The tradition of drinking Caribbean cocoa tea is believed to have originated in Soufriere, St. Lucia, in 1833. Tea leaves were hard to come by at the time, so the town made use of the cocoa and sugar naturally available to them. Cocoa sticks, made from freshly picked and dried cocoa beans, are grated and steeped in boiling water, at which point sugar and spices are added. Condensed milk is then added to thicken the texture.

In 2010, popular Japanese confectionary brand Meiji unleashed the Hokkaido Cheese Chocolate bar, replacing the milk in the chocolate production with cheese from the Hokkaido region. In 2012, the company released the Premium White Chocolate bar, an unconventional fusion of white chocolate and cheese. Both concoctions proved to be curiosities on store shelves, but neither novelty snack is sold today.

The Nanaimo bar is a quintessentially Canadian dessert named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. The no-bake treat traditionally consists of three layers: a graham cracker crumb and shredded coconut base, rich and sweet butter icing in the middle, and a layer of decadent chocolate ganache on top. While its exact origins are unclear, it was first called the Nanaimo bar in a Vancouver newspaper column in 1953.

Champorado is a thick rice pudding that’s a staple in many Filipino households. Despite its rich texture and flavor, it contains few ingredients: bittersweet chocolate, sticky rice, water, and sometimes sugar. The versatile dish, often drizzled with condensed milk, is popular as a breakfast food, afternoon snack, or as a warm dessert.

The traditional frozen Czech treat misa is made with quark — a curdled cheese similar to cottage cheese. The quark is mixed with heavy cream, covered in a layer of chocolate, and frozen and served like a popsicle on a stick. Invented in 1961, the misa has expanded to include a variety of frozen desserts including a waffle ice cream cone similar to North America’s beloved Drumstick.

German chocolate cake is known for its light chocolate flavor and rich coconut-pecan frosting. However, the name is deceiving — it comes not from a German origin but rather from Sam German, who invented a sweet baking chocolate for the Baker's chocolate company in 1852. In 1957, a Texas homemaker sent her cake recipe featuring German’s Chocolate into a Dallas newspaper. The recipe, which soon proved popular, became known as German chocolate cake.

The chocolate-flavored coffee drink we know as a mocha was inspired by the bicerin, a sweetened and flavored beverage invented in the 18th century in Turin, Italy. But the name “mocha” comes from a coastal city in southwest Yemen, which was once a booming coffee hub. The mocha bean from this region has a dark and aromatic flavor and coffee drinkers have long appreciated its natural chocolate-forward flavor profile.

The earliest published recipe for cheese fondue comes from a Swiss cookbook in 1699. Chocolate fondue — the dessert version of the dish — is a relatively recent invention. It was first made in the early 1960s by a Swiss-born New York chef. The invention came together thanks to a partnership with a New York publicist, who was working on launching Toblerone chocolate bars in the United States.

When Smarties were originally released by British confectionary brand Rowntree’s in 1882, they were called Chocolate Beans. The small, rainbow-colored, candy-coated chocolate chocolates were renamed Smarties Chocolate Beans in 1937, and soon after, were known just as Smarties. The U.S. also has a snack named Smarties, but that name was already trademarked by a sugary tablet candy.

Plátanos en mole is considered Guatemala’s signature dessert. The sweet and complex mole sauce is made of tomatoes, peppers, chocolate, and various spices. It is served over pan-fried plantains with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Although its exact origins are unknown, some say the dish was created over four centuries ago in the kitchens of the Guatemalan oligarchy.

Traditionally, this traditional French treat consists of a crisp chocolate round topped with nuts and dried fruits. Each of the toppings is a nod to one of the four orders of mendicant monks originating in the Middle Ages. Raisins were used for the Augustinians, hazelnuts for the Carmelites, dried figs for the Franciscans, and almonds for the Dominicans. Modern mendiants can be topped with just about any ingredients, though dried fruits and nuts remain the go-to.

Although Kinder Surprise eggs were invented in Italy, when it came time to name them, the German word for children — kinder — was given to the chocolate treat. Kinder Eggs are known for containing a surprise toy inside their hollow chocolate shell. The idea came to Michele Ferrero, of the Ferrero candy company, in 1968, after he was inspired by the Italian Easter tradition of adults giving children chocolate eggs with toys inside.

Potatoes may seem like an odd addition to a cake, but the chocolate potato cake has been a staple in Ireland and beyond since at least the 1930s, when the Great Depression forced many to make do with what they had. Some recipes call for cooked and mashed potatoes, while others simply peel and grate them into the batter raw. The cake is said to be rich and moist enough that it doesn’t traditionally need icing.

Pocky was invented by Yoshiaki Koma and first released by the Ezaki Glico candy company in Japan in 1966. The original chocolate-covered biscuit stick was so popular that the company came out with an almond version in 1971 and a strawberry flavor in 1976. The name of the treat was inspired by the snapping sound the crisp biscuit stick makes when eaten.

The Olmecs, one of the earliest civilizations in the Americas, were the first to use the cacao plant for chocolate. Although they left no written records, traces of theobromine — the stimulant compound found in chocolate — were discovered in their ancient pots and other vessels that date back to about 1500 BCE. It’s believed they drank their chocolate for ceremonial purposes, similarly to the Maya people who came after.

Cadbury has been manufacturing chocolate in the United Kingdom since 1831, when John Cadbury opened a commercial warehouse in Birmingham, England. The Dairy Milk chocolate bar was launched in 1905. By the end of World War I, it was the company’s biggest seller, and by the 1920s, it had taken over the country’s confectionery market. It still reigns as the U.K.’s bestselling chocolate bar.

Tim Tams were introduced to Australian shelves in the 1960s and have been a regional staple in Australia and New Zealand ever since. A Tim Tam consists of two chocolate malted biscuits with a light chocolate filling and a chocolate coating. They were inspired by a popular British snack called the Penguin biscuit, and were named after the 1958 Kentucky Derby’s winning horse, Tim Tam.

Matterhorn, one of the most recognizable mountain peaks in the Alps, is also well-known around the world thanks to its spot in the logo on Toblerone chocolate bars. Toblerone was created by Theodor Tobler in Bern, Switzerland, in 1908. He gave the chocolate bar a distinct triangular shape, which, according to legends, was inspired by the mighty Matterhorn.

The classic chocolate chip cookie was invented by accident in Whitman, Massachusetts, in 1930. Husband and wife Kenneth and Ruth Wakefield were running the Toll House Inn when Ruth decided to add some chocolate into her classic butterscotch nut cookie recipe. She only had a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar on hand, which she assumed would melt into the batter, but the chunks held their shape — and thus the Toll House chocolate chip cookie was born.

With a rich history of chocolate making, it’s no surprise that Switzerland consumes the most chocolate in the world on a per-capita basis. The average Swiss person consumes 22 pounds of chocolate per year, followed closely by Austria at 20 pounds per person. Switzerland is also home to the world’s largest chocolate museum — the 65,000-square-foot Lindt Home of Chocolate.