The Desserts Worth Every Calorie: a World Tour of Sweets

Sugar is the universal language. From the burnished caramel of a Parisian creme brulee to the cloud-soft sponge of a British sticky toffee pudding, every culture on Earth has developed its own answer to the question of how to end a meal well. These ten desserts represent the best of the world's sweet-making traditions — dishes that have been perfected over centuries, that taste of specific climates and specific histories, that carry the memory of a grandmother's kitchen or a cafe table in a foreign city. Each one is worth the indulgence, and none of them can be rushed.