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Scotland

Scotland, in the UK, rises from Edinburgh’s castle-crowned capital to Glasgow’s grit and the Highlands’ rugged wilds. Known for whisky, kilts, and Loch Ness, its economy blends oil, finance, and tourism—think Outlander trails—rooted in Celtic and Norse threads. Its bagpipes and haggis fuel a fierce identity. Scotland’s misty majesty roars.

Scotland

Featured Dishes from Scotland

Arbroath toasties

Arbroath toasties

Smoked haddock (finnan haddie) poached in milk with flour, egg and grated cheese, served on toast

Avocado toast

Avocado toast

Avocado toast is an open sandwich consisting of toasted bread topped with mashed avocado, plus any of a variety of spices and flavorful ingredients; the most popular include salt and black pepper, lemon juice or other citrus flavors, olive oil, hummus, vinegar, red pepper, feta, duqqa and tomato. Avocado toast became a food trend in the 2010s; however, the preparation has appeared on café menus since at least the 1990s. There have been several debates about where the dish first appeared on menus. Following avocado toast's elevation to trend status, the act of ordering avocado toast at a café was criticized as a symbol of frivolous spending, along with the environmental impact of shipping the fruit from subtropical growing regions.

Bacon

Bacon

Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish , used as a central ingredient (e.g., the BLT sandwich), or as a flavouring or accent. Regular bacon consumption is associated with increased mortality and other health concerns. Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially game, including venison and pheasant, and may also be used to insulate or flavour roast joints by being layered onto the meat. The word is derived from the Proto-Germanic *bakkon, meaning "back meat".

Bacon roll

Bacon roll

A bacon roll is either:

Baked beans

Baked beans

Baked beans is a dish traditionally containing white common beans that are parboiled and then baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. Canned baked beans are not baked, but are cooked through a steam process. Baked beans originated in Native American cuisine, and are made from beans indigenous to the Americas. The dish was adopted and adapted by English colonists in New England in the 17th century and, through cookbooks published in the 19th century, spread to other regions of the United States and into Canada. Today, in the New England region of the United States, a variety of indigenous legumes are used in restaurants or in the home, such as Jacob's cattle, soldier beans, yellow-eyed beans, and navy beans .

Banana bread

Banana bread

Banana bread is a type of sweet bread or cake made from mashed bananas. It is often a moist and sweet quick bread but some recipes are yeast raised. Bananas appeared in the US in the 1870s, but it took a while for them to appear as ingredients in desserts. Banana bread recipes emerged in cookbooks across North America when baking powder became available in grocery stores in the 1930s. Some food historians believe banana bread was a byproduct of the Great Depression as resourceful housewives did not wish to throw away overripe bananas. Others believe that banana bread was developed in corporate kitchens to promote flour and baking soda products. Banana bread experienced a resurgence in popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. In the Philippines, banana bread is usually called "banana cake." It was introduced during the American colonial period of the Philippines as the Philippines became a top banana supplier.

Bannock

Bannock

Bannock may mean:

Bircher muesli

Bircher muesli

Muesli is a cold Swiss breakfast dish, the primary ingredient of which is rolled oats. Traditionally, it is set to soak in water overnight ("overnight oats") and eaten the next morning with fresh fruit, nuts, lemon juice, and cream sweetened with honey. Additional ingredients, such as other grains, seeds, and dried fruits are sometimes added, and other citrus juice may be used. Yogurt, milk or other milk products, or milk substitutes are now commonly added to both homemade and commercially packaged muesli recipes. Developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital, it has become a common breakfast cereal dish. In Switzerland, it is also consumed for supper as Birchermüesli complet – muesli with Café complet (milk coffee, accompanied by Butterbrot (bread, butter and jam)). In addition to being prepared raw, muesli can be toasted. Muesli can also be processed further by adding sweetener and oil to bind the ingredients together and baked to produce granola.

Black pudding

Black pudding

Black pudding is a distinct national type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or occasionally beef blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats. The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such as pennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world. The word pudding is believed to derive from the French boudin, originally from the Latin botellus, meaning "small sausage".

Bread roll

Bread roll

A bread roll is a small, oblong individual loaf of bread served as a meal accompaniment . Rolls can be served and eaten whole or are also commonly cut and filled – the result of doing so is considered a sandwich in English. Rolls are common throughout Europe. Even in the same languages, rolls are known by a variety of names. Some European languages have many local and dialectal terms for bread rolls. These include German language diminutives of Brot (bread) in most of western and central Germany (where they are called Brötchen) and in Switzerland (where they are called Brötli). Other German language terms include Rundstück ("round piece") in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein; Weckerl or more specific Semmel in Austria, Saxony and southern Bavaria; Weck and Weckle in much of Baden-Württemberg, Franconia and Saarland; Schrippe in Berlin and parts of Brandenburg. Some of these names reappear in other European languages as well, for example as zsemle in Hungarian, or rundstykker ("round pieces") in Danish and Norwegian. In the Netherlands they are called broodje.[citation needed] "Small bread" is also found as Italian panino, which also commonly denotes a stuffed small bread roll. The Kaisersemmel reappears in Italy as the Michetta or Rosetta. In Swedish, a bread roll is a (frukost) bullar ("(breakfast) buns"), franskbrödbullar ("french bread bun") or simply fralla ("bun"), comfort food eaten with butter and any kind of topping (marmalade, cheese, ham, salami) for special weekend breakfasts. The Doppelweck or Doppelbrötchen is a type of bread roll originating from the Saarland which consists of two rolls joined together side-by-side before baking.[citation needed]

Bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak is an English dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world". The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, and in its early versions it contained cooked beef; by the mid-20th century the two vegetables had become the principal ingredients. The name of the dish, according to the Oxford English Dictionary , alludes to the sounds made by the ingredients when being fried. The first recorded use of the name listed in the OED dates from 1762; The St James's Chronicle, recording the dishes served at a banquet, included "Bubble and Squeak, garnish'd with Eddowes Cow Bumbo, and Tongue". A correspondent in The Public Advertiser two years later reported making "a very hearty Meal on fried Beef and Cabbage; though I could not have touched it had my Wife recommended it to me under the fashionable Appellation of Bubble and Squeak". In 1791 another London paper recorded the quarterly meeting of the Bubble and Squeak Society at Smithfield.

Buttery

Buttery

A rowie, also known as a buttery or Aberdeen roll, is a savoury bread roll originating from Aberdeen, Scotland. Legend has it that the rowie was made for the fishermen sailing from Aberdeen harbour. The theory is that they needed a bread that would not become stale during the two weeks or more that they were at sea. The high fat content meant the bread also provided an immediate energy source.

Cereal

Cereal

Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from processed cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals like oat meal, corn grits, and wheat farina have the longest history as traditional breakfast foods, branded and ready-to-eat cold cereals appeared around the late 19th century. These processed, precooked, packaged cereals are most often served in a quick and simple preparation with dairy products, traditionally cow's milk. These modern cereals can also be paired with yoghurt or plant-based milks, or eaten plain. Fruit or nuts are sometimes added, and may enhance the nutritional benefits.

