“Let them eat cake!” This popular French saying holds true especially on October 14, aka National Dessert Day! Calories don’t count today, so make sure to pick up that box of donuts you’ve been thinking about all week. Cash in those kale salad points and reward yourself with the a warm sugary glaze. You’ve earned it!
The origin of the word dessert comes from the French “desservir,” a word which here means “to clear the table.” This, of course, referenced the dish that came after the clearing of the main dishes served as part of the meal. The earliest references to the term dessert being used are in the 1600s and arrived at the same time as the concept of serving a meal in courses, letting each part of the meal be its own experience.
776 BC – The Ancient Greeks are believed to have invented cheesecake as a sort of energy booster served to athletes during the Olympic games. Brides of the time would also cook and serve the sweet treat to their wedding guests.
1300 – Filo dough is first used. This base for all sorts of delicious sweets is recorded as having been filled with different nuts and spices, though they may have been serves as appetizers as well as dessert
1381 – Though the common metaphor is used to describe the highlights of American culture, the first written recipe for apple pie came from England.
1600 – The first known use of the word “dessert” was in 1600, in a health education manual entitled Naturall and artificial Directions for Health, which was written by William Vaughan.
17th Century – First dessert cookbook is made. As New World plantations lower the price of sugar, more recipes for sweet dishes are explored.
17th Century – According to food historians, the precursors of modern cakes (round ones with icing) were first baked in Europe sometime in the mid-17th century. This is due to primarily to advances in technology (more reliable ovens, manufacture/availability of food molds) and ingredient availability (refined sugar).
1645 – French pastry apprentice Claudius Gele accidentally invented puff pastries after adding too much butter to his bread dough.
1691 – First recipe for crème brûlée is recorded. England, Spain and France all make claims on this delicious dessert, but the first printed recipe with this name is by a cook at the Palace of Versailles, in France
1700 – Eclairs with cream center and chocolate topping emerged
1700s – Protestant settlers in Pennsylvania created the sugar cookies we know and love today.
19th Century – The cupcake evolved in the United States in the 19th century, and it was revolutionary because of the amount of time it saved in the kitchen.
1847 – British company, J.S. Fry & Sons, makes the first chocolate bar from cocoa powder, cocoa butter and sugar.
1850s – The first printed recipe for apple pie was introduced
1876 – What we commonly call “Baked Alaska” was dubbed as such by the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City in 1876 to celebrate Alaska’s annexation.
1897 – Jell-O’s inventor hit upon the first successful gelatin dessert recipe in the course of his side work as a manufacturer of patent medicines like cough syrups and laxatives (he was a carpenter by trade). In 1897, LeRoy, New York resident Pearle B. Wait and his wife, May, added strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon flavoring — probably because they were already on hand from Pearle’s medicinal concoctions — and the original four flavors were born.
2001 — the year when Jell-O was declared Utah’s official snack.
2007 – The famous cafe in New York City, Serendipity 3, sets the record for the most expensive dessert ever: $25,000 for a chocolate ice cream sundae decorated with gold.
2013 – 2013 – 2 hours 45 minutes — the waiting time for buying a cronut in 2013.
FUDGE:
Before 1886, the origin and history of fudge is unclear, but fudge is thought to be an American invention
In the late 17th century, fudge was a verb meaning ” “to fit together in a clumsy or underhand manner.”
Then around 1800, the word was used to mean a hoax or cheat. By mid-century, the use of the term “Oh, fudge!” as a kid-friendly expletive had come into favor and was often used when something had been messed up.
It’s believed that the first batch of fudge was created when someone was trying to make caramels and “fudged” up. The name stuck.
Chocolate chips were invented after chocolate chip cookies.
The chocolate chip cookie is the most popular kind of cookie in America. 7 billion chocolate chips are consumed annually in the United States. That equals over 19.2 million cookies a day.
The “German” of German chocolate cake fame was a man named Samuel German, an employee of an American chocolate company.
The world’s largest gingerbread house topped out at 2,520 square feet and contained 35.8 million calories.
Girl Scout cookies were originally homemade.
Boston cream pie is actually a cake.
People in the Middle Ages ate preserved fruits, jelly and wafers for dessert.
The shelf life of a chocolate bar is one year
Pie was originally filled with fillings like meat or vegetables
For most centuries, puddings were meat based
In Italy, people still eat salad for dessert
Some of the top five desserts in America include brownies, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake and fudge
Sugar was not added to chocolate until hundreds of years after it had been discovered
Many cultures have their own variations of similar desserts around the world. For example, Mandel bread, usually associated with the Eastern European Jewish population and Italian biscotti are both hard cookies well suited to dipping in coffee.
Ten people in the United States have the last name Doughnut or Donut. It’s unclear whether “Doughnut” was their given last name, or whether they changed it out of passion for the pastry. Meanwhile, 13 people have the first name “Donut.”
2,520 square feet — the length of the world’s largest gingerbread house.
35.8 million — the number of calories in the length of the world’s largest gingerbread house.
9,000 pounds — the weight of the world’s biggest chocolate bar made in Armenia.
150,000 gallons — the amount of water mixed with chocolate and cream to create the chocolate river in the movie “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.”
$700 million — the worth of the pies sold every year.
18 pounds — the amount of chocolate eaten by the average Swiss citizen.
87,000 — the number of drink possibilities at Starbucks.
Sources:
Days of the Year
Mobile-Cuisine
Foodie on Campus
National Today
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