Cool nights call for warming sweets. From hearty puds to syrupy doughnuts, these winter dessert recipes are just what you need.
Known as asynpoeding in Afrikaans, this is a classic South African recipe based on the more well-known malva pudding. Vinegar balances out the intense sweetness of the dessert to make an incredibly comforting bowl of pudding with this recipe from Warren Mendes.
Vinegar pudding Source: Kitti Gould
Dutch oliebollen are hot little yeasted balls of dough that sit somewhere between a pancake and a doughnut, dotted with dried fruit and tossed in cinnamon sugar. These are made with apple and raisin and show that clearly, the Dutch were onto something…
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Oliebollen are a cousin to doughnuts, and look like golden baubles. Source: Alan Benson
A much-loved cold-weather comfort, lemon delicious pudding is a self-saucing marvel This bright and lemony pudding separates as it bakes, creating a fluffy cake layer floating above a tangy citrus sauce.
Source: Kitti Gould
Kuih sarang semut, or anthill cake, is a unique Malaysian treat known for its honeycomb-like texture and caramel flavour. Serve warm with miso caramel and scoops of ice-cream.
Source: Jiwon Kim
It would be hard to find a manlier dessert than Denmark’sÆbleskiver, shaped like little globes. Legend has it that Vikings, after a hard day’s fighting, returned to their ships with only their battered shields to cook with. Mixing flour et al, they cooked pancakes within the dimples of their shields and ate a feast in victory! Today, Æbleskiver pans have indentations in which to cook the yeasted pancakes – no need to seek out that shield from the back of the cupboard, folks – which are doused in icing sugar and dipped in raspberry jam once cooked. They are traditionally eaten around Christmas time, and are perfect with a side of sweet, hot gløgg. They just happen to be one of Adam Liaw's favourite sweets, find his recipe here, or these cinnamon-spiced pancake puffs here.
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Source: Chris Chen
Ok so this is technically a British dessert, but making us choose between crumble and sticky date pudding is Sophie’s Choice guys, come on. Plus it’s called ‘sticky toffee pudding’ in the UK (even though it’s exactly the same thing), so that’s an excuse, right? It was invented in the Lake District, England, relatively recently – in the 1970s –and remains, to this day, one of the most warming desserts the world has ever known: soft, date-studded, brown sugar sponge soaked in lashings of hot butterscotch sauce and topped with too much double cream… *drools* Get Anneka Manning's classic recipe here.
Source: Alan Benson
Making cakes and sweets by steaming them, rather than baking, was long the traditional option across Asia. Even though ovens are common now, steaming is still the method of choice, as it gives you a moist, light dessert than baking can't match. Traditionally, these Indonesian cakes are served on their own, but a sticky caramel topping and a drizzle of thick custard never hurt anyone! Try these steamed banana cakes with custard (apam pisang) and warm-up tonight.
Source: Chris Chen
If you’ve never had Sweden’s famed kladdkaka cake, then you need to get that apron on immediately and make it. It’s sort of like a brownie – but stickier and fudgier (thanks to about double the quantity of sugar, and the use of cocoa powder instead of straight-up chocolate). In Sweden, it can be served hot or cold, but warm from the oven, melting onto the plate, is pretty much heaven to us. Get your hands sticky and your soul warm with our delicious kladdaka recipe here.
Swedish sticky chocolate cake (kladdkaka) Source: Alan Benson
Versions of rice pudding are made all over the world, but for a truly indulgent dessert, try this Argentinian arroz con leche with dulce de leche: tender lemon, cinnamon and vanilla milky rice, served with dulce de leche and topped with caramel peanuts! Or for a warm, creamy dessert, try this quick and easy Cuban rice pudding, or our Spanish arroz con leche.
Source: Rachel Tolosa Paz
Like fruit? Love scones? Well, the American cobbler is for you. It’s basically seasonal fruit topped with a scone batter (what Americans call ‘biscuits’). It’s baked so that the top of the scones crisp-up, their bottoms soaking up all that delicious juice, while the fruit softens and mellows beneath. Peach cobbler is a classic, and just feels oh-so-American, and this pear and rhubarb cobbler just screams winter. Its name derives from the appearance of the dolloped topping – like cobbles on an old-fashioned street. Try it with thick cream.
Source: Alan Benson
Whether you drizzle these golden, yeasted Greek doughnuts with honey and cinnamon (the version shown below), or ring the changes with loukamades served with an orange and clove syrup or a rosewater and honey syrup, you'll find them moreishly appealing.
Translating to ‘pudding of the unemployed’, this is a Québécois dish originally made by poor factory workers during the Great Depression whereby cake batter is baked in a pool of caramel or maple syrup. And yes, it’s just as moreish as it sounds. try Adam Liaw's version and see for yourself!
Source: Danielle Abou Karam
It’s sweet, stringy cheese enclosed in kataifi pastry (think shredded wheat) and doused in hot, rosewater-scented syrup. In the Middle East, it is served on the street in hot, cheesy wedges, sometimes sandwiched between sesame-bedecked bread, sometimes just as is.
Source: Chris Chen
During WWII in the UK, when basics like flour, butter and sugar were heavily rationed, crumble emerged as the go-to dessert, thanks to its minimal use of these highly-prized ingredients (and the potential for the inclusion of leftovers such asbreadcrumbs in the topping). It could be sweet – made with stewed rhubarb, apples, gooseberries and other seasonal fruit – or savoury, when the sugar in the topping would be replaced with cheese and the base made with meat and veggies.
Rhubarb and chocolate crumble Source: Benito Martin
Quince, hazelnut and oat crumble. Source: Alan Benson
Every region has their own take on doughnuts, and India's version is well worth trying. This paneer gulab jamun with rosewater and saffron syrup can be served either hot or cold, straight from the baking dish where they lie soaking in delicious, sweet syrup.
Source: The Chefs' Line
Strudel is a recipe most associated with the Austro-Hungarian empire and now enjoyed across Central Europe. Each country has its own unique version but it’s essentially generously buttered filo pastry that is wrapped around fruit – apples, rhubarb or sour cherries… – and sometimes quark or another soft cheese, before being baked and topped with a helluva lotta icing sugar. What’s not to love?
Source: Brett Stevens
The story of tarte Tatin goes as follows: the Tatin sisters ran a French hotel during the 1880s, and one day when one of them was cooking for guests, she made the mistake of caramelising – rather than stewing – the apples and sugar for an apple pie filling. She hurriedly threw some puff pastry on top of the frypan, shoved it in the oven and turned the result out onto a plate. The guests loved it, and tarte Tatin was born. The Tatin legacy lives on in the form of pear tarte Tatin, an upside-down peach version and this indulgent banana caramel tarte served with rum raisin ice-cream. Tarte Tatin remains one of the world’s easiest and most delicious desserts.
Banana tarte tatin with rum & raisin ice-cream Source: Lottie Hedley, The Great Australian Baking Book
