Tangy, Sweet and Bready special sweets that are Uniquely Latvian and Hearty

Latvia has some of the most unique desserts in the world owing to its perpetual chilly and dreary wet weather. It uses a lot of local berries, cranberry to be exact, and a unique local rye bread that is nutritionally dense, called Rupjmaize. The special sweets are mostly healthy, delicious and a blanced mix of sweet and tart owing to the fresh fruits and honey used estensevely in them. Expect a lot of dessert soups a few indulgent cakes and soggy bread turned into surprising sweet delicacies. 

1. Debessmanna

Made with farina, or cream of wheat, cranberries and sugar, it is called “heavenly manna” which refers to the local lore that says that the first Debessmanna in Latvia was made by “whipping the clouds in the sky”, referring the the dessert’s airiness and divine taste that is attained by cooking the ingredients in water and whipping to form the mousse. The cranberries give it a beautiful pink hue with a tart taste and when cold milk is added, it makes for a refreshing dessert on hot summer days. It's best enjoyed chilled with cream or milk.

2. Medus Kūka

Technically honey cakes are from Russia especially when you consider countries like Latvia and those in central Europe. Medus Kūka uses Latvian honey which is known for its healing and nutritional profile. It is made using honey biscuits with a filling of sour cream and sugar, with a garnishing of breadcrumbs and nuts. 

3. Rupjmaizes Kārtojums

Meaning layered bread dessert Rupjmaizes Kārtojums, is like a local parfait that uses the country's speciality – rye bread (called Rupjmaize), with whipped cream or cream cheese with jam made from local cranberries. The rye bread is finely grated and flavoured with cinnamon, sweetened with sugar and toasted. Like a good trifle or parfait, it's refrigerated to bring out the best of its flavours. 

4. Kliņģeris

A local birthday cake, that is shaped into a pretzel, that often forms the centrepiece of a smorgasbord consisting of desserts. The pretzel is made from flour, butter, eggs, heavy cream, sugar, yeast, water, saffron, lemon and orange zest, cardamom, and raisins. The ingredients are turned into a dough, rolled into a log then shaped into a pretzel with an egg wash on the surface and a sprinkling of slivered almonds and baked. The cake is decorated with candies, powdered sugar, bows and candles. The cake is eaten warm with fruit jams or soft butter. 

5. Gogelmogelis

This is perhaps the Latvian version of eggnog that is also made from egg yolks, sweet wine and sugar that is beaten to form a rich and thick dessert-like drink. Sometimes milk, a pinch of nutmeg, and cocoa powder are also added to this thick drink. The name is believed that when a singer called Gogels, a choir singer, who had lost his voice drank a concoction of egg yolk, sugar and salt to regain it quickly, his name became the inspiration behind the drink.

6. Maizes zupa

A kind of bread soup made using the local favourite – rye bread or Rupjmaize, the bread is toasted then turned soggy and then passed through a sieve and mixed with sugar, spices and dry fruits. It’s called Rupjmaizes Zupa in the local tongue. It is a kind of nutritious black bread, which uses these ingredients to produce a cold and thick soup with whipped cream as a topping. The local cookbooks mentioned this bread soup in the 1920s that used toasted rye bread (soaked, run through a sieve and boiled with fruit juice and their fruit peels and spices) slices, cranberry, rhubarb and dry fruits like apples, the dessert soup is sweetened with honey and sugar. 

7. Skābeņu Saldējums

Also called Sorrel ice cream, the green ice cream is named after the plant sorrel that belongs to the same family as buckwheat and rhubarb. It tastes like rhubarb with sourness of lemon and the plant was used to treat ailments in the past. The sorrel are washed, the stalks cut and mixed with yoghurt and this is passed through a sieve to get a liquidy sludge. A vodka-infused sugar syrup is made and added to this liquid and blended and frozen to get the green ice cream with the earthy taste of sorrel. 

8. Meža Zemeņu Zupa

Another dessert soup, this Latvian summer dessert is made with strawberries growing wild in the June-July window of the country. The berries are blended after the stalks are removed and sometimes sugar is added if the dessert isn't sweet enough. It is topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries.