7 Holiday Desserts from Around the World

The holidays are a time to whip up special recipes to share with loved ones and, if you’re lucky, ring in the new year on a Royal Caribbean ship. In anticipation of indulging in a signature warm chocolate cake or creme brulee on board, we’re looking to several countries you can visit on a cruise for a sweet taste of the holiday spirit.

Here are popular sweet treats from around the world that can be the cherry on top of any holiday celebration, whether you’re cruising or at home for the holidays:

1. Fruit Cake, England

The fruit cake dates back to the Middle Ages, when Roman soldiers took it on the road as a well-preserved form of sustenance. When fruits from the Mediterranean arrived in England, fruit cake became an important part of British royal weddings. Historians are still unsure how it became a holiday staple, but you can bet it will still be the butt of Christmas jokes for years to come.

You can make fruit cake by soaking dried fruit in rum overnight and combining it with a zesty, nut-filled batter the next day. Or, you can hang tight for your great aunt’s annual fruit cake to arrive in the mail.

Savor the charm of England and beyond with a Royal Caribbean cruise through Europe’s most iconic destinations.

2. Buche De Noel, France

The Yule log and the buche de Noel have a rich history. In the 1600s, December saw many a Yule log burned in European households. Once hearths got too small for the large seasonal logs, people began using the hearths to make cakes instead. You can thank the Parisians for making the Yule log cake, or buche de Noel as the French call it, more popular during the 19th century.

The buche de Noel unsurprisingly resembles a Yule log—the rolled sponge cake is covered with chocolate frosting and decorated with elaborate holiday foliage, which is similar to the decor of the era.

3. Black Cake, Jamaica

In Jamaica, you can drink your rum and eat it too. The beginnings of black cake take place in the 18th century, when locals added rum to fruit pudding recipes popularized by English settlers. Though initially used for preservation, now that we have refrigerators, the rum adds a nice kick to a traditional holiday cake.

Black cake, which gets its name from the addition of browning—or charred brown sugar—is made by mixing dried fruit with a generous pour of rum. It may be different than what you eat around the holidays, but this seasonal treat is a time-honored tradition in Jamaica and many other Caribbean countries as well.

Sail to Jamaica and soak up the flavors, rhythms, and laid-back beauty of the Caribbean with Royal Caribbean

4. Butter Tart, Canada

The butter tart became one of Canada’s holiday specialties when a group of French women first arrived in Quebec, Canada, in the late 1600s. And as they say, the rest was history.

The dessert consists of butter, sugar, syrup and egg wrapped in a pastry crust, but Canadians often enter a heated debate when it comes to the addition of raisins. No written histories have been able to end the dispute, but don’t mind us, we’ll just have a tart or two until it’s settled.

Savor more Canadian flavors and local charm on a Royal Caribbean cruise through Canada and New England.

5. Sufganiyot (Jelly Donut), Germany

Though a form of the sufganiyot—or jelly donut—was first documented centuries ago in northern Africa, it wasn’t until 1532 that the Germans added jelly to the pastry and created the Hanukkah confection of today.

Making these treats at home, instead of grabbing one from your corner donut shop, will be a game changer. Fry up a fluffy batch of dough, fill each pastry with your choice of jelly and douse them all in powdered sugar. Make sure you grab a napkin—things can get messy.

6. Sugar Cookie, United States

The U.S. can claim the title for perfecting quite possibly one of the most versatile of treats—the sugar cookie. Protestant settlers of Pennsylvania are said to have first baked the cookie as we know it in the 1700s.

The base for this cookie is—you guessed it—sugar. It’s often topped with jelly, sprinkles, chocolate or frosting, and during December, you’ll see holiday-inspired designs on top of these sweet treats. Call us biased, but it’s no ranger cookie.

7. Pavlova, Australia And New Zealand

While the pavlova’s country of origin is largely debated between Australia and New Zealand, historians do agree that the dessert was named after the famed Anna Pavlova, a Russian prima ballerina whose tutu inspired the recipe’s creation in the 1900s.

Craving more sweet moments? Taste regional favorites and new delights on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Australia and beyond.