“Princesstårta,” or princess cake, is so popular in Sweden that the Scandinavian country designates the fourth week of September as “Princess Cake Week.” The recipe for the tasty cake originated in a 1948 cookbook and alternates between layers of sponge and pastry cream, with a thick top layer of whipped cream that is covered with bright green marzipan and powdered sugar.

Boston’s Omni Parker House Hotel has served its signature Boston cream pie to visitors ever since the dessert was invented and served at the hotel’s grand opening in 1856. Originally called “chocolate cream pie,” the pie featured a silky icing that fashioned a new way to eat chocolate, which was still eaten mostly in puddings at the time.

The recipe for Canada’s beloved Nanaimo bars originated in the town of the same name on Vancouver Island, located off the coast of British Columbia. The three delicious layers include a crust of chopped almonds, shredded coconut, and graham cracker crumbs; a layer of vanilla custard; and a topping of thick chocolate ganache.

The first recipe for cheese fondue dates back to 1699, when Alpine farmers in western Switzerland melted hardened cheese with wine and garlic, then dipped stale bread into the mix. The dish gained popularity in the 18th century and took on several variations. Swiss chef Konrad Egli is credited with inventing chocolate fondue when he was working in a New York City restaurant called Chalet Suisse in the 1960s.

Ruth Wakefield, the innkeeper at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, is credited with creating the first chocolate chip cookie around 1938. Legends abound about the source of inspiration — some suggest that the chocolate was added because the inn ran out of sugar, or that the chips got into the cookies by accident — but the truth is likely a little simpler, given that Wakefield was already known as a cookbook author before she debuted her new cookie concept.

Faced with a shortage of cocoa after World War II, Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker from Piedmont, Italy, created a sweet paste by combining hazelnuts and sugar — with only a small bit of cocoa. Pietro Ferrero’s son Michele modified the recipe in 1964 and created the first-ever jar of a new spreadable hazelnut-and-cocoa cream called Nutella that quickly gained in popularity.

A stroll through the city of Lisbon will bring you past many pastelarias (pastry shops), where the main attraction is often the pastel de nata, a delicious Portuguese egg tart. The dessert dates back to the 16th century, and the recipe is simple: a puff pastry filled with a rich, creamy custard.

Chocolate can be traced back to the region that is now Mexico, where cacao plants have been cultivated since at least 1900 BCE. The Olmec peoples created the process of roasting and grinding the beans, then mixing with water, honey, vanilla, and chili peppers to create a bitter drink. Maya and Aztecs believed that the benefits of chocolate were god-like. Spanish conquerors transformed the drink into the sugary substance we know today.

The birthplace of the Renaissance was also the birthplace of modern gelato (the origins of which trace back 12,000 years). The name “gelato” literally means “frozen.” Some attribute the first gelato to alchemist Cosimo Ruggieri, who served it to Florence’s famous Medici family, while others credit architect Bernardo Buontalenti for inventing modern gelato with his egg cream gelato (gelato alla crema d’uovo).

The “fig” part is relatively straightforward — figs are used to make the filling in these sumptuous cookies — but what about "Newton"? The Boston-based Kennedy Biscuit Company purchased the cookie recipe from Philadelphia baker Charles Roser in 1891. The company named its products after nearby towns, and they chose Newton, located seven miles west of downtown Boston, for the new cookie.