Chia pudding

Chia pudding

Chia seeds are the edible seeds of Salvia hispanica, a flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to central and southern Mexico, or of the related Salvia columbariae, Salvia polystachia, or Salvia tiliifolia. Chia seeds are oval and gray with black and white spots, having a diameter of around 2 millimetres (0.08 in). The seeds are hygroscopic, absorbing up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked and developing a mucilaginous coating that gives chia-based foods and beverages a distinctive gel texture. There is evidence that the crop was widely cultivated by the Aztecs in pre-Columbian times and was a staple food for Mesoamerican cultures. Chia seeds are cultivated on a small scale in their ancestral homeland of central Mexico and Guatemala and commercially throughout Central and South America.

Chipolata

Chipolata

A chipolata is a type of fresh sausage, likely created in France. Sausages by that name appear in the 1903 edition of Escoffier's Le guide culinaire. Chipolatas are often prepared as a relatively thin and short sausage. Chipolatas are typically made from coarse-ground pork seasoned with salt and pepper together with herbs and spices—according to the particular recipe—such as sage, thyme, pimento, or nutmeg. : 289 The word is French and probably derives from the Italian cipollata, which essentially means "made with onions" and according to some sources may have referred to an onion stew with sausages. Chipolatas are common in the United Kingdom. They frequently appear as part of a Christmas dinner wrapped in streaky bacon as pigs in blankets.

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Crumpet

Crumpet

A crumpet is a small griddle bread made from an unsweetened batter of water or milk, flour, and yeast, popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Historically, crumpets are also regionally known as pikelets, however this is limited as pikelets are more widely known as a thinner, more pancake-like griddle bread; a type of the latter is referred to as a crumpet in Scotland. Crumpets have been variously described as originating in Wales or as part of the Anglo-Saxon diet, based on proposed etymologies of the word. In either case, breads were, historically, commonly cooked on a griddle wherever bread ovens were unavailable. The bara-planc, or griddle bread, baked on an iron plate over a fire, was part of the everyday diet in Wales until the 19th century.

Doughnuts

Doughnuts

A doughnut is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough.: 275 It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors. Doughnut is the traditional spelling, while donut is the simplified version; the terms are used interchangeably. Doughnuts are usually deep fried from a flour dough, but other types of batters can also be used. Various toppings and flavors are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate or maple glazing. Doughnuts may also include water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, shortening, and natural or artificial flavors.

Drop scones

Drop scones

A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan. It is a type of batter bread. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably eaten in prehistoric societies. The pancake's shape and structure varies worldwide. In England, pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe. In Scotland and North America, a leavening agent is used creating a thick fluffy pancake. A crêpe is a thin pancake of Breton origin cooked on one or both sides in a special pan or crepe maker to achieve a lacelike network of fine bubbles. A well-known variation originating from southeast Europe is palatschinke, a thin moist pancake fried on both sides and filled with jam, cream cheese, chocolate, or ground walnuts, but many other fillings—sweet or savoury—can also be used.

Eggs

Eggs

Humans and their hominid relatives have consumed eggs for millions of years. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especially chickens. People in Southeast Asia began harvesting chicken eggs for food by 1500 BCE. Eggs of other birds, such as ducks and ostriches, are eaten regularly but much less commonly than those of chickens. People may also eat the eggs of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Fish eggs consumed as food are known as roe or caviar. Hens and other egg-laying creatures are raised throughout the world, and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of approximately 6.4 billion hens. There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens.

Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict is a common American breakfast or brunch dish, consisting of two halves of an English muffin, each topped with Canadian bacon or sliced ham, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. The dish is believed to have originated in New York City. There are conflicting accounts as to the origin of eggs Benedict.

French toast

French toast

French toast is a dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and often milk or cream, then pan-fried. Alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, and poor knights . When French toast is served as a sweet dish, sugar, vanilla, or cinnamon are also commonly added before pan-frying, and then it may be topped with sugar (often powdered sugar), butter, fruit, or syrup. When it is a savory dish, it is generally fried with a pinch of salt or pepper, and it can then be served with a sauce such as ketchup or mayonnaise.

Fried bread

Fried bread

Fried bread in the United Kingdom is a slice of bread that is shallow-fried in oil or fat, often served as part of a traditional full English breakfast. It is known for its crispy texture and rich flavor, typically made using white bread and can be cooked in bacon fat or other oils.

Fruit pudding

Fruit pudding

Sausage-shaped fruit pudding made with oats, dried fruit, suet, spices, typically sliced and fried or grilled

Full English breakfast

Full English breakfast

A full breakfast or fry-up is a substantial cooked breakfast meal often served in Britain and Ireland. Depending on the region, it may also be referred to as a full English, a full Irish, full Scottish, full Welsh or Ulster fry. The fried breakfast became popular in Great Britain and Ireland during the Victorian era, while the term "full breakfast" doesn't appear, a breakfast of "fried ham and eggs" is in Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management . The typical ingredients are bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fried bread or toast and the meal is often served with tea. Baked beans, hash browns, and coffee (in place of tea) are common contemporary but non-traditional inclusions.

Full Scottish breakfast

Full Scottish breakfast

A full breakfast or fry-up is a substantial cooked breakfast meal often served in Britain and Ireland. Depending on the region, it may also be referred to as a full English, a full Irish, full Scottish, full Welsh or Ulster fry. The fried breakfast became popular in Great Britain and Ireland during the Victorian era, while the term "full breakfast" doesn't appear, a breakfast of "fried ham and eggs" is in Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management . The typical ingredients are bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fried bread or toast and the meal is often served with tea. Baked beans, hash browns, and coffee (in place of tea) are common contemporary but non-traditional inclusions.

Haggis

Haggis

Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with chopped onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal's stomach though now an artificial casing is often used instead. According to the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique: "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour". It is believed that food similar to haggis — perishable offal quickly cooked inside an animal's stomach, all conveniently available after a hunt — was eaten from ancient times. Although the name "hagws" or "hagese" was first recorded in England c. 1430, the dish is considered traditionally of Scottish origin. It is even the national dish, as a result of Scots poet Robert Burns' poem "Address to a Haggis" of 1786. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties", boiled and mashed separately, and a dram (a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper.

Jam

Jam

Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method of preparation, type of fruit used, and its place in a meal. Sweet fruit preserves such as jams, jellies, and marmalades are often eaten at breakfast with bread or as an ingredient of a pastry or dessert, whereas more savory and acidic preserves made from "vegetable fruits" such as tomato, squash or zucchini, are eaten alongside savory foods such as cheese, cold meats, and curries.

