well-known desserts

From childhood treats to a grandparent's favorite recipes, beloved foods are deeply personal. This seems especially true of desserts, which often take pride of place at celebrations and traditional holidays.

For all the nostalgia of sugary treats, though, some sweets rise above local flavors. Head to any country to find tender slices of Italian tiramisú at the bottom of cafe menus or sniff out the creamy scent of Hong Kong's dan tats in cities around the globe. In the unofficial elections of the stomach, both have been voted to a permanent place in the world's food hall of fame.

And like dan tats, many of these recipes aren't desserts at all -- the eggy tart is more often eaten as an afternoon snack. The idea of serving a sweet at the end of a coursed meal is relatively recent, and in some destinations, including Africa and Asia, desserts are a foreign import.

But with food, like language or culture, determining what's "foreign" turns out to be complicated. Tiramisu relies on chocolate, coffee and sugar that arrived in Italy through global trade, while Hong Kong's most iconic sweet has roots in the Portuguese age of exploration.