored with a small amount of lemon juice. Instead of sugar, the sweetness comes from the custard sauce, which is always served with spotted dick. The unusual name of the dessert comes from two words, spotted, referring to the raisins and currants that are seen throughout the pudding, and dick is believed to come from the shortened Old English names for pudding such as puddog or puddick. The first recipe for spotted dick can be found in Alexis Benoist Soyer's 1849 book called The Modern Housewife.

Spotted Dick

Also known as little jumper or little knight, springerle is an anise-flavored biscuit made from wheat flour, eggs, and powdered sugar. In the past, the dough used to be leavened with hartshorn salt, but modern day recipes typically use baking powder. The designs and images on top are made with flat molds, presses, and boards, or specially crafted wooden rolling pins. The origin of these biscuits can be traced back to southwestern Germany and the 14th century. The oldest mold for springerle comes from Switzerland, and it was also made in the 14th century.

Springerle

Spumoni is an Italian layered dessert consisting of ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, and candied fruits such as cherries. It's also often described as a layered and molded custard-based ice cream on the outside and a semifreddo or parfait inside. Originally, spumoni was made as a combination of ice cream, nuts, and fruits surrounding a sponge cake, but today the term can denote any layered ice cream. The most popular flavors used in spumoni are cherry, pistachio, and vanilla (or chocolate), with red, green, and white colors representing the Italian flag. The dessert is widely enjoyed in Italy, but it is also popular in Argentina and the United States of America due to a large number of immigrants who popularized spumoni in those countries. In America, spumoni is usually accompanied by butter cookies on the side, especially during wintertime.

Spumoni

United States

Stack cake is a traditional cake from the Appalachian region consisting of multiple cake layers, usually six to eight, that are layered with dried apples, apple preservers, or apple butter. Since the cake is quite dry, it needs to sit for at least a day so that it soaks up the filling and turns moist and succulent. Several countries and places in the region claim to be the place of origin, the best-known one being Harrodsburg, Kentucky where the cake is said first to have appeared in 1774. An interesting fact is that due to the way that it&rsquo;s prepared, it is often claimed that in the past this cake was commonly used as a wedding cake throughout the entire Appalachian region - each woman who attended the wedding was supposed to bring a layer, and the bride's family then assembled the full cake. It's recommended to serve the cake with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Stack Cake

Stambolka or slatko od bundeve is a traditional Bosnian dessert made with a pumpkin that is cooked long and slow in water and sugar until tender and sweet. Depending on preference, the pumpkin can be topped with jabukov pekmez or walnuts once cooked. The name of the sweet comes from the name of the pumpkin used to prepare it. Also, the pumpkin needs to be very hard and firm to be suitable for preparing this treat.

Stambolka

Croatia

These unique cookies are an icon of Stari Grad, located on the Croatian island of Hvar. Even though they are called paprenjok, they contain no pepper, but are named after the collective word for various warming spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves, which were referred to as papor in Stari Grad until the middle of the 20th century. The cookies are traditionally prepared with honey, pro&scaron;ek, olive oil, saffron, papor (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg), soda bicarbonate, and flour. The dough is then shaped into various imaginative shapes such as roosters, horses, hearts, or clovers, and after the cookies have been baked, they are decorated with dots and lines made from a combination of egg whites, powdered sugar, and a bit of lemon juice. Interestingly, the islanders say that the paprenjok is a natural barometer &ndash; when it softens, it means that rain and Jugo wind are on the way, and when it hardens, it signifies the arrival of nice weather and dry Bora wind.

Starogrojski paprenjok

Staroverska torta is a traditional cake associated with the villages around Valpovo in Slavonia. This unique cake is composed of multiple layers of thin, yeast-based dough, interspersed with a variety of rich fillings. Typical fillings include poppy seeds, walnuts, carob, cinnamon, raisins, cocoa, and fruit jam, mixed with sugar, lard, and breadcrumbs. The preparation process involves rolling the dough into thin sheets and layering them with the fillings in a round baking dish. The final product is baked to a golden brown, creating a cake that is both flavorful and visually appealing.

