In honor of Halloween, we’ve put together a post in celebration of sweets from around the world. Of course there are far to many to mention, so we stuck to some of our personal favorites. Please share some of yours in the comments section at the end! We always have room for more sweet treats!

Caribbean Coconut Sweets

Most recipies are quite simple: grated coconut, brown sugar and water, heated up, mixed togather and cooled back down again on a baking sheet. They make little yummy clusters that are sold everywhere in the Caribbean. The one I know best is the Dominican version: jalao, made with honey. There is another version (usually pink) from Trinidad and Barbados (and other islands) called “sugar cake.” This features the addition of ginger and bay leaf for extra flavor.  In Aruba it’s the “cocada.”

Japanese Sweet Beans (Anko, Yōkan, Anmitsu)

In Japan, there are many sweets made with anko, a sweet bean paste. Anko can be found in everything from bread (anpan) to donuts to chewy rice cakes (daifuku), atop shaved ice (anmitsu) and jellied to make the snack called yōkan. Yōkan contains the bean paste, agar-agar (a gelatinous thickener made from algae) and sugar. There are many varieties. Some popular ones are green tea flavor, yōkan containing chestnuts or whole beans and a milder flavored variety made with white bean paste rather than red. (Taiyaki are fish-shaped confections filled with red bean paste.)

Barfi packaged in yesterday’s newspaper. Note the vark.

Indian Sweets (Mithai)

An entire post could be written about Indian sweets (mithai).  Barfi may not sound appealing, but this whole class of sweets is one of our favorites (the most basic is condensed milk and sugar). Some contain coconut or spices such as cardamom.  Pista barfi has pistachios, Kaaju barfi has cashews.  These delights are colorfully decorated depending on their ingredients, and sometimes have a shiny, edible metallic leaf layer called vark.  In the Indian dessert category, we must also mention gulab jamun, which are milk solids formed into balls, fried, and soaked in a rosewater syrup with cardamom. There are usually pistachios on top.

Dulce de Leche Cone. (Photo: Alpha on Flickr)

Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche can be found  all over South America. Venezuela has arequipe, Mexico cajeta, and so on.  Sweetened milk is slowly heated until the carmelization process creates a rich, thick, brown sauce that is the base of a myriad of candies, cookies, ice cream and other desserts. One that we discovered no too long ago is suspiro de limeña, a dessert whose name means “the sigh of a woman (from Lima).”  This delight is a caramel meringue parfait whose recipe dates back to the 1800s. The bottom layer is dulce de leche (called manjar blanco there) with egg yolks beat in. The top is a sweet, stiff meringue with port wine. Cinnamon sprinkles go on the very top. The end result is decadently rich, sweet and creamy. Another favorite: the oblea of Colombia and Venezuela which is simply dulce de leche between two wafers, a tasty street snack!

Tres Leches. (Photo: Hungry Dudes on Flickr)

Tres Leches Cake

Since I once carried a tres leches cake to NYC from Caracas, Venezuela, how can we not give it a nod? What is it? A light, airy sponge cake soaked with a mixture of three milks: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. If you count that the cake is made with whole milk, and that the whole thing is topped with whipped cream, it really should be named cinco leches, ¿no?

Sesame Seed Bar

Sesame and Nut Sweets

Pasteli, from Greece have two simple, delicious ingredients: sesame seeds and honey.  Many Asian countries have versions of seed and/or nut bars like these as well. In Korea they are called Kang Jung, and made with brown sugar in addition to the honey. We like the black sesame variety best. Another Caribbean candy based on peanuts and brown sugar that’s equally as popular and equally as tasty is known as dulce de maní in the Spanish-speaking islands.

Singapore Style Ice Cream Sandwich. (Photo: courtesy of Justine Espinueva)

Ice Cream Sandwich

In Singapore we came upon the original ice cream sandwich . . . made with actual sliced bread! A rectangular block of ice cream is served between slices of white (sometimes colored) bread. Vendors can be found along the most popular shopping street, Orchard Road, and at other locations in the city. We boldly went for durian ice cream (that stinky fruit not allowed on Singaporean trains), and enjoyed the flavor initially, though later (in the form of burps) it tasted (and smelled) more like old socks.

Salt Water Taffy

Growing up on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, salt water taffy was a summer staple for tourists to buy as a souvenir and for locals to have as a treat.   Created after a storm in Atlantic City, New Jersey soaked all of a vendor’s taffy in seawater in the late 1800s, salt water taffy comes in a wide variety of flavors and colors. I used to love watching the machines that “pulled” the taffy, aerating it to keep it soft. We’ve even done this at home . . . messy but lots of fun. Favorite flavors: cinnamon (pink) and molasses mint (tan with brown or green stripe).

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Bonus: Shaved ice can be found almost everywhere in the world. We’ve devoted a whole post to it, so be sure to check that out if you’re still hungry!

Ujikintoki: Japanese shaved ice dessert