Desserts

The final course served at meals, dessert is most often a prepared sweet, such as pudding, pie, or cake, although fresh fruit, nuts, or cheeses may be served. The word “dessert” derives from the French desservir, “to remove what has been served or clear the table,” and was popularized in England after the restoration of Charles II in 1660. The English also adopted fashionable French desserts and incorporated them with the traditional sweets that, by Tudor and Stuart times, were served in England as a final course at formal meals. Both traditions were transported to North America, where colonists, using native fruits and other ingredients as well as imported foods, replicated many of the familiar desserts of home.