Kedgeree

Kedgeree

Kedgeree is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas. The dish can be eaten hot or cold. Other fish can be used instead of haddock such as tuna or salmon, though these are not traditional. In Scotland, kippers are often substituted for the smoked haddock. In India, khichari is any of a large variety of legume-and-rice dishes. These dishes are made with a spice mixture designed for each recipe and either dry-toasted or fried in oil before inclusion. This dish was heavily adapted by the British, resulting in a dish almost unrecognisably different from the original khichari.

Kippers

Kippers

A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips . In the United Kingdom, Ireland and some regions of North America, kippers are most commonly eaten for breakfast. In the United Kingdom, kippers, along with other preserved smoked or salted fish such as the bloater and buckling, were also once commonly enjoyed as a high tea or supper treat, most popularly with inland and urban working-class populations before World War II.

Koeksister

Koeksister

A koeksister is a traditional Afrikaner confectionery made of fried dough infused in syrup or honey. There is also a Cape Malay version of the dish, which is a fried ball of dough that is rolled in desiccated coconut called a koesister. The name derives from the Dutch word "koek", which generally means a wheat flour confectionery. Koeksisters are prepared by frying plaited dough strips in oil, then submersing the hot fried dough into ice cold sugar syrup. Koeksisters have a golden crunchy crust and liquid syrup centre, are very sticky and sweet, and taste like honey.

Lorne sausage

Lorne sausage

The Lorne sausage, also known as square sausage, flat sausage or slice, is a traditional Scottish food item made from minced meat, rusk and spices. Although termed a sausage, no casing is used to hold the meat in shape, hence it is usually served as square slices from a formed block. It is a common component of the traditional Scottish breakfast. It is thought that the sausage is named after the region of Lorne in Argyll; advertisements for 'Lorne Sausage' have been found in newspapers as early as 1892. This was long before Scottish comedian Tommy Lorne, after whom the sausage has been said to be named, became well-known: he was born in 1890. The exact origins of the Lorne sausage remain unclear. It is often eaten in the Scottish variant of the full breakfast or in a breakfast roll. The sausage is also an appropriate size to make a sandwich using a slice from a plain loaf of bread cut in half.

Masala dosa

Masala dosa

Masala dosa is a dish of South India originating in the town of Udupi, Karnataka. While there is variation in the recipe from town to town, the basic recipe typically starts with a fermented batter of parboiled rice, poha, and various legumes (black gram, pigeon peas, chickpeas), and incorporates various spices for flavour, such as fenugreek and dry red chilli. Traditionally served with potato curry, chutneys, and sambar, it is a common breakfast item in South India, though it can also be found in many other parts of the country and overseas. One common variant is the paper masala dosa, which is made with a thinner batter, resulting in a crisper, almost paper-thin final product. The dosa is made by soaking rice and lentils overnight in water and then grinding them into a batter. The batter is fermented overnight. To make the dosa the batter is spread on a hot tava using a ladle or a bowl. It is pan-roasted until crispy and served with potato curry, chutneys or sambar.

Muesli

Muesli

Muesli is a cold Swiss breakfast dish, the primary ingredient of which is rolled oats. Traditionally, it is set to soak in water overnight ("overnight oats") and eaten the next morning with fresh fruit, nuts, lemon juice, and cream sweetened with honey. Additional ingredients, such as other grains, seeds, and dried fruits are sometimes added, and other citrus juice may be used. Yogurt, milk or other milk products, or milk substitutes are now commonly added to both homemade and commercially packaged muesli recipes. Developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital, it has become a common breakfast cereal dish. In Switzerland, it is also consumed for supper as Birchermüesli complet – muesli with Café complet (milk coffee, accompanied by Butterbrot (bread, butter and jam)). In addition to being prepared raw, muesli can be toasted. Muesli can also be processed further by adding sweetener and oil to bind the ingredients together and baked to produce granola.

Oatcake

Oatcake

An oatcake is a type of flatbread similar to a cracker or biscuit, or in some versions takes the form of a pancake. They are prepared with oatmeal as the primary ingredient, and sometimes include plain or wholemeal flour as well. Oatcakes are cooked on a griddle or baked in an oven. Oatcakes have been documented as existing in Caledonia (subsequently Scotland after the 9th century) since at least the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, and likely before then.[unreliable source?] Oatcakes have also been described as being the "mainstay of Scottish breads for centuries".[unreliable source?] Jean Le Bel, around AD 1357–1360 describes the Beguine nuns making "little pancakes rather like communion wafers". This is thought to be an early description of a Scottish oatcake.

Pastry

Pastry

Pastry refers to a variety of doughs , as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties. The French word pâtisserie is also used in English (with or without the accent) for many of the same foods, as well as the set of techniques used to make them. Originally, the French word pastisserie referred to anything, such as a meat pie, made in dough (paste, later pâte) and not typically a luxurious or sweet product. This meaning still persisted in the nineteenth century, though by then the term more often referred to the sweet and often ornate confections implied today. The precise definition of the term pastry varies based on location and culture. Common doughs used to make pastries include filo dough, puff pastry, choux pastry, short dough, pâte brisée, pâte sucrée, and other enriched doughs. Pastries tend to have a delicate texture, often flaky or crumbly, and rich flavor—simple breads are thus excluded from the pastry category. Pastries also tend to be baked.

Porridge

Porridge

Some add a wee dram of whisky

Sausage

Sausage

A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders.

Scots crumpet

Scots crumpet

Similar to a pancake, can be plain, with raisins inside, served with butter and jam, rolled then eaten

Soft boiled egg

Soft boiled egg

Soft-boiled eggs are eggs that are cooked in boiling water for a short time, typically around 5 to 7 minutes, resulting in firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. They are often served in egg cups and can be enjoyed with toast for dipping.

Tattie scone

Tattie scone

A tattie scone or potato scone is a regional variant of the savoury griddle scone which is especially popular in Scotland. Many variations of the recipe exist. They generally include liberal quantities of boiled potatoes, butter and salt. A typical tattie scone is made with mashed potato (potato and butter—no milk is used—with salt to taste) and plain flour is added to make it into a dough which is then rolled out and put on a griddle (Scots: girdle) to cook. Tattie scones contain a small proportion of flour to a large proportion of potatoes: one traditional recipe calls for two ounces of flour and half an ounce of butter to a pound of potatoes.

Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Teacake

Teacake

A teacake in the UK is generally a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. teacakes can be cookies or small cakes. In Sweden, they are soft, round, flat wheat breads made with milk and a little sugar, and used to make buttered ham or cheese sandwiches. In India and Australia, a teacake is more like a butter cake. Tea refers to the popular beverage to which these baked goods are an accompaniment. In most of England, a teacake is a light, sweet, yeast-based bun containing dried fruits, most usually currants, sultanas or peel. It is typically split, toasted, buttered, and served with tea. It is flat and circular, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside. Although most people refer to a teacake as a cake containing fruit, in East Lancashire, certain areas of Yorkshire and Cumbria the name currant teacake is used to distinguish fruited "cakes" from plain bread rolls. In West Yorkshire, a large plain white or brown bread roll 9 inches or 225 mm diameter is often also called a teacake and is used to make very large sandwiches. Many cafes sell these for breakfast or midmorning snacks.

