Sweet American Dreams

Ambrosia Salad comes from Southern US. It is a dessert that is often part of potlucks and a Christmas tradition in the South. The dessert is made with pineapples, mandarin oranges, coconut, and mini marshmallows. It can also include strawberries, bananas, pecans, cherries, whipped cream, yogurt, or cottage cheese.

American Babka has European roots particularly Polish. This dessert is a sweet, yeasted Bundt-shaped bread mixed with chocolaty swirls and a chocolate filling.

Apple Dumpling is a dessert that originated in the Pennsylvania region. A dumpling is filled with apples, butter, sugar, and cinnamon, and can include raisins. After baking it is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Baked Alaska originated in New York City, New York. It is a dessert that has a sponge cake base topped with ice cream and the ingredients are surrounded by a browned meringue.

Banana Split is a classic dessert. It is prepared with bananas cut lengthwise and topped with scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream. All this is garnished with chocolate syrup, nuts, fruit, and whipped cream, and topped with a cherry. Traditionally it is served in a long dish called a boat.

Blueberry Cobbler is a deep-dish fruit dessert prepared with fresh or frozen blueberries with a biscuit crust topping. It is often prepared for the 4th of July celebrations. The blueberries are combined with lemon juice and vanilla. Then sprinkled with sugar and flour and a spoonful of melted butter is stirred in. The batter is prepared with flour, baking powder, and sugar. Butter is crumbled in and milk is added to make a moist dough. The batter is placed on top of the blueberries and baked until the top is golden brown.

Boston Cream Pie is a dessert that is actually a cake. It consists of two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla custard and topped with a chocolate glaze.

Bourbon Balls come from Kentucky. These sweet treats consist of bourbon, pecans, wafer crumbs, butter, and chocolate. The ingredients are mixed together and formed into round balls. They are usually eaten during festive holiday seasons.

Brown Betty is a New England classic. It is a traditional dessert made with spiced fruit layered with sweetened and buttered breadcrumbs. The fruit can include apples, berries, pears, rhubarb, or even thinly sliced bananas. The dessert is baked until the fruit is tender.

Butter Cake comes from St. Louis, Missouri. This is a delectable and gooey cake. It is made with wheat flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. It is garnished with powdered sugar and some raspberries.

Caramel Cake is a traditional layer cake with southern roots. Layers of buttery yellow sponge cake are stacked one on the other with sweet caramel icing or frosting between them and all over the outside of the cake. The cake batter consists of butter, flour, eggs, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract.

Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie comes from the New England states region. Slices of juicy apples and sharp cheddar cheese are layered between flaky pastry on the top and the bottom in a pie pan. It is a delicious combination of sweet apples and savory cheese.

Cheesecake Brownies are deliciously thick and fudgy brownies with a tangy cream cheese filling.

Chiffon Pie originated in Los Angeles, California. The pie has a zesty lemon-flavored filling. It has a light mousse-like filling made with egg whites and sits on a crispy shell of graham crackers.

Cronut is a New York City creation. It is a dessert that is something between a croissant and a doughnut and has a soft and creamy interior. This treat is fried in oil, filled with cream, rolled in sugar, and glazed on top.

Cupcakes are delicious little cakes baked in thin paper molds or aluminum cups. They can be made with various flavors and topped with sweet delicious frostings of different kinds.

Devil’s Food Cake is a delectable chocolate cake. It is prepared with a batter made with baking chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. It is moist and delicious with the taste of rich chocolate in every bite.

Dirt Cake is a no-bake dessert. It is a combination of Oreo cookies, pudding, and whipped cream on top. Gummy worms are placed on top of the cake with whipped cream as decoration. The pudding can be any kind of flavor and other ingredients that can be used are vanilla wafers and cream cheese.

German Chocolate Cake is an American invention. It is a delicious cake that consists of three layers of buttermilk sponge cake and chocolate.

