Sweet Pastries Around the World from the Asian Dessert Egg Tart to Cinnamon Rolls

From the crisp shell of the cannoli with a sweet ricotta or gelato filling, made using special tubes, to the baklava with its thin and stretched phyllo doughs, with its delicious but filling, that the Greeks and Turks fight over, there are too many pastries around the world. Most of them are special sweets, with a special tale to them and most are the epitome of comfort and echoes a feeling of one's home.

1. Krapfen

The first European doughnut after which other versions were modelled, its origin, at least its name, dates back to the 9th century and the German recipes started popping up around the 1300s. These sweet pastries are made with yeast-rich dough, turned into flattened balls, that are deep fried until golden brown. They are usually plain without a filling and dusted with powdered sugar or a drizzling of chocolate sauce. The ones with fillings usually have custard (vanilla or chocolate) and jams in them. They are associated with local carnivals during the fasting period of Christian Lent.

2. Cannoli

They were said to have been prepared by the women in modern-day Caltanisseta, where the ancient city of Qal’at used to be. The women belonging to the Saracen harem from the Arabs rule in Italy were making this delicacy which didn't quite resemble the modern pastry. The nuns in Palermo picked up this recipe in time and it would be made during the local carnival season. Italian immigrants took the cannoli with them to the US, most notably depicted in The Godfather’s dialogue, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli”. The cannoli has a crispy rolled shell, made using a mould (Canna reed in the olden days, modern ones are made with steel), with a filling of sweet ricotta cheese which is topped with chopped pistachios.

3. Medialunas

These are the Argentinians' take on the French croissants that have a rum-infused sugar glaze on top of the baked confections. They are smaller in size and more moist than the croissant and also sweeter. It could either be made with a generous amount of butter or lard and both have the rum-sugar glaze. They are best eaten at breakfast with milk coffee or yerba mate during afternoon tea. Argentinians like their Medialunas with jams, dulce de leche, jellies and even chocolate.

4. Egg tart

Egg tarts are from China coming from the southern Guangdong province which is locally called Dan tat. It has a flaky pastry shell that has a filling of creamy egg custard with a strong eggy smell. It's said to have originated by mingling with Western cuisine and some versions say the egg tart already existed even before Western influence in the country. These are also immensely popular in Hong Kong and Singapore and are enjoyed when still warm from the oven.

5. Cinnamon Rolls

An American speciality, they also have a European version but unlike them, the American version is bigger in size and much softer. Yeasted dough is rolled into a rectangle with a cinnamon mixture added into it, and multiple rolls are tightly arranged in a baking tray and baked. While still hot they are brushed with a glaze usually made with cinnamon sugar or cream cheese. They might also contain raisins or macadamia nuts based on who makes them. These rolls are popular as dessert or just eaten as snacks.

6. Baklava

This dessert is the flag bearer of the middle eastern cuisine that is made with thin layers of hand rolled phyllo dough that alternates with chopped nuts doused in sweet syrup, that differs in flavour from using lemon, rose water, saffron to orange blossom water. Its origin is said to be Assyrian, a major Mesopotamian civilization centre, in the 8th century, that travelled to Greece where the phyllo dough was reduced to thin sheets. It's hard to say if it's the Greek or Turkish who have the stake in creating this dessert although the favour leans towards the Turks. After the whole baklava is baked it's doused in sweet syrup that was also used in the nuts so they stay put, resulting in a sticky sweet pastry dessert.

7. Koláče

A sweet pastry that looks like mini pizzas with a sweet filling of plum jam, cheese or poppy seeds, the name comes from the Czech name kola which means wheels. In fact, it comes from the Czech Republic and was first made in the 1700s and the round shape was said to resemble the sun and the moon, at a time when nature worship was prevalent. Modern toppings of the sweet pastry also include fruits like lemon, cherries, apricots, blueberries, pineapples and even raisins.