Toast

Toast

Toast is sliced bread that has been browned by radiant heat. The browning is the result of a Maillard reaction altering the flavor of the bread and making it crispier in texture. The firm surface is easier to spread toppings on and the warmth can help spreads such as butter reach its melting point. Toasting is a common method of making stale bread more palatable. Bread is commonly toasted using devices specifically designed for such, e.g., a toaster or a toaster oven. Toast may contain more acrylamide, caused by the browning process, which is suspected to be a carcinogen. However, claims that acrylamide in burnt food causes cancer have not been proven. Butter or margarine, and sweet toppings, such as jam or jelly, are commonly spread on toast. Regionally, savory spreads, such as peanut butter or yeast extract, may also be popular. Toast may accompany savory dishes such as soups or stews, or it can be topped with ingredients like eggs or baked beans to make a light meal. Toast is a common breakfast food. A sandwich may also use toasted bread.

Treacle scones

Treacle scones

Spice scones made with treacle syrup (molasses)

Abernethy biscuits

Abernethy biscuits

Sweet caraway biscuits

Affogato

Affogato

Affogato , known in full in Italian as affogato al caffè (lit. 'drowned in coffee') and gelato affogato al caffè[citation needed] (lit. 'gelato drowned in coffee'), is an Italian dessert comprising a scoop of gelato or ice cream, either plain milk-flavored (fior di latte) or vanilla, topped with hot espresso. Some variations add a shot of amaretto, bicerin, Kahlúa, or other liqueur. Although restaurants and cafés in Italy categorize the affogato as a dessert, some restaurants and cafés outside of Italy categorize it as a beverage. Whether a dessert or beverage, restaurants, and cafés usually serve the affogato in a tall glass with a narrow bottom, allowing the ice cream to melt and combine with the espresso at the bottom of the glass. Occasionally, coconut, berries, honeycomb, and multiple flavors of ice cream are added. A biscotti can also be served alongside. Affogatos are often enjoyed as a post-meal coffee/dessert combo eaten with a spoon and/or drunk with a straw.

Angel cake

Angel cake

Angel cake is a type of layer cake that originated in the United Kingdom, and first became popular in the late 19th century.[citation needed] Made with butter, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, self-raising flour, baking powder, and red and yellow food colouring, it consists of two or three layers of baked butter cake which are often coloured white, pink and yellow. Traditionally, it is iced with a thin layer of white icing. To serve, long bars or small rectangular slices are usually cut.

Apple cake

Apple cake

Apple cakes are cakes in which apples feature as a main flavour and ingredient. Such cakes incorporate apples in a variety of forms, including diced, pureed, or stewed, and can include common additions like raisins, nuts, and 'sweet' spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. They are a common and popular dessert worldwide, thanks to millennia of apple cultivation in Asia and Europe, and their widespread introduction and propagation throughout the Americas during the Columbian Exchange and colonisation. As a result, apple desserts, including cakes, have a huge number of variations. Apples are also used in other cakes to add moisture and sweetness, often as a partial substitute for refined sugar. Regions of Great Britain and Ireland have the ideal climate for apple growing, making apple cake a common dessert with many regional varieties throughout. However, it is in the traditionally agricultural West Country of England that apple cakes have been raised as culinary symbols of their counties, such as Dorset apple cake, Devonshire apple cake, and Somerset apple cake. They are characterised by the use of wholemeal flour and often a combination of dessert apples and Bramley apples, and are typically served warm with cream or custard, or more rarely, with cheese.[citation needed]

Apple crumble

Apple crumble

Apple crisp is a dessert made with a streusel topping. Ingredients usually include cooked apples, butter, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. The earliest reference to apple crisp in print occurs in 1924. Other similar desserts include apple Brown Betty, apple cobbler, apple crumble, apple pan dowdy, apple pie, and Eve's pudding. An apple crisp dessert is made with a streusel topping. In the US, it is also called apple crumble, a word which refers to a different dessert in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Ingredients usually include cooked apples, butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and often oats[citation needed] and brown sugar, ginger, and/or nutmeg. One of the most common variants is apple rhubarb crisp, in which the rhubarb provides a tart contrast to the apples.[citation needed]

Apple pie

Apple pie

An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream , custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed (woven of crosswise strips). The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom. Originating in the 14th century in England, apple pie recipes are now a standard part of cuisines in many countries where apples grow. Apple pies are an unofficial symbol of the United States and one of its signature comfort foods.

Apple sponge

Apple sponge

Stewed apples with sponge cake top

Apple turnover

Apple turnover

A turnover is a type of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, sealing it, and then baking or frying it. Turnovers can be sweet or savoury and are often made as a sort of portable meal or dessert. They are often eaten for breakfast. It is common for sweet turnovers to have a fruit filling and be made with a puff pastry or shortcrust pastry dough and covered with icing; savoury turnovers generally contain meat and/or vegetables and can be made with any sort of dough, though a kneaded yeast dough seems to be the most common in Western cuisines. They are usually baked, but may be fried. Savoury turnovers are often sold as convenience foods in supermarkets. Savoury turnovers with meat or poultry and identified as a turnover in the United States have to meet a standard of identity or composition and should contain a certain amount of meat or poultry.

Arctic roll

Arctic roll

An Arctic roll is a British ice cream cake made of vanilla ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of sponge cake to form a roll, with a layer of raspberry flavoured sauce between the sponge and the ice cream. The dessert was invented in the 1950s by Ernest Velden, an immigrant from then Czechoslovakia. He set up a factory in Eastbourne producing Arctic Roll in 1958, and the dessert soon became a successful product. During the 1980s, more than 40 kilometres of Birds Eye Arctic Roll were sold each month. However, sales slumped during the 1990s and eventually the manufacturer of Arctic roll, Birds Eye, stopped producing the dessert. The 2008 economic downturn saw the reappearance of Arctic roll as consumers increasingly looked for low-cost foods. While some consumers view the Arctic Roll as comfort food, others view it as old fashioned and the food writer Nigel Slater has even described it as tasting of "frozen carpet". Nonetheless, Birds Eye reported "overwhelming consumer demand" for the dessert. Indeed, from when Birds Eye started marketing Arctic Rolls again in December 2008 until April 2009, sales of the product were estimated at £3.5 million, or 3 million boxes (around 400 kilometres (250 mi) of Arctic Roll). Commentators suggest that aside from Arctic Roll's low price, many consumers buy the dessert out of feelings of nostalgia. A number of UK supermarkets sell their own brand versions of Arctic Roll, both chocolate and raspberry variants, and did so even when Birds Eye were not marketing the product.