Grasshopper Pie is a Southern favorite. The pie has a crust made with cookie or graham cracker crumbs but can be made with a base of Oreos, desiccated coconut, and butter. The filling is prepared with heavy cream flavored with crème de menthe, a sweet mint-flavored liqueur, and melted marshmallows.

Icebox Cake is a delectable dessert that is prepared with heavy cream, sugar, chocolate cookies, or wafers. The whipped cream is whipped until stiff and then the cookies are added creating layers of whipped cream and cookies and chilled in the fridge overnight.

Indian Pudding comes from New England and is a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. The pudding is prepared with cornmeal, water, molasses, butter, and eggs. It is flavored with spices, fruit, and nuts.

Key Lime Pie is a sweet and sour dessert that originated in the Florida Keys. It is made with aromatic Key lime juice, condensed milk, and eggs mixed together into a custard. The ingredients are poured into a butter crust made from graham crackers.

Lady Baltimore Cake is an American classic originating in Charleston, South Carolina. The cake consists of several layers of white sponge cake with a rich, frosting mixed with chopped nuts and dried fruits like raisins, figs, and dates. This cake is prepared with egg whites only.

Lane Cake comes from the state of Alabama and is also called Prize Cake and Alabama Lane Cake. The cake consists of a sponge cake filled with coconut, raisins, custard, and bourbon. Once baked the cake is topped with a fluffy frosting.

Malasadas come from Hawaii. They are traditional Portuguese yeast-leavened doughnuts made with eggs, flour, sugar, and milk. They can be coated with granulated sugar or cinnamon.

Maple bacon donuts are an American invention. They are usually served for breakfast or as a dessert. A delicious donut is glazed with maple syrup and topped with a few slices of bacon. It is most popular in California, Nebraska, and Oregon.

Mississippi Mud Pie is a well-known dessert. It has a cookie crust that is filled with biscuits, ice cream, pudding, whipped cream, liqueur, and marshmallows. It is prepared in layers and topped with almonds, pecans, chocolate syrup, or marshmallows.

New Jersey Blueberry Muffins are prepared with a sweet and soft cake mixed in with succulent blueberries and baked in muffin tins.

New York-style Cheesecake is a special dessert that has a heavy dense texture. It is made with heavy cream, eggs, vanilla, cream cheese, and sour cream on a base of sponge cake crust or graham cracker crust.

Pecan Pie originated in the South. It is made with a thin pastry crust filled with a mixture of eggs, butter, flour, brown sugar, syrup, or molasses and halved or chopped pecans. After baking the pie should be the consistency of a thick custard and have a caramel taste.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a classic dessert. It is made with a layer of pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, brown sugar, and butter covered with a cake batter and baked. Once done the cake is flipped over so that the pineapples are on top.

Red Velvet Cake is a traditional cake usually made for Valentine’s Day and Christmas. It is prepared with a batter that got its red coloring from boiled beets but today red food coloring is used. The cake batter is made with buttermilk, vinegar, eggs, sugar, butter, baking soda, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. The cake comes out light and fluffy and is covered by French-style butter roux icing.

Shaker Lemon Pie comes from the Ohio Shakers. The pie has a flaky buttery crust. It is filled with a curd-like citrus filling that consists of sugar, eggs, and lemons. Ginger or blackberries can be added.

Shoofly Pie comes from the state of Pennsylvania. It is a deliciously sticky, dark pie. It is prepared with a filling made with molasses, brown sugar, butter, and a crunchy crumbly topping.

Strawberry Delight is a dessert salad popular in Minnesota. It is made with cream cheese, graham crackers, milk, strawberries, and strawberry gelatin. Canned pineapple, walnuts, or marshmallows can be added. The ingredients are combined and put in the fridge to set.

Texas Sheet Cake is a delicious dessert prepared with buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, sugar, flour, butter, and cocoa. After baking the cake is topped with a crunchy icing with pecan pieces. It is a moist and gooey cake.

Watergate Salad comes from the Midwest. It is a delectable summer dessert that is a combination of mini marshmallows, pecans, and chunks of pineapple in a base of pistachio pudding.