Muffins are baked treats somewhat similar to bread or cakes. They look like cupcakes because their base is cylindrical and the top is rounded and arched.

Muffins are, typically, sweet and in modern cooking, they have fillings such as fruit jams and/or toppings like chocolate chips. Muffins make great desserts, especially when served with ice cream.

Muffins are made or baked in a muffin tin or pan, which is a baking pan with depressions shaped in a cup where the muffin batter is poured.

The standard size of a muffin cup is about 2 and a half inches in diameter but there are muffin tins with larger cups about 3 ¼ inches in diameter to make jumbo muffins. There are also mini muffins and to make these, you would need a miniature muffin tin, which has cups about 2 inches or less in diameter.

Muffin Flavors

Fruits are common ingredients in muffins. Some popular fruits used in making muffins are apples, banana, blueberry, cherry, lemon, pineapple, rhubarb, raspberry, and strawberry.

Other food items usually mixed in muffin recipes are nuts, chocolate, cinnamon, peanut butter, pumpkin, vanilla, and mint. Muffins also typically combine two or more flavors such as apple cinnamon, blueberry chocolate and walnut maple.

“Postres” – the sweets at the end of a meal. Although Mexicans consider these as important meal-enders, Mexican desserts remain highly unfamiliar. Perhaps, this is because they are hidden behind the shadow of the ever-present caramelized custard, known locally as “flan caramelisado”.

Among the many distinct Mexican desserts, the flan caramelisado remains to be the most classic, and is suggestively the best description of Mexican desserts in general. In fact, the most traditional dessert recipes of the Mexicans were discovered when the Spanish colonies ruled the country.

The popularity of the “flan” has spanned several countries all over the globe. Although the terms “flan” and “crème caramel” were derived from the French, the word “flan” however, is used by the French to mean custard tart.

Since it is known across Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, “flan” is mostly how Spanish-speaking people call it. The flan is known to have greatly invaded dessert menus in Europe towards the end of the 20th century because it offers restaurateurs utmost convenience.

Since the crème caramel, as Europeans call it, is fairly easy to prepare, and may be made in advance before it is needed, it became one of the most prevalent Mexican desserts in restaurant menus.

Meringue is one type of dessert that appeared originally in France although it is believed that Gasparini, an Italian chef, invented meringue sometime between the 17th and early 18th centuries in the town of Meiringen in Switzerland.

Meringue is a very sweet and light dessert, which is also considered a candy. It is generally made from sugar and whipped egg whites. The typical measurement is half a cup of caster sugar and 2 beaten egg whites.

Meringue recipes sometimes call for small amounts of flavor extracts, for example, half a teaspoon of almond and/or vanilla extracts. Basically, the sugar is dissolved into the beaten egg whites to make meringue. This mixture will harden when baked but easily melts in the mouth.

In the Italian version of making meringue, you will whip warm sugar syrup into gently beaten egg whites until this mixture is stiff. This version makes meringue that can be used without the need for cooking as the air will not let out for quite a while so you can use it on pies and other desserts.

If you are trying to lose weight, skipping desserts can be a real challenge. The great thing is you do not have to give up eating your favorite dessert in order to lose those stubborn inches. There are plenty of low fat dessert recipes that you can try for a delicious and healthy treat.

Making your own low fat dessert is actually simple. The key is to substitute the fattening ingredients in the recipe for low fat items. For example, if the recipe calls for cream cheese skip the regular one and look for fat free or low fat cream cheese.

Likewise, use margarine or applesauce instead of butter. Chill evaporated milk and you have a low fat substitute for whipped cream. When using eggs, just use the egg whites or instead of using whole eggs, try an egg substitute product.

Also, replace the sugar with a sugar free sweetener such as the product Splenda. Another good idea is to use cooking spray to coat your cake pan instead of grease.

A cooking spray will have less fat and cholesterol than oil and will cover the pan completely and evenly so your low fat dessert will slide perfectly onto a plate much easier.

In every special Indian event colorful presentations and attending honored guests are noticeably acknowledged. What others often overlook to notice is the sweet presence of a unique Indian dessert called Laddu.

Dubbed as the favorite dessert of the Gods, Laddu, which sometimes spelled as Ladoo, are usually made to mark a festival celebration or special household event such as weddings, engagement parties, and birthdays.

It is worth taking to note why this simple stuffed-looking ball-shaped flour dipped in sugar syrup became the official dessert of Indian celebrations.

Hindu mythology accounts that a certain variety of laddu called Besan laddu is a favorite sumptuous dish of Lord Ganesha, an elephant-looking Hindu God who is the most worshipped in India. The dessert is always prepared as an offering to the Gods.

Aside from the Besan laddu, which is prepared during India’s light festival called Diwali, another variant called Malai laddu is a popular offering in the temples.

It is often made from cream that results from evaporating sweetened milk mixed with chickpea flour and butter then formed into cream balls.