Babka

Babka

A babka is a sweet braided bread which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. It is popular in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora. It is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese, then rolled up and braided before baking. Babka developed in Poland and next in the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe in the early 19th century.[citation needed] Extra challah dough was rolled up with fruit jam or cinnamon and baked as a loaf alongside the challah. Chocolate was not originally used, as it was not generally available; the chocolate babka was likely a mid-20th century American development. Its name (though not necessarily the dish itself) may be related to a type of Easter cake popular in Poland and Ukraine known as baba or the diminutive babka, which means "grandmother", related to the Yiddish bubbe. Although the Polish and Ukrainian babka are mutually synonymous with their Jewish counterparts, the appearance and preparation of each babka is drastically different. The Eastern European babka is known for its tall, stout, fluted sides formed in a traditional pan, and reminiscent of a grandma's skirt. In comparison, the variant introduced by émigrés to New York consists of strands of rich yeasted dough interwoven and baked in a loaf tin.

Bakewell tart

Bakewell tart

A Bakewell tart is an English confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell beneath layers of jam, frangipane, and a topping of flaked almonds. It is a variant of the Bakewell pudding, closely associated with the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire. The Bakewell tart developed as a variant of the Bakewell pudding in the 20th century. Although the terms Bakewell tart and Bakewell pudding have been used interchangeably, each name refers to a specific dessert recipe. The tart is closely associated with the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire.

Balmoral shortbread

Balmoral shortbread

Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world. Shortbread originated in Scotland. Although it was prepared during much of the 12th century, and probably benefited from cultural exchange with French pastry chefs during the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, the refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. Despite the enduring popular association, evidence for any connection between Mary and shortbread's origin is sparse. Triangular wedges of shortbread became known as "petticoat tails", and this form of shortbread has become particularly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots. It has been suggested that a French term for the wedges of shortbread was petits gâteaux or petites gatelles – little cakes, and this became "petticoat tails". It is now thought the Scots term derives from the decorated round edge of the segments which resemble petticoats.

Banana cake

Banana cake

A banana cake is a cake prepared using banana as a primary ingredient and typical cake ingredients. It can be prepared in various manners, including as a layer cake, as muffins and as cupcakes. Steamed banana cake is found in Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese cuisine. In the Philippines, the term "banana cake" refers to banana bread introduced during the American colonial period of the Philippines. Banana cake is prepared using banana as a primary ingredient and typical cake ingredients, such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter, margarine or oil and baking soda. The bananas can be mashed or puréed using a food processor or electric mixer and mixed into the cake batter, and the cake can also be topped or garnished with sliced bananas. Banana cake may be prepared as a use for browned or overly-ripe bananas. Chocolate may be used as an ingredient, which along with the banana is an enjoyable flavor combination for some people. Nuts such as walnuts and macadamias may be used in the batter and to top and garnish the cake. An icing or glaze may be used in the cake's preparation, which can include alcohol, such as bourbon. Banana cake can be baked or prepared as a steamed cake, for which a food steamer may be used. Banana cake may have a moist texture. It can be prepared as a layer cake, and the cake batter can be used to prepare banana muffins and cupcakes. It can be prepared as a vegetarian dish and as a low-fat dish.

Banoffee pie

Banoffee pie

Banoffee pie is a British dessert pie made from bananas, whipped cream, and a thick caramel sauce , combined either on a buttery biscuit base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. Some versions of the recipe include chocolate, coffee, or both. The dessert's name, sometimes spelled "banoffi", is a portmanteau combining the words banana and toffee.

Barley sugar

Barley sugar

Barley sugar is a traditional variety of boiled sweet (hard candy), often yellow or orange in colour, which is usually made with an extract of barley, giving it a characteristic taste and colour. In Britain it is (or was) usually sold in the shape of twisted sticks. Barley sugar is very similar to clear toy candy (which traditionally is made with pure water rather than barley water): 3 and to hard caramel candy in its texture and taste. As noted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) there are at least two distinct methods of preparing confections which have been called "barley sugar". Heating sugar to 160 °C (320 °F) causes it to melt and then congeal, becoming opaque on the surface due to the formation of sugar crystals. Heating to a higher temperature (185 °C or 365 °F) produces a viscid liquid, which if suddenly cooled remains transparent. The name "barley sugar" therefore does not imply one specific production method or type of candy. Candy maker Timberlake Candies further distinguishes between "barley sugar" made with cream of tartar, and "barley candy" made with corn syrup to produce a harder, clearer product.

Bath oliver

Bath oliver

A Bath Oliver is a hard, dry biscuit or cracker made from flour, butter, yeast and milk; often eaten with cheese. It was invented by physician William Oliver of Bath, Somerset around 1750, giving the biscuit its name. When Oliver died, he bequeathed to his coachman, Mr Atkins, the recipe for the Bath Oliver biscuit, together with £100 and ten sacks of the finest wheat-flour. Atkins promptly set up his biscuit-baking business and became rich. Later the business passed to a man named Norris, who sold out to a baker called Carter, although it is possible that several Bath bakers were producing the biscuit in competition. During the nineteenth century the Bath Oliver biscuit recipe passed to James Fortt. The company continued to produce the biscuit well into the second half of the twentieth century.

Berliner

Berliner

A Berliner or Krapfen is a German jam doughnut with no central hole, made from sweet yeast dough fried in lard or cooking oil, with a jam filling, and usually covered in powdered sugar. Sugar was very costly until the 16th century, and early doughnuts were usually stuffed with savory fillings like cheese, meat and mushroom. When imports from Caribbean sugar plantations made sugar more affordable, fruit preserves gained in popularity. In 1485, the first German-language cookbook to be published in printed form Kuechenmeisterei was published in Nuremberg and remained in print at least until 1674 with 20 editions . It was one of the first cookbooks printed using the Gutenberg press and contains the first known recipe for a jelly doughnut, called Gefüllte Krapfen made with jam-filled yeasted bread dough deep-fried in lard. It's unknown whether this innovation was the author's own or simply a record of an existing practice. The yeast dough contains a good deal of eggs, milk and butter. For the classical Pfannkuchen made in Berlin the dough is rolled into a ball, deep-fried in lard, whereby the distinctive bright bulge occurs, and then filled with jam. The filling is related to the topping:[citation needed] for plum-butter, powdered sugar; for raspberry, strawberry and cherry jam, sugar; for all other fillings, sugar icing, sometimes flavoured with rum. Today the filling usually is injected with a large syringe or pastry bag after the dough is fried in one piece.

Bizcocho

Bizcocho

Bizcocho is the name given in the Spanish-speaking world to a wide range of pastries, cakes or cookies. The exact product to which the word bizcocho is applied varies widely depending on the region and country. For instance, in Spain bizcocho is exclusively used to refer to sponge cake. In Uruguay, most buttery flaky pastry including croissants are termed bizcocho, whilst sponge cake is called bizcochuelo. In Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Bolivia bizcocho refers to a sweet dough (masa) baked with local ingredients, similar to the bizcocho from Spain. In Ecuador the dough of a bizcocho can either be sweet or salty. The US state New Mexico is unusual in using the diminutive form of the name, bizcochito, as the name for a locally developed and very popular cookie. The word bizcocho comes from the Latin bis coctus, which means "cooked twice", that is why it was often soaked in wine, due to the low humidity it had. The Uruguayan sponge cake is frequently related to the German pastry. It is argued that it is a derivative of krapfen, which was brought by the German immigration that went to the Río de la Plata region.

