Five Sweet Treats to Try When in The United States!

Just relax and think of sweet treats!

Fall is here and so are pumpkin, pecan and apple pies, pumpkin spice cupcakes, cranberry-carrot layer cakes, cinnamon rolls, apple fritters, maple bars, gingerbreads and fudges and so many more sweet treats! Also, for anyone who had lived in the US or has some idea about food in the US in general, one thing he or she would always agree on it that most of the edible things here in the US have a lot of sugar. And Americans are very serious about their sweets and desserts! From the number of sweet treats on the shelves of American grocery stores and bakeries to the elaborate dessert menus at the restaurants here, you can surely get overwhelmed. So, I thought of making things a little simple for you when you plan to visit the US and also take you around some places here in the US with a good amount of sugar but no guilt of calories.

Banana nut bread has become a comfort food for me off late 

1.   Banana Bread - Staying in Seattle meant Starbucks became my constant go to every morning, and my cup of coffee was always accompanied with banana nut bread. Little did I know, it was actually invented here in the US and that too as a comfort recipe during a depressing era! Apparently, during the great depression (1930s), people tried to use vegetables and fruits to the maximum limit and since bananas were mostly imported, they were precious, and people wanted to come up with ways to use even the overly ripe bananas in their household. And with recent popularization of baking powder, people found this ingenious way to use those ripe bananas just before they went bad. And that is how banana bread was invented. While need and community can be credited for the invention of this amazing quick bread, we cannot thank Pillsbury Flour’s Recipe book of 1933 enough for making this bread a country wide favorite! And it became so famous that US also has a National Banana Bread Day, celebrated every year on the 23^rd February. Almost all cafes in the country serve banana and banana nut (walnut) bread, my forever go to for Banana Nut Bread is going to be Starbucks, only because that was my very first introduction to it!

New York Style, Red Velvet and Tiramisu cheesecake

2.  New York Style Cheesecake and Red Velvet cheesecake – I don’t like cheese much in general, so before I was actually introduced to cheesecake, the idea of cheesecake was not something I fancied but still wanted to try – thanks to Rachel and Chandler going to the lengths of stealing and eating cheesecake off the floor. The first time I was in New York, the very first trip to New York City, I had about 3 hours in the city before I had to head back to Poughkeepsie where I was living back then. And in the flood of suggestions for famous places like Central Park, the MET, New York Public Library etc, I was asked to go near Time Square only for a small Cheesecake place called Junior’s. It wasn’t the first time I had Cheesecake, but this place is often considered the birthplace of New York Style Cheesecake. Okay, cheesecake in general is an age-old Greek thing and used to be made from ricotta cheese but the magic of New York Style Cheesecake comes from heavy cream, cream cheese, and sour cream and just vanilla for flavour and thin crumbly layer of graham cracker for support. I know it sounds very simple, this melts in your mouth dessert is a definite must have when in New York, possibly from Juniors or Eileen's Special Cheesecake. But remember I had mentioned Juniors was not the first time I tried a cheesecake. The very first cheesecake I was introduced to was Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory and I knew why Rachel (who ate fat free ice cream by the way) didn’t care about the calories in the cheesecake! Red velvet cakes were invented in the US at Waldorf-Astoria, New York by adding beetroot juices with chocolate to make the cake with buttercream icing, and this recipe in its bare-bones was used to modify the New York Style cheesecake to make Red Velvet Cheesecake - my 2nd most favourite cheesecake flavour. Then you have the Floridian modification with Key Lime Cheesecake and my absolute favorite Tiramisu Cheesecake! Hence, I am not just suggesting you indulge in New York Cheesecake but also try out its variations when in the country!

