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Traditional Southern desserts bring back reminders of church socials, family picnics, and town gatherings. Memories of picking up pecans from the yard, pulling a few sweet potatoes from the root cellar, or running to the market for a couple of bottles of food coloring for that special occasion.

One of the things that pulls together all traditional Southern desserts was the purpose for them sharing them with others. This meant that the ingredients usually needed to be readily available, and relatively cheap in a large quantity. Common ingredients were flour, sugar, lard or butter, and eggs, with extras' from the garden or trees to create that unique flavor that could only come from the South.

The other thing that pulls the following five traditional Southern desserts together the competition. At every church social, Southern women were in an informal competition with each other, to see who could come up with a slight twist on a theme, that could get the whole town talking about that special cake, pie, or candy.

A mainstay Southern dessert, usually for family gatherings, was bread pudding (which a true Southerner pronounces puddin'). Bread pudding was a way to use day-old (or older) bread, and turn it into a delicious treat. In New Orleans, a whisky sauce is drizzled over each portion, while in Georgia, a creamy vanilla sauce is served.

A common garden staple was the sweet potato, which would grow well even in some of the worst soils. It was readily available, and added a natural bit of sweetness to any dish in which it was included. Sweet potato pie could be served all year round, since the base ingredient, sweet potatoes, could be stored in root cellars for months at a time, until the next crop came up.

Something else common across the South is the pecan tree, with its soft, semi-sweet nuts. The entire family could literally go out in the yard, and pick up enough pecans for snacks, or to whip up one of the two desserts that epitomize Georgia, the jewel of the South.

Pecan pie is usually made in the fall, when the pecans are fresh off the tree and soft in the shell, and turning on the oven for baking finally possible with the end of summer's heat. Usually served at fall festivals, with everyone waiting for that first large forkful to savor the flavor.

Pralines are a pecan candy, set about during the winter holidays for guests to sample, or suitable as a special gift in a specially selected tin. Many a Southern home has a special weekend set aside for holiday candy making in early December each year, and pralines are a staple in the mixture of confections. Pralines require a simple set of ingredients, but take care, they also need for a careful hand on the temperature to get the texture perfect. Since they are made long after growing season, dried pecans are perfect.

Last, the most special of traditional Southern desserts the Red Velvet Cake. Controversy surrounds whether or not this is truly a Southern invention, but there is no doubting that it has been incorporated into the Southern holiday tradition. With its trademark bright red coloring, this smooth and chocolaty cake almost falls into the category of a confection.

Learn more about this author, W Thomas Payne.
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