National Dessert Month

October is National Dessert Month in the United States.

Dessert is the name given to the course that (usually) concludes a meal, although sometimes coffee, or other hot drink, is considered to be the final course. The dessert is normally a sweet dish, but the name can be used to describe other foods, including those that can be eaten at other times of the day, such as pancakes, a common breakfast item. There are many different types of foods that can be called dessert, including, but not limited to, pies, puddings, cakes, pastries and biscuits/cookies, as well as more obvious dessert dishes such as ice cream.

Desserts, because they are sweet, have a tendency to be high in fats and sugars. Consequently, they can be both fattening and unhealthy if care isn't taken, or they are overindulged in.

There are ways around this inherent unhealthiness, though. Dishes made with fresh fruit, for example, fruit salad, are both sweet and healthy. Ice cream and sorbets can be made that use other things, such as artificial sweeteners, instead of sugar. Low fat substitutes can be used in sweet dishes. Quark, a type of soft cheese, can be used to replace soft cheeses in dishes such as cheesecake.

National Dessert Day

In the United States, October 14th is National Dessert Day.

Now this is a celebration day many people could get behind - one celebrating the dessert. Of course, the word dessert does cover a huge range of dishes. The dessert is the final course in a meal, usually the main meal of the day.

Dessert dishes are typically sweet, but do not have to be. They can also be referred to as the sweet course, afters or pudding. Early desserts tended to be made from natural ingredients, with honey and nut based ones popular (some of which still are, such as the baklava). Some dessert dishes are also eaten at other times of the day. For example, pastries are a popular breakfast item in many countries.

Sweet desserts tend to be, by their very nature, high in sugar, and sometimes fats, so they are often not the healthiest if dishes to consume. This is not always the case, though, as there are many dishes that can be made with fruit that tend to be healthier - although this does depend on how the fruit is served and what with.

Desserts includes pastries, ice cream, cakes, cookies, custards and pies, but are not limited to these, and there are many different sub-types.

National Vanilla Pudding Day

National Vanilla Pudding Day is on May 22nd in the United States.

Vanilla pudding is a type of dessert which is probably more commonly known, outside the United States, as blancmange - a French name which roughly translates as "white dish." Despite the name, it is not uncommon for them do be colours other than white, as colourings are added to the mix. There are other similar dishes such as Bavarian cream.

At its base, vanilla pudding is made from milk, or cream, and sugar which is then thickened. Other ingredients such as eggs may also be added. As can be guessed by the name, in vanilla pudding an added ingredient is vanilla. Vanilla is obtained from the pods and seeds of a genus of orchid, and is the second most expensive spice around. Given the expense, it is not uncommon for the vanilla to be replaced with the, cheaper but less tasty, vanilla flavouring.

The various ingredients are blended together, poured into a mould, and then chilled. The dish is removed from the mould and served once is has set.

National Baked Alaska Day

National Baked Alaska Day is on February 1st in the United States.

Baked Alaska may not be from Alaska, but this dessert is named in honour of that state, although back when it was first named, Alaska wasn't a state, nor even a territory, but was first administered by the military. The state-to-be had recently been purchased (in 1867) for $6.2 million from the Russian Empire. The dish was named by Charles Ranhofer, the chef-de-cusine at the famous Delmonico's Restaurant in New York.

The dessert is made from ice cream, cake and meringue. A pie dish is lined with slices of cake, with sponge and Christmas pudding being two of the most popular. Inside this is placed the ice cream. The dish is then topped with meringue and placed, very briefly, in an extremely hot oven until the meringue is browned. The ice cream should still be frozen if this is done correctly, due to the brief cooking time and the insulating effects of the meringue.

National Peach Melba Day

National Peach Melba Day is on January 13th in the US.

Peach Melba is a dessert made from peaches (where part of the name comes from), vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. Peaches are a fruit with a long history of cultivation, with records of the trees dating back more than 3,000 years in China.

The "Melba" portion of the name comes from Dame Nellie Melba, an Australian opera singer and soprano. In the late 19th century, at the Savoy Hotel in London, French chef Auguste Escoffier, created the dish in her honour. Dame Nellie was performing at Covent Garden in the opera Lohengrin by Wagner. At a party held by the Duke of Orléans, the chef created a centrepiece and the new dessert, which was displayed using an ice sculpture of a swan.

For the opening of the Carlton Hotel in 1900, Escoffier created a new version in which the ice swan was omitted and in which the peaches were topped with raspberry purée.