Black bun

Black bun

Black bun, sometimes known as Scotch bun, is a type of fruit cake completely covered with pastry. It is Scottish in origin, originally eaten on Twelfth Night but now enjoyed at Hogmanay. The cake mixture typically contains raisins, currants, almonds, citrus peel, allspice, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. It had originally been introduced following the return of Mary, Queen of Scots from France, but its original use at Twelfth Night ended with the Scottish Reformation. It was subsequently used for first-footing over Hogmanay. Black bun is a fruit cake wrapped in pastry. The cake itself is similar to a traditional Christmas cake or Christmas pudding mixture, including ingredients such as raisins and currants along with spices such as cinnamon, black pepper and allspice. It has been called a much bigger version of a Garibaldi biscuit, and it has been suggested that the latter's origin may have been influenced by the black bun because its inventor, John Carr, was Scottish.

Blancmange

Blancmange

Blancmange is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar, thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with almonds. It is usually set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white, blancmanges are frequently given other colours. Blancmange originated at some time during the Middle Ages from the older Middle Eastern muhallebi, and usually consisted of milk or almond milk, rice, and sugar; it was considered to be an ideal food for the sick.[citation needed]

Blueberry cake

Blueberry cake

Blueberry cake is a delicious dessert that typically features fresh or frozen blueberries mixed into a moist cake batter. It can be made in various styles, such as a simple cake, a breakfast cake, or even a lemon blueberry cake, often topped with a glaze or powdered sugar.

Bourbon biscuit

Bourbon biscuit

The Bourbon is a sandwich biscuit consisting of two thin rectangular dark chocolate-flavoured biscuits with a chocolate buttercream filling. The biscuit was introduced in 1910 (originally under the name "Creola") by the biscuit company Peek Freans, of Bermondsey, London, originator of the Garibaldi biscuit. The Bourbon name, dating from the 1930s, comes from the former French and Spanish royal House of Bourbon. A 2009 survey found that the Bourbon biscuit was the fifth most popular biscuit in the United Kingdom for dunking in tea. The small holes in bourbon biscuits are to prevent the biscuits from cracking or breaking during the baking process, by allowing steam to escape. Many other companies make their own version of the biscuit under the "Bourbon" name, including major supermarkets.

Brandy snaps

Brandy snaps

Brandy snaps are a popular snack or dessert food in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, similar to the Italian cannoli. They are often tubular, brittle, sweet, baked casings that are typically 10 centimetres long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter. Brandy snaps are customarily served filled with whipped cream. They are commonly made from a mixture of golden syrup, flour, ginger, cream, sugar, butter and lemon juice. A variation on the recipe included bicarbonate of soda, egg and self-raising flour instead. The snaps are cooked on a moderate heat and are baked briefly as a flat disc that is then rolled while still hot and soft. The whipped cream can be sweetened with brandy or vanilla. However, the name brandy snap has no reference to brandy, the spirit. The name "brandy" is related to "branded" (as in burnt). An early Victorian etymology for brandy snaps is "brand-schnap, from being burnt, not for the real or supposed presence of brandy".

Bread and butter pudding

Bread and butter pudding

Bread and butter pudding is a traditional bread pudding in British cuisine. Slices of buttered bread scattered with raisins are layered in an oven dish, covered with an egg custard mixture seasoned with nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon or other spices, then baked. In addition to being baked with custard, the pudding may be served with additional custard or cream. Sometimes raspberry, strawberry, blackberry or mixed fruit jam, marmalade, or other sweet preserves will be spread upon the bread, along with the butter. Other modern variations include scattering fresh grapes between the layers of bread, melting apples into the egg-milk mixture, and using unusual types of breads, such as brioche, to make it. Lemon or orange peel will add a characteristic flavour.[citation needed] It is traditional to use stale bread. The earliest bread and butter puddings were called whitepot and used either bone marrow or butter. Whitepots could also be made using rice instead of bread, giving rise to the rice pudding in British cuisine.

Bread pudding

Bread pudding

Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked. Some other names bread pudding goes by is "poor man's pudding", "bread and butter pudding" or just "pudding". Savory puddings like breakfast strata may be served as main courses, while sweet puddings are typically eaten as desserts. In other languages, its name is a translation of "bread pudding" or even just "pudding", for example "pudín" or "budín". In the Philippines, banana bread pudding is popular. In Mexico, there is a similar dish eaten during Lent called capirotada. In Liverpool in the United Kingdom, a moist version of Nelson cake, itself a bread pudding, is nicknamed "Wet Nelly".

Brownies

Brownies

A chocolate brownie, or simply a brownie, is a chocolate baked dessert bar. Brownies come in a variety of forms and may be either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density. Brownies often, but not always, have a glossy "skin" on their upper crust. They may also include nuts, frosting, chocolate chips, or other ingredients. A variation made with brown sugar and vanilla rather than chocolate in the batter is called a blond brownie or blondie. The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized there during the first half of the 20th century. Brownies are typically eaten by hand or with utensils, and may be accompanied by a glass of milk, served warm with ice cream , topped with whipped cream, or sprinkled with powdered sugar. In North America, they are common homemade treats and they are also popular in restaurants, ice cream parlors, and coffeehouses. One legend about the creation of brownies is that of Bertha Palmer, a prominent Chicago socialite whose husband owned the Palmer House Hotel. In 1893, Palmer asked a pastry chef for a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. She requested a dessert that would be smaller than a piece of cake, and easily eaten from boxed lunches. The result was the Palmer House Brownie, made of chocolate with walnuts and an apricot glaze. The Palmer House in Chicago still serves this dessert to patrons made from the same recipe. The name was given to the dessert some time after 1893, but was not used by cookbooks or journals at the time.

Butter pie

Butter pie

A butter pie is a traditional English savoury pie consisting mainly of onions and potatoes. It is also sometimes served on a savoury barm cake. The pie is stocked by chip shops, sandwich shops, local corner shops and some supermarkets within Lancashire. It is also known as Catholic pie, Friday pie, air pie or a special. The pie is known to have been created for workers from Lancashire's Catholic community, to consume on days when meat could not be eaten.

Cake

Cake

Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.

Cake pop

Cake pop

A cake pop is a form of cake styled as a lollipop, and was created by Angie Dudley in 2008. Cake crumbs are mixed with icing or chocolate, and formed into small spheres or cubes in the same way as cake balls, before being given a coating of icing, chocolate or other decorations and attached to lollipop sticks. Cake pops can be a way of using up leftover cake or cake crumbs. The cake pop increased in popularity between 2009 and 2011. The cake pop peaked in popularity during the late 2010s and early 2020s due to Starbucks' famous cake pops and gender reveal parties using them to reveal their child's gender. Cake pops use many of the ingredients used in baking a traditional cake and can be made from cakes of any flavor.

