Okay, so I have many favorite things in Brazil, but the dessert cart tops the list.

Imagine yourself strolling down the street, stretching your legs after dinner and enjoying the evening air as it cools down into the night. Whether you’re in a big city, a sand-road little island town, or a cobble-stoned street in a historical colonial town, the scene is the same. You notice a group of people clustered around a cart of some sort, their faces aglow from the cheap fluorescent light beaming up as they gaze downward.

The approach. Paraty, Brazil

You see them pointing and talking excitedly, and as you approach you start to notice their energy is contagious. You step up as close as you can get and sneak glances between shoulders and heads and pointing arms, to see a cart filled with cakes and pies and dessert bars and puddings like you have never seen before! There are dozens of choices and you want them all, at least a bite of each and you wish you had at least 12 friends to share nibbles with and you wonder how you will even begin to decide which one you will have?!

The goods. Ilha Grande, Brazil

The broker. Ilha Grande, Brazil

That is a dessert cart in Brazil. I have still to taste all the options, but one thing I have learned is that each and every one tastes even better than it looks.

The transaction. Ilha Grande, Brazil