Peach Melba is not the only dish named after the singer; Melba toast is another.

National Brownie Day

National Brownie Day is on December 8th in the United States.

This is a celebration of the baked good, also known as the chocolate brownie, rather than the mythical creature. Not that you'd really want to eat the mythical being.

Brownies are flat baked squares or bars that first came to being in the US in the late 19th century. It's not known specifically how they came to be created - or rather, it may be, but there are three different versions, and it isn't known which of them, if any, might be true.

Brownies are made with chocolate (the type that isn't is known as a blondie) but they can have other ingredients added to them too, such as nuts, chocolate chips and cream (which can create a marbled texture) to name a few. They can be eaten as-is, as an accompaniment to a hot drink such as coffee, and are also a popular dessert, warmed and served with ice cream.

Brownies are sometimes considered to be cakes, other times to be cookies (or biscuits). In the UK, this is an important distinction, as cakes are zero-rated for VAT, whilst biscuits are not.

National Bavarian Cream Pie Day

November 27th is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day in the United States.

The Bavarian cream pie, which is sometimes just named Bavarian cream, is not really a pie and it probably isn't from Bavaria either. It is similar to cream, but actually has more in common with custard.

This is a sweet dessert that is believed to have been created in the early 19th century by Parisian chef Marie-Antoine Carême, an exponent of grande cuisine and believed to be one of the first ever international celebrity chefs. The latter being a quite impressive feat, predating television chefs by more than a little. It is named either after the German region of Bavaria, or to honour a visiting Bavarian notable.

Bavarian cream is a pastry cream that has been thickened with either isinglass or gelatin and then flavoured with liqueur. Whipped cream is added, and then the mix is used to fill a fluted mould, chilled, and then turned out when ready to eat. It is often served with fruit or fruit sauces.

National Cake Day

November 26th is National Cake Day in the US.

What is cake? Such a generic word it is. Nowadays, cake is normally refers to a baked dessert that is similar, in many ways, to bread. Cakes date back centuries, although the name is not quite as old. Early cakes were fried breads and cheesecakes - cheesecakes, despite the name, would rarely be considered to be a type of cake today, as in fact they are really a type of pie.

There are many different types of cakes, with some broad categories. There are the aforementioned cheesecakes, sponge cakes - which are very common - and butter cakes such as devil's food cake.

Fruitcakes are also a popular type, especially when celebrating certain things, such as weddings or Christmas with the Christmas cake. There are many different ingredients that can be added, too.

Some cakes may be left as-is, being essentially a sweet bread that is sliced, which may then be toasted or buttered. Glazes, frostings and icing are all popular decorations, Some cakes, such as the Victoria sponge, may be sliced and filling added between the layers, making a layer cake.

National Parfait Day

November 25th is National Parfait Day in the United States.

There are actually at least three different dishes called parfait, depending on where you ask for one. In France, parfait is a type of frozen dessert, but in the United Kingdom, it is a meat paste or pâté.

This particular day is celebrated in the United States, so it's the United States version of parfait that is the correct dish, although even in the US, parfait refers to two different dishes.

The first of these is the traditional French parfait. The second is, like the French dish, also a dessert.

This dish is a layered one. Parfait cream, ice cream and flavoured gelatins are layered in a tall dessert glass and then topped with whipped cream, fruit and, sometimes, liquers. An alternative version uses yoghurt instead of ice cream and cream, and layers of fruits, nuts and granola.

National Sundae Day

November 11th is National Sundae Day in the United States.

Sundaes are an ice cream dessert. Although the precise origin of the name is uncertain, as is the origin of the sundae itself, it's believed that it does come from the word Sunday, in one origin story because the drinking of sodas was banned on Sundays. This was, as you can probably tell, some years back.

There are many different places in the US that claim to be the origin point of the ice cream sundae. The earliest of these is from Two Rivers, Illinois, where the owner of Berners' Soda Fountain, Edward C. Berners, was apparently asked to drizzle chocolate syrup over ice cream back in 1881. This is disputed, as it is claimed that Berners would have been too young to own a soda fountain back then.

Ice cream sodas were banned in some states of the US on Sundays, so sundaes got around that by simply skipping out the soda part of the ice cream soda.

Whatever their origin, a sundae is classically made from vanilla ice cream, flavoured sauce, whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. There are many, many more varieties of sundaes than that, though, with more ingredients such as fruit included in some.