Sugar Glazed Classic Krispy Kreme Donuts

3.  Donuts – A confession here, I still love donuts from a donuts chain called “Mad Over Donuts aka MOD” in India. We had a MOD close to where I used to work back in India, and it used to be our go to place for treats at least once a couple months and I absolutely loved their varieties. Then came the fateful day when a Krispy Kreme opened in the vicinity and my friends couldn’t stop gushing over the donuts there. I chose my loyalty to MOD’s Double Trouble never bothering to even try Krispy Krème. Then I came to the US and finally gave in to Krispy Kreme magic, and yes it was magic! We were sometimes treated with Donuts in our college classes, and I noticed often my classmates choose donuts for breakfast over bagels. This made it clear that donuts were a part of American life, but it wasn’t until recently that I knew donuts are actually an American dish (thanks to an episode of ‘Great British Bake Off’). Apparently, it is such an American thing that Red Cross Service Clubs during 2nd world war served Donuts to American soldiers to give them the comfort of home since they were fighting in Europe, away from home. Traditional donuts were actually a gift to the US by the Dutch settlers in New York, who modified the Dutch Olykoeks (oil cakes) by filling them with jam – no holes, just fried dough coated in sugar and filled with jam. And then in late 1930s, Krispy Kreme came with the first set of variations of fillings and shapes of donuts, making donuts famous all over the country. Now donuts are famous all over the world and even in the US the world of donuts has a lot more prominent players like Dunkin Donuts and Doughnut Project, but I finally get what is the craze of Krispy Kreme donuts! And, other than the famous chains try out Voodoo Donuts in Portland and Supermoon Bakehouse in New York, and literally any place in Los Angeles which is called the donut capital of USA! Basically, when in US, forget calories and get a donut!

Strawberry Rose Cobbler (source)

4.  Cobblers – Last year, I had apple cobbler for the first time ever in Texas. Till then I didn’t even know what a Cobbler was. I still remember when I saw ‘cobbler’ in the menu at the Homewood Suites I was staying at, I asked the chef if it contained yogurt, and she replied, “No dear this is just a cobbler, apple cobbler”. Embarrassed a bit, I told her I had only heard of peach cobbler once (an episode of Friends!) but never tried it, so was not sure what it contained and she was more than happy to tell me how a cobbler was made – just to convince me there was no yogurt in it and to convince me to take a big portion of the dessert. And oh boy, how scrumptious was this heavy, fruity pudding! Cobblers are created by combining fruit or "cobbling" fruits with generous amount of biscuit dough and dry fruits and baked like a pie. This was what she told me, and later I did a bit of my own research and found there were actually made from peach or vegetables in the southern states by farm owners as part of main meal and not dessert. But now a days, it is mostly made from fruits, with peach taking the crown and apple, strawberry and cherry following close behind. I have only had the apple version of cobblers but can’t wait to try out a peach cobbler with ice cream and would recommend you try the same if visiting South Eastern USA!

Funnel Cake

5.  Funnel Cake – In an attempt to end this series with a fun dish, I bring to you the funnel cake from the funfairs of the US! Funnel cakes are made by pouring batter into hot cooking oil in a circular but still sort of random pattern from a funnel like structure, deep frying until golden-brown, removed and coated with powdered sugar, chocolate syrup and sometimes cinnamon, and that is it. The origin of the dish is sometime credited to Persian Zolbiya (Jalebi) or the French Choux Pastry or Beignets. But it came to the US with the Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants in form of Drechderkuche and in the 1940s, this dish evolved into the funnel cake we know today courtesy baking powder. Frankly, the only place I can recommend is any of the pop-up shops near Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia to try this super simple yet super yum dish, but it is very common in regional carnivals and fairs, and I too had it for the very first time during an autumn harvest festival. I am not sure if it was the chilly weather that made this piping hot cake so irresistible or if it was the combination of cinnamon with chocolate and strawberry preserve that made it totally scrumptious – but no matter the reason, Funnel Cakes are something I will totally recommend when in the US!

Believe me I wanted to go on and on with this list – after all America has given us lovely desserts like pies, sundaes, brownies and chocolate chip cookie and it is also the land where interesting and unique desserts like Florida Alaska or Baked Alaska which is a baked toasted meringue ice cream cake (fancy right) and lemon and coconut bar which are a cross over between a brownie and a shortbread with lemon or coconut custard (it is as yum as it sounds). But okay, I will not overwhelm you like the menus I had mentioned earlier. So, here is my small sweet list for you to enjoy at home during these trying times and plan your United States Trip a little better when the world finally goes back to normal!

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