Candy cane

Candy cane

A candy cane is a cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide as well as Saint Nicholas Day. The canes are traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, but the canes also come in a variety of other flavors and colors. A record of the 1837 exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, where confections were judged competitively, mentions "stick candy". A recipe for straight peppermint candy sticks, white with colored stripes, was published in The Complete Confectioner, Pastry-Cook, and Baker, in 1844. However, the earliest documentation of a "candy cane" is found in the short story "Tom Luther's Stockings", published in Ballou's Monthly Magazine in 1866. Described as "mammoth" in size, no mention of color or flavor was provided. The Nursery monthly magazine mentions "candy-canes" in association with Christmas in 1874, and Babyland magazine describes "tall, twisted candy canes" being hung on a Christmas tree in 1882.

Caramel shortbread

Caramel shortbread

Caramel shortbread, also known as caramel squares, caramel slice, millionaire's shortbread, millionaire's slice, chocolate caramel shortbread or Wellington squares is a biscuit confectionery composed of a shortbread biscuit base topped with caramel and milk chocolate. Variations exist which substitute or add ingredients to cater to different tastes, dietary requirements or ingredient availability. Caramel shortbread is an adapted form of the original Scottish shortbread. Scottish shortbread originated around the 12th century, but its modern refined form is attributed to the efforts of Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century.

Carrot cake

Carrot cake

Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter. The origins of carrot cake is disputed. Published in 1591, there is an English recipe for "pudding in a Carret [sic] root" that is essentially a carrot stuffed with meat, but it includes many elements common to the modern dessert: shortening, cream, eggs, raisins, sweetener (dates and sugar), spices (clove and mace), scraped carrot, and breadcrumbs (in place of flour). Many food historians believe carrot cake originated from such carrot puddings eaten by Europeans in the Middle Ages, when sugar and sweeteners were expensive and many people used carrots as a substitute for sugar.

Charlotte Russe cake

Charlotte Russe cake

A charlotte is a type of bread pudding that can be served hot or cold. It is also referred to as an "icebox cake". Bread, sponge cake, crumbs or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. The baked pudding could then be sprinkled with powdered sugar and glazed with a salamander, a red-hot iron plate attached to a long handle, though modern recipes would likely use more practical tools to achieve a similar effect. The variant charlotte russe also called charlotte parisienne, created by the French chef Antonin Carême, uses a mold lined with ladyfingers and filled with Bavarian cream. Classically, stale bread dipped in butter was used as the lining, but sponge cake or ladyfingers may be used today. The filling may be covered with a thin layer of similarly flavoured gelatin.

Charoset

Charoset

Charoset[a] is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar , which the Israelites used when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt, as mentioned in Tractate Pesahim 116a of the Talmud. The word comes from the Hebrew word for clay (Hebrew: חֶרֶס, romanized: ḥéres). Charoset is one of the symbolic foods on the Passover Seder plate. After reciting the blessings, and eating first maror dipped in charoset and then a matzah "Hillel sandwich" (with two matzot) combining charoset and maror, people often eat the remainder spread on matzah.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese , eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually served cold. Vanilla, spices, lemon, chocolate, pumpkin, or other flavors may be added to the main cheese layer; Additional flavors and visual appeal may be added by topping the finished dessert with fruit, whipped cream, nuts, cookies, fruit sauce, chocolate syrup, or other ingredients.

Cherry cake

Cherry cake

Cherry cake may refer to any cake containing cherries:

Chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.

Chocolate biscuit

Chocolate biscuit

A chocolate biscuit is a biscuit which is covered in chocolate, or which has been made by replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder. Chocolate biscuits are quite popular in places all over the world, particularly the United Kingdom. The composition and recipe may vary considerably and there is often legislation to specify how the biscuit may be described. In the United Kingdom, a biscuit made without an external coating may only be described as "chocolate" if it contains at least 3% of dry cocoa solids. If there is a coating, this must contain cocoa butter as the fat to be described as chocolate, rather than just "chocolate-flavoured". In 1891, the Cadbury brothers filed a patent for a chocolate-coated biscuit.

Chocolate cake

Chocolate cake

Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. It can also have other ingredients such as fudge, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners. The history of chocolate cake goes back to the 17th century, when cocoa powder from the Americas was added to traditional cake recipes.

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies

A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies are claimed to have originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe; however, historical recipes for grated or chopped chocolate cookies exist prior to 1938 by various other authors. Generally, the recipe starts with a dough composed of flour, butter, both brown and white sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, eggs, and vanilla. Variations on the recipe may add other types of chocolate, as well as additional ingredients such as nuts or oatmeal. There are also vegan versions with the necessary ingredient substitutions, such as vegan chocolate chips, vegan margarine, and egg substitutes. A chocolate chocolate chip cookie uses a dough flavored with chocolate or cocoa powder, before chocolate chips are mixed in. These variations of the recipe are also referred to as ‘double’ or ‘triple’ chocolate chip cookies, depending on the combination of dough and chocolate types.

Chocolate mousse cake

Chocolate mousse cake

A mousse is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savoury. Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla. In the case of some chocolate mousses, egg yolks are often stirred into melted chocolate to give the final product a richer mouthfeel. Mousses are also typically chilled before being served, which gives them a denser texture. Additionally, mousses are often frozen into silicone molds and unmolded to give the mousse a defined shape. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin. Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.

Chocolates

Chocolates

88 degrees, Caithness Chocolate, Charlotte's Flower Chocolates, Chocolate Tree, Coco Chocolate, Dumfries and Galloway, Iain Burnett, Mackie's, Nucoco, Oban Chocolate Factory, Tobermory Chocolate

Christmas cake

Christmas cake

Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries. Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zante currants, sultanas and raisins which have been soaked in brandy, rum, whisky or sherry. The cake may be covered in layers of marzipan, then icing and is usually decorated, often with plaid ribbon bands and Christmas models such as snowmen, fir trees or Father Christmas. A Scottish speciality is the traditional Christmas cake, the "Whisky Dundee". As the name implies, the cake originated in Dundee, and is made with Scotch whisky. It is a light and crumbly cake, and light on fruit and candied peel; only currants, raisins, sultanas and cherries. There is also the Scottish black bun, of a similar recipe using whisky and often caraway seeds, eaten on Hogmanay.

Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding is sweet, dried-fruit pudding cake traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of dried fruit, suet, breadcrumbs, flour, eggs and spice, along with liquid such as milk or fortified wine. Later, recipes became more elaborate. In 1845, cookery writer Eliza Acton wrote the first recipe for a dish called "Christmas pudding". The dish is sometimes known as plum pudding . The word "plum" was used then for what has been called a "raisin" since the 18th century, and the pudding does not contain plums in the modern sense of the word.

