Alright, so someone threw this at me the other day, or maybe I just started thinkin’ about it, you know how thoughts pop in – desserts that start with the letter ‘H’. Sounds dead simple, doesn’t it? Like something you’d rattle off in two seconds flat. Well, let me tell ya, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole with this one, and it wasn’t as straightforward as I first figured.
My first thought, naturally, was Honey Cake. That’s a classic, right? Most people have heard of it, or even had a slice. So, check, one down. Then I sort of… stalled. My brain just buffered. You’d think with all the sweets in the world, a simple letter wouldn’t stump you. But it did. For a good few minutes, all I had was honey cake. Pathetic, I know.
My Little ‘H’ Investigation
So, I started to properly dig in. This wasn’t just a passing thought anymore; it became a bit of a personal challenge. I pulled out a couple of old cookbooks, the ones with the stained pages, you know the type. Flipped through them, lookin’ for anything starting with ‘H’ in the dessert section. Not much luck there initially. It’s all ‘Apple Pie’ this and ‘Chocolate Mousse’ that.
Then I moved on to the internet, which is usually a goldmine for this stuff. But even then, a lot of what came up felt like a stretch. You get lists, sure, but some of ’em are clearly just trying to hit a quota. Like, is “Happy Birthday Cake” a type of dessert starting with ‘H’, or just a cake for an occasion? I lean towards the latter, myself. It’s like saying “Hot Milk” is an ‘H’ dessert. Come on now.
I even bothered a few mates. Called up Sarah, who fancies herself a bit of a baker. Her first answer? “Uh… Hot Cross Buns?” Close, Sarah, but those are more of an Easter bread, aren’t they? And not strictly a dessert, though I’ve had ’em with custard. See? The lines get blurry. It’s a proper mess when you actually try to pin these things down.
Here’s a little list of what I eventually cobbled together, after a fair bit of what felt like actual research:
- Halva: Good one. That dense, sweet stuff. Definitely counts.
- Huckleberry Pie: Sounds lovely, but huckleberries? Not exactly falling off the trees in my neighborhood. Seems a bit niche.
- Haupia: This Hawaiian coconut pudding. I remember trying to make this once. It was… an adventure. Let’s just say the texture was more ‘H’ for ‘Horror’ than ‘Haupia’.
- Hot Fudge Sundae: Now, this caused a debate. Is it an ‘H’ dessert, or an ‘S’ dessert with a hot topping? My money’s on the topping being key, so I’ll allow it, grudgingly. Some folks get real heated about these distinctions, believe it or not.
- Hermit Cookies: Old-fashioned spice cookies. Heard of ’em, never made ’em.
And then you get things like “Heavenly Hash” which sounds more like an ice cream flavor or a candy bar filling. It’s like some desserts are just regular things with an ‘H’ adjective slapped on the front to fit a list. Hard Sauce too – that’s served with dessert, not the dessert itself! It’s all a bit cobbled together, isn’t it?
So, what did I learn from this little exercise in ‘H’ desserts? Well, for one, it’s a surprisingly effective way to burn an afternoon. But mainly, it just reminded me how we can get caught up in these silly little classification games. And how sometimes, the simplest-sounding things can be more complicated, or just more obscure, than you’d ever imagine. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Or maybe it just makes you hungry for some non-H-specific cake. Yeah, probably the latter.
