Flaky, soft and decadent pastries that make for quick dessert recipes from all over the globe

From their ancient minimalist form to their more modern and over-the-top hybrid forms, pastries have evolved and continue to add to the insane never-ending list of pastries prepared by experts and home cooks around the world. Here are some of the world's oldest sweet pastries that are as basic as the doughnut to the more layered and complicated American Cronuts topped with a variety of toppings.

1. Vdolky

The Czechs sure know how to craft an addictive doughnut, meet Vdolky which is made with balls of pillowy yeasted dough fried until it develops a crisp golden shell, traditionally enjoyed warm. It is often flavoured with a hint of lemon zest, and these pastries tend to have a little groove at the centre that is adorned with jam, whipped cream, or crumbly Tvaroh (curd cheese). While they can be oven-baked, they are mostly deep fried because of which these pastries have that delectable crunch.

2. Chaussons aux pommes

These are traditional French turnovers filled with a sweet apple compote, that are made with peeled and cored apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, puff pastry, and beaten eggs. The apple compote is first prepared then the filling is placed in the centre of circular pieces of puff pastry dough which are folded into a semicircular shape. The edges and also the tops are brushed with beaten egg wash to help seal the dough. After baking until they are puffed and browned, they resemble little slippers, giving the name which translates to "apple slippers". The chaussons aux pommes were said to have been created in the year 1630 in the town of Saint Calais, at the time, when the town was suffering through an epidemic. The Lady of the town, Chatelaine, donated flour and apples to those in need, who used them to create these apple-filled turnovers. Today, there is an annual celebration called Fete du chaussons aux pommes held in honour of this pastry's noble origins.

3. Bungeoppang

These are fish-shaped South Korean pastries filled with the famed red beans. The outer shell is made with a simple batter consisting of eggs, flour, raising agents, sugar, and water that is poured into fish-shaped moulds, and a dollop of smooth or coarse red bean paste is then placed in the middle and baked until golden brown and crisp around the edges. One of the most popular varieties of this sweet snack is known as "ice bungeoppang", which is a factory-produced version combining ice cream with the traditional red bean filling. These treats can be found all over South Korea, sold by street vendors as one of the most common portable snack options you can munch around while walking.

4. Cronut

This New Yorker pastry is a hybrid between a croissant and a doughnut, characterized by its soft and creamy core surrounded by flaky layers of croissant-like pastry on the outside. Cronuts are first fried in oil like a doughnut, then filled with a creamy filling, rolled in sugar, and topped with a glazed coating. Due to their relatively short shelf life, they are intended to be consumed very soon after they are freshly made and still at their best texture. It's a recent invention made in 2013 by a French pastry chef named Dominique Ansel at his bakery located in New York City.

5. Qottab

From the land of former Persia, comes the Qottab, from Iran’s city of Yazd, which is a deep-fried pastry parcel wrapped around a nutty filling of either almonds or walnuts. These pastries get their flavour from a generous use of aromatic spices like cinnamon and cardamom with rose water and orange blossom water also used. They are either shaped into a round or crescent moon form and are inseparable treats at Iranian festivals and celebrations.

6. Bear Claw

Meet the bear claw, shaped exactly as its name, that's a sweet pastry born in the USA during the mid-1920s. Butter, eggs, flour and milk create a rich dough while the filling is made with a blend of chopped almonds, egg whites, sugar, and sometimes with a little bit of almond extract. The pastry's clawed shape emerges from dough slits that separate out as it rises during baking. Once the pastry turns to a dark golden hue, they are done and they taste the best when eaten warm.

7. Skillingsboller

From the historic bylanes of Norway’s Bergen emerges the Skillingsboller – a twist on the classic cinnamon roll. These coiling pastries, which look like a snail’s shell, are made with flour, milk, yeast, eggs and a little cardamom, sometimes almonds to form a buttery dough. After a turn in the oven, the warm rolls are brushed with butter and sprinkled with a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar, on both sides of the rolls. It's one of the pastries a staple at afternoon fika, or coffee break, the rolls enjoyed with brown cheese (Brunost).