Cinder toffee

Cinder toffee

Honeycomb toffee, honeycomb candy, sponge toffee, cinder toffee, seafoam, or hokey pokey is a sugary toffee with a light, rigid, sponge-like texture. Its main ingredients are typically brown sugar and baking soda, sometimes with an acid such as vinegar. The baking soda and acid react to form carbon dioxide which is trapped in the highly viscous mixture. When acid is not used, thermal decomposition of the baking soda releases carbon dioxide. The sponge-like structure is formed while the sugar is liquid, then the toffee sets hard. The candy goes by a variety of names and regional variants. Owing to its relatively simple recipe and quick preparation time, in some regions it is often made at home, and is a popular recipe for children. It is also made commercially and sold in small blocks, or covered in chocolate, a popular example being the Crunchie bar of Britain and Canada, or the Violet Crumble of Australia. Honeycomb toffee is known by a wide variety of names including:

Clementine cake

Clementine cake

Clementine cake is a flourless cake flavored primarily with whole unpeeled clementines and almonds. It may originate from an orange cake in Sephardic cuisine. In popular culture, the cake played a minor part in the plot of the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Joyce Goldstein called it a classic. The Sydney Morning Herald called it famous. In 2021 Cooks' Country said it was "having a moment."

Clootie dumpling

Clootie dumpling

A spiced currant, sultana and bread crumb pudding

Coconut cake

Coconut cake

Coconut cake is a popular dessert in the Southern region of the United States. It is a cake frosted with a white frosting and covered in coconut flakes. Typically, the cakes used in coconut cake are either white or yellow cakes. While some recipes do not call for coconut flavor in the cake itself, there are others that replace the milk with coconut milk and/or use coconut extract. It is also common to brush the cakes with a simple syrup to make it more moist. Often the cake layers are filled with either a white frosting or coconut pastry cream. Traditionally, the cake is frosted with a 7-minute frosting, but cream cheese icings and buttercreams are not uncommon. Like the cakes, coconut flavor is not always a must in the frosting. One constant characteristic of coconut cake is the use of shredded coconut to cover the frosting. One popular variation of coconut cake is coconut poke cake. While traditional coconut cake is round and multi-layered, coconut poke cake is either a white or yellow cake that is rectangular and single-layered. What makes it a "poke" cake are the holes made into the cake to act as pores to absorb a coconut liquid mixture or cream of coconut, such as CoCo Lopez. Afterwards, the cake is frosted with a whipped topping.

Coconut ice

Coconut ice

Coconut ice is a British confectionery prepared using grated desiccated coconut or just grated coconut, condensed milk and sugar, which is formed to create a solid, soft candy. It typically has a chewy, soft and mildly grainy texture; some versions are semi-hard. Coconut ice is also available in South Africa, some areas of Australia, and New Zealand. Pink food colouring is sometimes added, often on half of the sweet, resulting in pink and white colouration. This is done by layering the coloured mixture with a separate layer of uncoloured product, and then slicing the result into individual pieces. In modern versions, honey gelatin is sometimes also used as an ingredient. Coconut ice was traditionally prepared at home in Britain, traditionally using coconut and boiled sugar syrup. Early versions using sugar syrup had a short shelf life, sometimes dried out and became excessively grainy in texture, and sometimes fermented. The origin of use of the word "ice" in the confectionery's name is not known, but it may have derived from its general appearance and colouration.

Colin the caterpillar cake

Colin the caterpillar cake

"Colin the Caterpillar" is a chocolate roll cake sold by the British retailer Marks & Spencer. More than 15 million Colin the Caterpillar cakes have been sold since it was introduced in 1990. Colin the Caterpillar is a chocolate sponge roll cake filled with chocolate buttercream and covered in a milk chocolate shell, with sugar-coated milk chocolate beans for decoration. The cake has a decorative face and feet made of white chocolate. The dessert is available in large and small sizes. According to Marks and Spencer, it takes 38 people to assemble each cake from start to finish, and 8.4 tonnes of sugar coating are used each year for the decorative spots.

Cranachan

Cranachan

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert. It was originally a celebration of harvest, made following the raspberry harvest in August. The dessert of cream and fresh seasonal raspberries is bolstered by Scottish oats and whisky. It has been called 'the uncontested king of Scottish desserts'. Cranachan owes its origins to crowdie, a popular breakfast in which crowdie cheese is combined with lightly toasted oatmeal, cream, and local honey. Raspberries, when in season, might be added to the dish. Cranachan is now served all year round, and typically on special occasions. A traditional way to serve cranachan is to bring dishes of each ingredient to the table so that each person can assemble their own dessert to taste. There are many versions of this traditional Scottish pudding. Earlier recipes used crowdie cheese instead of, or in addition to cream and were sometimes called cream-crowdie. Other earlier recipes are more austere, omitting the whisky and treating the fruit as an optional extra. More modern recipes have swapped the crowdie cheese for a simple whipped cream. Modern recipes usually are made from a mixture of double cream, whisky, honey and fresh raspberries, with toasted oatmeal soaked overnight in a little drop of whisky. Tall dessert glasses are often used to serve.

Cream horn

Cream horn

A cream horn is a pastry made with flaky or puff pastry, and whipped cream. The horn shape is made by winding overlapping pastry strips around a conical thin sheet metallic mold. After baking, a spoonful of jam or fruit is added and the pastry is then filled with whipped cream. The pastry can also be moistened and sprinkled with sugar before baking for a sweeter, crisp finish. Cream horns are called cannoncini in Italy, kornedákia (Greek: κορνεδάκια) in Greece and Schaumrollen in Austria. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cream horns are called Lady Locks or clothespin cookies.

Crème brûlée

Crème brûlée

Crème brûlée , also known as burnt cream, Cambridge burnt cream, or Trinity cream, and virtually identical to crema catalana, is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the caramelizing process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool. The custard base is generally flavored with vanilla in French cuisine, but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes garnished with fruit. The earliest known recipe of a dessert called crème brûlée appears in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook Cuisinier royal et bourgeois, but its ultimate origins are unclear.

Crêpes Suzette

Crêpes Suzette

Crêpes Suzette is a French dessert consisting of crêpes with beurre Suzette ( pronounced [bœʁ syzɛt]), a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier, triple sec or orange Curaçao liqueur on top, flambéed tableside. The origin of the dish and its name is disputed. One claim is that it was created from a mistake made by a 14-year-old assistant waiter, Henri Charpentier, in 1895 at the Maitre at Monte Carlo's Café de Paris. He was preparing a dessert for the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then Prince of Wales), whose guests included a beautiful French girl named Suzette. This story was told by Charpentier himself in Life à la Henri, his autobiography, although later contradicted by the Larousse Gastronomique. Different sources (like the Larousse Gastronomique) however doubt that Charpentier, rather than the head waiter, was serving the prince, because he would have been too young. A less fantastical version emerges from Elsie Lee's interview with him in the 1950s. There, Charpentier explained at length that "his complicated version began as the dish of pancakes with fruit sauce his foster mother made on very special occasions." The addition of liqueur was common among chefs in Paris at the time.

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