In the United States, the sweeter the dessert is, the better it is. All the desserts sold here may not be our inventions, but we’ve certainly put our own spin on a wide variety of foreign classics — so much so that some of the most popular desserts have become synonymous with the United States. Check five of the most popular and mouth-watering desserts of America here:
Massachusetts’s Boston Cream – Pie
Originally called Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie, it has been on the historic hotel’s menu ever since. The extravaganza consists of two layers of cake sandwiching thick vanilla custard and glazed with chocolate. In Boston, favorites range from Mike’s Pastry shop in the Italian North End to Harvard Square’s Sweet bakery, where the desert has been downsized into a trendy little cupcake.
Maryland’s Smith Island Cake
Some call it an architectural marvel—thin, buttery rounds of cake stacked high and stuck together with fudge frosting. Locals simply call it a Smith Island cake. Taste the cake itself at the Smith Island Baking Company. Beyond the island, many places along Maryland’s Eastern Shore serve up the dessert, including the Watermen’s Inn in Crisfield.
South Dakota’s Kuchen
Baked like a cake, kuchen goes well with coffee, especially when you’re traveling the two-lane highways in northern South Dakota; kuchen is a sweet dough usually filled with fruit. Now found throughout the state, kuchen became South Dakota’s official dessert in 2000.
Florida: Key Lime Pie
Pepe’s Café in Key West serves the Key lime pie with whipped cream on top, while the funky Blue Heaven heaps the dessert with airy meringue. The famous confection, named after the tart Key lime, is served everywhere, including the souvenir mecca Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe.
New Mexico’s Biscochito
Step inside the tiny Golden Crown Panadería in Albuquerque to sample a complimentary biscochito. Fragrant, infused with anise, the flaky shortbread coated with cinnamon is the state’s official cookie as proclaimed by law in 1989. Today, enjoy the cookie at Santa Fe’s Chocolate Maven Bakery and Café with a mug of Maya chile hot chocolate.