Treats Around the World

All around the world, December is a month full of holidays in all different cultures. Many different traditions come along with the holidays, whether it is playing a specific game, giving gifts, or making different recipes. Over this month I have tried different recipes from across the world that are traditionally made during winter holidays. 

The first recipe I tried was Brigadeiro, which is a traditional Brazilian holiday treat. This treat is a fudge-like ball coated in chocolate sprinkles. I found this recipe overall easy to make. It only consists of four ingredients all of which were easy to find at the grocery store. This recipe did not take very long to make, making it a great last-minute dessert. The most interesting thing for me to see while making this recipe was seeing how the dough formed. Within minutes it went from a liquid consistency to a sticky dough. The only challenge I had when making this recipe was waiting until the dough was cool enough to roll and coat the balls. One of the most important parts of making a new recipe is taste. So I had friends and family tell me what they thought. Overall the people who tried this recipe really enjoyed it. However some said it was very rich, so if you are not a huge fan of chocolate this recipe may be a bit strong for your taste. 

The next recipe I tried was Mexican Buñuelos. Buñuelos are like fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar. The dough itself for this recipe did not take very long and was also relatively easy to make. This recipe did have more ingredients than the Brigadeiros but the ingredients for this recipe are -in my opinion- more commonly found in a household. Although the actual making of this dough was easy, cooking it was challenging. The first couple of buñuelos I cooked, my oil was too hot so the dough burned within seconds. I turned down the heat and let the oil cool a bit before cooking more. The next couple cooked well and did not burn, but I was then faced with my next challenge removing the dough from the oil. Many of the Buñuelos broke in half when I removed them from the oil or when I went to dip them in cinnamon and sugar. This recipe also got great reviews taste-wise. The only thing people disliked about the Buñuelos was that they were a bit sweet but many said they would make the perfect treat to share with a friend.

The last recipe I made is Pepparkakor. Pepparkakor or piparkokur is an Icelandic pepper cookie similar to a gingerbread cookie except a bit softer. I found this recipe easy to make as well. These ingredients were less common, specifically some of the spices I had to use but I was still able to find them at the grocery store. The biggest part was that you had to refrigerate the dough for at least six hours which made this the recipe that took the longest amount of time to make. The biggest tip I found to make it easier to roll out and shape the dough would be to make sure your surface is well-floured before rolling out the dough to ensure it does not stick. People again said they really liked this recipe and thought it tasted great. Many people said they loved the taste of all the spices together. 

If you would like to try any of these recipes there will be samples in Mrs. Lee's room (447) on Friday, December 22nd. (Limited available!)