Staroverska torta

Steamed pudding is a variety of English pudding with a long tradition in the British cuisine, basically consisting of a combination of ingredients that are steamed inside either a special pudding basin or another similar vessel suitable for steaming. This quintessential treat comes in both savory and sweet versions, and it is further divided into two categories, namely suet puddings, and sponge puddings. Christmas puddings belong to the first category, which uses suet as its main ingredient, whereas the latter calls for a mixture of eggs, flour, and butter. In the past, puddings were commonly cooked by boiling enclosed within anything from cloths, pastries, skins, or animal intestines. The initial vessels had eventually given way to specially designed pudding basins and molds, and steaming became the preferred method for cooking puddings as it yielded more refined results. Steamed pudding is best enjoyed warm, and it includes an array of sweet varieties such as spotted dick, roly-poly pudding, and sussex pond, and savory varieties such as pease pudding, minted lamb pudding, and pork and apple pudding, among others.

Steamed pudding

Stekte epler is a traditional dessert originating from Norway. Although there are many variations, the dessert is usually made with a combination of apples, marzipan, and butter. The apples are washed, dried, cored, and a small marzipan sausage is placed in each apple. They are placed into a greased baking pan and baked until soft. The apples are left to cool before they're served with vanilla sauce or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Stekte epler

Sticky toffee pudding is a rich, moist sponge cake filled with dates, covered in a sticky toffee sauce. The dessert is traditionally served with custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Its origins are quite murky as some claim it originates from the Sharrow Bay Hotel in the Lake District, some report that it's especially popular in Cartmel, while others say that it was invented at the Udny Arms Hotel in Aberdeenshire. Today, the dessert is also popular in Australia, Ireland, and Scotland.

Sticky toffee pudding

The star ingredient in this rich cake is a pasta variety called makaruli&mdash;in shape similar to penne or ziti. Traditionally prepared in round cake tins, a thin layer of dough is used as a base, while the cooked makaruli are then layered inside with a fragrant mixture of ground almonds or walnuts, grated chocolate, cinnamon, and lemon zest. The entire combination is doused in a blend of melted butter and eggs, and the cake is neatly wrapped with the dough. As the name suggests, this cake is the signature dessert of the city of Ston, but it is commonly prepared and enjoyed throughout the region. It is one of the traditional desserts that do not have an exact time of origin but represent an authentic delicacy that was created by employing only locally available ingredients. In the past, torta was mainly associated with special and festive occasions, but nowadays it is a common staple in many traditional restaurants in the city of Ston and the surrounding area.

Stonska torta

Stoofpeertjes is a traditional dessert originating from the Netherlands. It consists of stewed pears. The list of ingredients usually calls for stewing pears (often the Gieser Wildeman, Brederode, or St. Remy variety), cinnamon, sugar, red wine, lemon zest, cloves, and black currant liqueur such as Cr&egrave;me de cassis. However, the ingredients vary from one cook to another and can be changed depending on personal preference. The pears are slowly cooked with the other ingredients, and when done, they will turn a deep red color. Stoofpeertjes are typically served in winter as a dessert following a dish called hazenpeper or game such as hare, rabbit, or pheasant. These stewed pears also make a great accompaniment to draadjesvlees (braised beef).

Stoofpeertjes

Stracciatella is a variety of Italian gelato (ice cream), consisting of milk, cream, and sugar, with chocolate bits swirled inside the mixture. It was originally invented in 1962 at the Ristorante La Marianna in Bergamo by Enrico Panattoni, who first decided to crack pieces of chocolate into the ice cream. He was supposedly inspired by the soup of the same name, made by cracking eggs into a broth, a process similar to cracking chocolate into gelato. Stracciatella is characterized by its smooth texture with a slight crunch. Its name is derived from the Italian stracciare, meaning to tear or shred into pieces. Today, stracciatella is one of the most popular ice cream varieties in the world.