Do You Know What These Fancy Desserts Are Called?

A crème brûlée, also called burnt cream or Trinity cream, is a classic French dessert. It consists of a rich, vanilla-flavored custard base decorated with a layer of hardened, caramelized sugar using a small propane torch.

A macaron, also known as French macaroon, is a sweet, meringue-based confection that is usually presented as a sandwich with buttercream, ganache or jam filling. It is made with egg whites, granulated sugar, icing sugar, food coloring, ground almond or almond powder.

Also called a sweet baguette, an éclair is an oblong choux pastry filled with custard (vanilla, chocolate, coffee) or cream (whipped or chiboust) and then topped with fondant icing. An éclair with caramel icing is usually referred to as bâton de Jacob.

Profiterole, also known as choux à la crème or cream puff, is a French choux pastry ball filled with custard, pastry cream, whipped cream or ice cream. The puffs may be left plain or decorated and garnished with caramel, chocolate sauce or powdered sugar.

A soufflé is an 18th-century French dish which is named after the past participle of the French verb "souffler," which means "to puff" or "to breathe." It is made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites, flavored with chocolate, jam, berries, lemon, banana, herbs or cheese.

A mousse is a soft prepared food which, depending on the technique, ranges from light and airy to thick and creamy. A mousse may be sweet or savory and is made with whipped cream and whipped egg whites. A dessert mousse may contain one or more flavorings such as chocolate, caramel, coffee or vanilla.

Not to be confused with pain de Gênes, a genoise is a sponge cake named after the Italian city of Genoa. It is a whole egg cake and is known for its elastic and somewhat dry texture. Genoise is often served with buttercream frosting and may be soaked with liquid syrups or liqueurs.

A croquembouche or croque-en-bouche is a French dessert that is often served at weddings, first communions and baptisms in Italy and France. It is made with choux pastry balls stacked together in a cone shape and bounded with threads of caramel.

An opera cake is an elaborate layered cake which was invented in France. This dessert consists of layers of almond-flavored sponge cake with coffee and ganache buttercream in between, topped with a chocolate glaze.

A madeleine is a French traditional sweet cake which originated in the Liverdun and Commerce communes in the Lorraine region. It is a small sponge cake with a shell-like shape made from genoise batter and flavored with finely ground nuts, typically almond.

Pralines are a type of confection of which there are two main types. French pralines are a firmer variant made with caramelized sugar and almonds, while American pralines are creamier and softer, resembling fudge and made with milk or cream, syrup and pecans, hazelnut or almonds.

Cannoli is an Italian pastry which consists of a tube-shaped shell made of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy ricotta filling. This dessert originated on the island of Sicily and is a staple of Italian-American and Sicilian cuisine.

Crème caramel, also known as caramel dessert, flan or milk leche, is a small, molded custard dessert topped with a layer of caramel sauce. It may be served warm or cold with garnish. There are many variations produced in different countries, including Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba.

Panna cotta, which means "cooked cream" in Italian, is a molded dessert made of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and flavored with coffee, vanilla, rum, spice or other flavorings. It may be served with caramel or chocolate sauce or a coulis of berries.

A beignet is a French pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry or other types of dough, such as yeast dough. It is popular in New Orleans where it is prepared as a breakfast dish, served fresh and hot and dusted with powdered sugar.

Invented in the 1960s, tiramisu, meaning "cheer me up" or "pick me up," is an Italian dessert made with layers of lady fingers dipped in coffee and a whipped mixture of sugar, eggs, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

Zabaione, or zabaglione, is an Italian dessert made with light custard, whipped to incorporate a large amount of air. It is also a beverage consisting of egg yolks, sugar and sweet wine, typically Marsala wine or Moscato d'Asti, served with beaten egg white or whipped cream.

Semifreddo is an Italian class of semi-frozen desserts with the texture of frozen mousse. It is often called an ice cream cake, despite containing neither cake nor ice cream. This dessert includes egg, sugar and cream, and it has a Spanish counterpart called semifrio.

Mile-feuille is a French pastry commonly referred to as custard slice, vanilla slice or Napoleon. Traditionally, it consists of two layers of puff cream and three layers of puff pastry. The top layer may be glazed with fondant or icing or dusted with confectioner's sugar.

A Bundt cake has a distinctive ring shape, due to the Bundt pan which was designed by H. David Dalquist in 1950. It may be served with ice cream or a fruit concoction in the center and dusted with powdered sugar or glazed with icing.

