European Desserts

Shendetlie is a rich honey and walnut cake, soaked in sugar syrup. The recipe resembles a biscuit dough and once baked it has a dense texture. But when soaked in sugar syrup it magically transforms into a rich moist cake.

It was so tempting to make sachertorte for the Austrian dessert. I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate cake!?! But as soon as I saw these little pink cakes, chocolate cake was quickly forgotten.

Punschkrapfen is a classic Austrian dessert which has delighting Austrian palates for over 200 years. Austria’s answer to the petit four is a sponge cake sandwich filled with more sponge cake that has been soaked in apricot jam, rum (the punsch in punschkrapfen), orange juice, and chocolate, and glazed with pink punch (rum) glaze.

Bulgaria on the map, Tikvenik in my belly! This pumpkin strudel is a celebration of autumn flavours wrapped in a crispy, golden filo pastry.

Filled with spiced pumpkin, sugar, and walnuts, this traditional dessert is perfect for cozy evenings.

Koláče are sweet tart-like pastries with delicious fillings such as poppy seed, plum butter, and quark. To finish, they are sprinkled with a crumble (drobenka) topping. If you are in the UK, plum butter (not the same as jam) can be found in Polish delis and the international food aisle at your supermarket. Though I must say that the quark filling is my favourite.

Brunsviger is a traditional danish cake consisting of soft yeast dough topped with a deliciously sweet gooey brown sugar syrup.

Danes claim that this cake originated from the birth place of Hans Christian Anderson, Funen. So loved is Brunsviger, there is a day dedicated to it. Every year, on the last Thursday before the autumn holidays (which this year is the 10th October), the bakers and residents of Funen celebrate this delicious with events and simply by eating it!

Faroe Islands rugged terrain and harsh winters means that most fresh food, such as fruit, vegetables, and meat, is imported from Denmark. One such import is the Faroe Islanders love for apple desserts. Karamel marengskaka is a delicious cake made with meringue, with layered filling of caramel, apples, and cream.

Finland had me spoilt for choice when it came to traditional desserts but in the end I went with Finland’s version of the blueberry pie, Mustikkapiirakka.

Mustikkapiirakka forms part of the Finnish cottage lifestyle, where the Finns head to their countryside cottages (cabins) during summer to relax with family and friends. The food eaten during this period is foraged from the surrounding forests and lakes. Simple to make, mustikkapiirakka is traditionally made with bilberries picked fresh from the forest. The dough used is sweet cake like dough, flavoured with a pinch of cardamon. The filling is simply made with sour cream, sugar and egg whisked together and poured over the bilberries. Bilberries, also known as European blueberries, are similar to blueberries but smaller and tangier in taste. If you don’t have easy access to bilberries, and they’re only in season during July and August, blueberries are a more than acceptable substitute.

Tarte conversation (conversation tart) created a buzz in France after it featured in le Meilleur Pâtissier (the French version of the Great British Bake Off) as a technical challenge. This once forgotten pastry was brought back from obscurity, with pastry chefs creating their own modern take of the tart.

The recipe for tarte conversation was created by in the late 18th century to celebrate the publication of Louise d’Épinay’s les Conversations d’Émillie. It consists of almond cream (frangipane) with a hint of rum, encased in puff pastry and topped with royal icing. The royal icing topping, when baked, gives the tart a nice crunch when you bite into it.

Donauwelle, meaning Danube wave in English, is a traditional German sheet cake, made of layers of plain and chocolate cake, cherries, and topped with buttercream and chocolate glaze. The ‘waves’ in the cake are created by the cherries sinking through the chocolate cake batter during the baking process. Is it also know as schneewittchenkuchen, Snow White cake, named so because of the colours of the cake which are similar to Snow White in the original Brothers Grimm tale.

I love that the literal transaction of gâche melée in Guernésiais is cake mix. However, gâche melée is more than just cake mix. It’s a traditional Giernesi spiced apple cake which can be eaten hot with ice cream, custard or a dollop of Guernsey cream, or cold with nothing but a nice cuppa.

Apples were once an important crop for Jersey, so you will find that there are many traditional Jérriais recipes that have apples as the key ingrediant. Du Solyi is a simple Apple Layer Cake with layers of sweet bread dough, apples, and sugar.

Liechtenstein cuisine borrows heavily from neighbouring Switzerland and Austria making it difficult to find a dessert unique to Liechtenstein. I did find a recipe for Teeringli (Tea Rings) hidden away on the Liechtenstein Tourism website, which purported to be an old forgotten traditional recipe. Teeringli are almond and lemon biscuits, perfect for that afternoon coffee or tea.

Waffles + fruit jam + berries + cream = Vaffelkake (waffle cake). Excuse my language but it is so darn bl**dy delicious.

Svalbard is a sovereign state of Norway therefore not technically a country. From the articles I could find about the cuisine on the archipelagos, coffee and waffles is a popular treat. Therefore what better Norwegian dessert to represent Svalbard than vaffelkake.

Prinsesstårta (princess cake) is a traditional layer cake from Sweden, made with layers of sponge cake, raspberry jam, pastry creme, and a dome of fresh whipped cream; covered with green marzipan. Originally called grön tårta (green cake), the name was change to prinsesstårta because the princess daughters of Prince Carl of Sweden were especially fond of the cake. Isn’t my first attempt at a marzipan rose outstanding!

Supposedly Audrey Hepburn’s favourite cake, Zuger Kirschtorte was invented by Heinrich Höhn in his confiserie in Zug, Switzerland, during 1915. This kirsch flavoured Swiss dessert consists of layers of almond meringue, sponge cake, and butter cream. You can still visit Heinrich’s confiserie where you can not only enjoy a slice of Zuger Kirschtorte with a cup of Swiss coffee, but you can also visit the Zuger Kirschtorten Museum which features 200 exhibits dedicated to this delicious dessert.

Kyiv cake’s origin comes from the Karl Marx Confectionery Factory in Kyiv, Ukraine. Confectioners accidentally put less egg white in the cake they were making. To cover the mistake the cakes were covered and decorated with buttercream.

The cake consists of two meringue and hazelnut layers (I made mine with cashews) which are filled with a jam layer and buttercream. The cake is then covered with chocolate buttercream and decorate with green, blue, and pink buttercream flowers.