The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur.

Historically, the dessert course consisted entirely of foods "from the storeroom" (de l’office), including fresh, stewed, preserved, and dried fruits; nuts; cheese and other dairy dishes; dry biscuits (cookies) and wafers; and ices and ice creams.

[8] Herodotus mentions that Persian meals featured many desserts, and were more varied in their sweet offerings than the main dishes.

[12] Sugarcane was grown and refined in India before 500 BC[13] and was crystallized, making it easy to transport, by AD 500.

In the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and China, sugar has been a staple of cooking and desserts for over a thousand years.

[16] The Industrial Revolution in Europe and later America led to the mass-production of foodstuffs, including desserts, that could be processed, preserved, canned, and packaged.

Other common ingredients in Western-style desserts are flour or other starches, cooking fats such as butter or lard, dairy, eggs, salt, acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, and spices and other flavoring agents such as chocolate, coffee, peanut butter, fruits, and nuts.

The proportions of these ingredients, along with the preparation methods, play a major part in the consistency, texture, and flavor of the end product.

Fats contribute moisture and can enable the development of flaky layers in pastries and pie crusts.

Many desserts also contain eggs, in order to form custard or to aid in the rising and thickening of a cake-like substance.

Further innovation in the healthy eating movement has led to more information being available about vegan and gluten-free substitutes for the standard ingredients, as well as replacements for refined sugar.

Common flavorings include dried, candied or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa or extracts.

Cake is often served as a celebratory dish on ceremonial occasions, for example weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays.

Small-sized cakes have become popular, in the form of cupcakes and petits fours, an example of which can be the Portuguese "bolo de arroz".

Some examples of this dessert include a ginger nut, shortbread biscuit and chocolate chip cookie.

Confection, also called candy, sweets or lollies, features sugar or honey as a principal ingredient.

Gulab jamun is an Indian dessert made of milk solids kneaded into a dough, deep-fried, and soaked in honey.

Jellied desserts are made with a sweetened liquid thickened with gelatin or another gelling agent.

In English-speaking countries, many dessert recipes are based on gelatin with fruit or whipped cream added.

Pies and cobblers consist of a filling enclosed by a crust, which can be made from either pastry or crumbs.

Outside of Cantonese-speaking communities, soupy desserts generally are not recognized as a distinct category, and the term tong sui is not used.

There is widespread use of rice flour in East Asian desserts, which often include local ingredients such as coconut milk, palm sugar, and tropical fruit.

[30] In Ukraine and Russia, breakfast foods such as nalysnyky or blintz or oladi (pancake), and syrniki are served with honey and jam as desserts.

The issue de table includes fruit, nuts, pastries, jellies, cheese, and cream.

[35] In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the dessert stage of the meal consisted entirely of foods "from the storeroom" (de l’office), such as fresh, stewed, preserved, and dried fruits; fruit jellies; nuts; cheese and other dairy dishes; dry biscuits (cookies) and wafers; and, beginning in the mid-18th century, ices and petits fours.

[40] Also in the 20th century, sweet dishes from the kitchen, such as freshly prepared pastries, meringues, custards, puddings, and baked fruits, which had traditionally been served in the entremets course, came to be included among the desserts.

[43] Some of Mexicos favorite desserts are Flan, Paletas, and Pastel de Tres Leches.

[48] Several desserts in Chile are prepared with manjar, (caramelized milk), including alfajor, flan, cuchufli and arroz con leche.

[51] Desserts consumed in Ecuador include tres leches cake, flan, candies and various sweets.

[54] The rise of companies such as Food Network has produced many shows which feature desserts and their creation.