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Sweet Treats
Have you ever wondered where our love of desserts came from and how they became such a huge part of our dining experience? We’ve uncovered a few tasty facts on the nation’s favourite sugary finale and share our top five with you here.
Sugar and desserts have a long history in India: by around 500 BC, people in India had developed the technology to produce sugar crystals. In the local language, these crystals were called khanda, the source of the word candy. The word ‘dessert’ originated from the French word desservir, meaning ‘to clear the table’, referring to the fact that dessert was served after the table had been cleared of other dishes.
Dried fruit and honey are widely considered the world’s first sweeteners, but the spread of sugarcane was essential to the development of dessert. Grown and refined in India, sugarcane was crystallized for easy transportation and by AD 500, it was regularly traded, boosting its worldwide availability.
The Industrial Revolution in Europe and later America led to the mass production of foods, including desserts, that could be processed, preserved, canned, and packaged. This led to the peak popularity of frozen desserts in the 1920s.
Sugar is an essential baking ingredient, contributing flavor and tenderness, but it’s a team sport. Flour provides protein, giving the dessert structure, while fats add moisture and enable flaky layers in pastries and pie crusts. Meanwhile, dairy products keep the desserts moist, with eggs acting as rising and thickening agents.
Today, desserts are more popular than ever, and here at Hand Picked Hotels, our talented chefs take great delight in serving these delicious delicacies straight to your table – the only problem is which one to choose!