Tarte Tatin is the signature dish of Hôtel Tatin, created during the 1880s. It is an upside-down pastry made with a puff or shortcut pastry and fruits caramelized in butter and sugar. Apple is usually the preferred fruit, though pears, peaches or pineapples may be used.

Amandine is a type of Romanian layered sponge cake filled chocolate, caramel and fondant cream (chocolate buttercream and fondant), though almond cream may be used. It is finished off with a glaze consisting of fondant, chocolate, and rum or rum essence.

A meringue is a light, airy and sweet confection made with whipped egg whites and sugar, flavored with vanilla, almond or coconut. Optional ingredients include a binding agent (salt, gelatin or cornstarch) and an acidic component (lemon, vinegar or cream of tartar).

Truffles are bite-sized chocolate confections that are usually round but may be formed in a variety of shapes. They consist of a chocolate ganache center dipped in chocolate, then dusted with cocoa powder or coated with nuts, coconut, sprinkles or chocolate shavings.

Kouign-Amann is a Breton cake originating in the Brittany region of France. It is a round, multi-layered cake with layers of butter and sugar folded in. The original recipe calls for bread dough, though viennoiserie (yeast-leavened dough) is a common option.

Burgundy pear, also known as poire à la Beaujolaise or pear in wine, is a traditional dessert of the region of Beaujolais, France. The dessert is prepared by poaching the peeled pear in red wine with sugar or honey, spices and zests (cloves, a vanilla pod, peppercorn and cinnamon stick).

A chiffon cake is a very light cake which combines the methods of making sponge cakes and conventional cakes. It consists of vegetable oil, baking powder, flour, sugar, eggs and flavorings, and may be baked in a tube pan or layered with frostings and fillings.

A chouquette is a type of choux pastry made with small pieces of dough baked until golden brown and then decorated with pearl sugar. This French dessert may be covered in chocolate chips or simply dipped in chocolate syrup.

A charlotte, also known as icebox cake, is a type of trifle or dessert which may be served hot or cold. It is assembled in a mold, filled with bread, sponge cakes, cookies or biscuits, along with a fruit puree, custard or mousse filling.

A custard tart or tarte, also called flan pâtissier, is a dessert which consists of an outer pastry crust filled with an egg custard and then baked until golden brown. Modern variations usually consist of shortcrust pastry, eggs, cream or milk, sugar and vanilla, then sprinkled with nutmeg.

A bombe glacée, or simply bombe, is a French ice cream dessert characterized by its hemispherical shape that resembles a cannonball. It also refers to any ice cream confection shaped by a mold or any frozen dessert such as mousse, sherbet or sorbet.

Mont Blanc is an Italian dessert which is popular in France, Italy, Japan, Hungary and Slovakia. Named after the Mont Blanc mountain, this dessert consists of pureed, sweetened chestnuts topped with whipped cream.

The tres leches cake, also called the pan tres leches or three milks bread, is a sponge cake (or butter cake in other recipes) soaked in a mixture of three types of milk - namely condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream.

Galette is the collective name used for a variety of French cakes or waffles with a flat, round or freeform crusty appearance. It is commonly garnished and served with ingredients such as egg, cheese, fish, meat, berries, cut vegetables or apple slices.

A shortcake is a sweet cake or biscuit usually made with flour, sugar, salt, baking powder or baking soda, butter, milk or cream, and occasionally eggs. The American variant is a biscuit or crumbly bread that has been leavened with baking powder or soda.

The Paris-Brest is a French pastry invented in 1910 for the celebration of a cycling event that ran from Paris to Brest and back to Paris. It consists of a choux pastry filled with a hazelnut custard, decorated with powdered sugar and flaked almonds.

The baba au rhum, also known as rum baba, is a small yeast cake made with eggs, milk and butter, and soaked in hard liquor - often rum - and sometimes filled with pastry cream or whipped cream. This dessert was introduced to France during the 18th century in the Lorraine region.

Flummery is a sweet, starch-based, soft dessert pudding which was popular in Ireland and Britain starting in the 17th century. This word is also used to refer to other semi-set desserts. A flummery can be flavored with fruits such as lemon, orange, raspberry or blackberry.

A bonbon is a bite-sized confection or sweet that can stand alone, coated in chocolate at the end of the candy-making process. Types of bonbons include chocolate cookie dough, peanut butter ball and coconut ball dipped in chocolate.

A clafoutis is a French fruit dessert, traditionally made with black cherries, prepared in a buttered dish and covered with a thick, flan-like batter. It is called a flaugnarde when fruits other than black cherries (apples, pears, cranberries, blackberries, plums or prunes) are used.