Another variant is the Rava laddu, which is made from rava (cream of rice), ghee (melted butter) and sugar. This laddu dessert, however, is more seen during wedding rites.

Italy is a vast country that boasts a culture and tradition unique from the rest of the world.  The people living in this area are naturally sweet, friendly and hospitable and these values are specifically represented by the foods they eat.

The Italian food varies generally in tastes and ways of presentation.  They range from sweet to bitter and from sour to salty. Regardless of how they taste to you, the Italian desserts will definitely make you feel like it’s hard to say “No”.

The desserts of Italy typically come in the form of chocolates, cookies, ice cream, and other delicate enticements.  As what many claims have revealed, they all take the best of what they can offer when served with wine.

Want to know the specific names that Italians themselves consider as part of their Italian desserts?  If yes, note the following:

Gelatos – Labeled as the true heart of Italian desserts, the gelatos are ice cream like creations that are served topped with the finest of the world’s confectioners.

It comes in a number of flavors, but generally they are prepared to boast the sweetest of the Italian flavors. The flavors vary from mango, chocolate, hazelnut, graham cracker, and lime.

Ice creams with their luscious and refreshing creaminess are much-loved treats by kids and adults alike. This popular dessert is available ready to eat from groceries, ice cream shops and dessert and snack stores but if you want a different ice cream experience, try   making your own ice cream.

Homemade ice creams use fresh ingredients combined with the chosen flavorings and delicious add-ins.  Ice creams originated from cold custards and puddings made in the ancient regions of Asia and Persia.

However, it is believed that ice creams as we know them today started in 17th century Europe. Americans brought home the ice cream recipe and, to this day, ice creams are the favorite frozen dessert in the United States and almost anywhere in the world.

How are Ice Creams made?

Ice Creams are made using milk, sugar and heavy cream with a variety of flavorings. Eggs are optionally used. One unique aspect of ice creams is its texture, which is achieved by churning or stirring the ice cream mixture while it is being frozen.

During the process of freezing ice creams, ice crystals form and by stirring the mixture these crystals do not become too large. Stirring also creates tiny bubbles in the mixture, which is what gives ice creams their delightful feel in the mouth.

Gelatin Desserts are considered as one of the most-loved desserts all over the world. In the United Kingdom and in Ireland, gelatin desserts are often called “jelly”. In the United States and Canada, “jelly” is recognized as a preserved fruit or better known, as a “jam”.

Unprepared gelatin desserts are often sold in the form of flavored powder while ready-to-eat gelatin desserts are sold in different forms. The most poplar brands are the following:

• Kraft Foods Jell-O – This prepared gelatin is famous in North America.
• Rowntree’s Jelly – This brand is popular in the United Kingdom.
• Aeroplane – Number one gelatin brand in Australia.

In processing gelatin, it normally begins with boiling either pig skins or cattle bones –not adding the horns and hooves. After boiling, the resulting boiled skins and bones mix is drenched with either alkali or acid in large basins to extract protein collagen.

After it is extracted, it will be dried. Then made into powder form by grinding, to make gelatin desserts, the gelatin powder is added with sweeteners and additives like fumaric acid, sodium citrate, artificial flavorings and food color.

Fruit desserts are definitely the healthiest way to feed one’s craving for sweets. With its natural saccharine component, fruits save the dessert from containing fattening sugar making one to experience a figure-friendly and vitamin-rich indulging treat.

Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why fruit desserts stay on as a classic favorite in American kitchens despite the emergence of artificial or designer dessert products in the market.

For every American, first encounter with fruit desserts starts with the oven-hot treat their grandmothers usually make at home. Popular among these are the traditional cobbler and pandowdy concocted with cream, real butter, and of course lots of juicy fresh fruits.

Fruit desserts, according to food experts, are essential part of American heritage. The basic preparation of a fruit desserts, which is usually based with a sweet biscuit type of dough baked under a layer or on top of fresh fruit fillings, reflects the cooking style of the English Colonial times in America.

The way the desserts are named also reflects the true American culture. Experts say that colonial Americans name dishes according to how it looks or sounds when being served or cooked.

Fruit cheesecakes are no new invention in the culinary field.  The truth of the matter is that it has been around for quite some time already and that thousands of people from different areas in the world have already enjoyed the taste that these delicious treats have to offer.

Many culinary enthusiasts have even tried baking these cheesecakes for several purposes.The fruit cheesecake desserts, for many, seem easy and simple enough to prepare.

However, if you’ll consider baking it by yourself, you’ll find the preparation of this delicious fruit cheesecake desserts to be one of the hardest culinary tasks you can ever have.

This is true especially for someone who is only new to it or those who lack experience. If you think you are one them but want to learn the basics of fruit cheesecake desserts, it would be nice if you’ll start doing the simplest of the fruit cheesecake desserts recipes I have stressed below.

Individual Fruit Cheesecake desserts by Diana Rattray

Designed to be coated with any of your favorite toppings, this fruit cheesecake desserts recipe is prepared simply to include the following ingredients: