Sweets & Confections

Sweetness came from honey long before it came from sugar — the rock painting at Cuevas de la Araña shows a honey harvest 8,000 years ago. Sugarcane was domesticated in New Guinea and carried west, and India learned to crystallize its juice into transportable sugar by about 500 CE. Confectionery as a craft follows that crystal: once sweetness could be stored and shipped, it could be shaped.

Explore Sweets & Confections

Afghan milk fudgeAmerican chocolate chip cookieAntiguan coconut sugar cakeArmenian sweet breadAzerbaijani nut-filled pastryBahamian guava roll puddingBanana sticky-rice cakeBanana sticky-rice parcelBarbadian coconut sugar cakeBasel spiced honey biscuitBelgian filled chocolate pralineBelizean coconut tartBengali syrup-soaked cheese ballsBeninese sweet doughnutBhutanese/Tibetan festive fried biscuitBolivian cinnamon iceBosnian syrup biscuitsBratislava poppy-seed or walnut crescentsBrazilian chocolate truffleBritish date sponge with toffee sauceBruneian ring cookiesBulgarian pumpkin filo pastryCameroonian sweet fritterCanadian layered chocolate-custard barCandied fruit skewersCandy barCane sugarCape Verdean papaya preserveCarob syrup and carob as a famine foodCentral African banana frittersChadian millet-honey cakesChewing gumChilean wafer roll with dulce de lecheChocolate biscuit and dulce de leche cakeChocolate-and-coconut sponge cakeChocolate-coated marshmallow cream biscuitComorian coconut halwaCosta Rican coconut fudgeCroatian festive frittersCrystallized cane sugarCuban guava pastryCultured milk with honeyCypriot grape-and-nut confectionDanish almond ring cakeDate- or nut-filled molded cookieDate-filled semolina pastryDefrutum and sapa grape syrupDjiboutian/Somali spiced halwaDominican coconut candyDominican curdled milk sweetEast African sweet fried breadEcuadorian fruit meringueElbasan corn-flour cookieEquatoguinean coconut sweetEritrean sweet celebration breadEstonian chocolate-coated curd snackFijian cassava-coconut cakeFilipino toasted-flour milk candyFinnish salty liquoriceFrench filled almond macaron