Geography Project- Delicious Desserts of the World!

Description;


I have a big sweet tooth and love baking so I thought the idea of learning about different countries across the globes culinary delights would be an interesting and fun topic to choose for my geography assignment. Every week I will be writing about a different countries unique dessert. I will put the recipe of this dessert into my blog too such that you can try them at home. Some weeks I will make the dessert and post pictures of it on my blog to show you how it works out. Enjoy!...

• Sweden:

Sweden is famous for its delicious pastries and desserts. My first dessert is Princess Cake or Prinsestarta in Swedish. It cosists of sponge cake, whipped cream and marzipan.Its name came from the Swedish princesses who were said to love it. Heres a picture of one:

•  America:

Americans love desserts and sweet things. Here is an all time favorite traditional American dessert, the Pecan Pie. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S cuisine. The pecan nut was used commonly by the Native Americans in there cooking. Then when the French colonized the South of America they incorporated it into a pie. Here is a quick and easy recipe for Pecan Pie...

Ingredients

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
3. Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.

• Indonesia:

In Indonesia desserts are usually eaten as afternoon tea. One example of a cake Indonesians commonly eat is serabi. Serabi is like a pancake but only cooked on 1 side and can be eaten for breakfast also. Here is a recipe for it...


Ingredients:

• 150 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 200 ml coconut milk, light
• 100 ml water

Sauce

250 ml coconut milk, light

• 50 g coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pandan leaf
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced

Directions:

1. Mix the coconut milk, water, salt and egg together.
2. Add the sifted flour and baking powder and mix through the wet ingredients. Set aside while you make the sauce.
3. Place all the ingredients except the fruit into a pan and heat until the palm sugar is melted. Add the sliced fruit and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Heat a fry pan and spray with oil. Traditionally serabi is made small, about 2 tbsp of batter per cake but you can make them larger. Cook like a pancake and cook on 1 side only, do not turn the cake.
5. Remove from heat. To serve spoon some sauce into a shallow bowl and then place the serabi on top so they float.

• Australia:

Australia's  food is famous for its simplicity. Due to its rugged terrain and size it is and was very difficult to get food from one place to another. Meaning that most food was non perishable so was made to last for a long time. Here is an example of a good Australian classic.

The "Friand" is a small, moist cake  made with almond meal and flour.Through the years the Friand has become a popular treat in the Australian cafe scene
In this recipe the friands are topped with fresh raspberries which give them a tart and colorful finish. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of castor sugar
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup of almond meal
• 4 egg whites
• 125 butter, melted
• 1/4 cup of raspberries, quartered

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Grease mini tins. Set aside

1. Combine castor sugar, flour and almond meal in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg whites and stir well with a wooden spoon. Add the melted butter and stir well to combine all the ingredients.
2. Spoon the mixture into the tins so that it reaches 3/4 of the way up the side.
3. Press several pieces of raspberry into the cake mixture in each tin.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden. Test the cake by skewering a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean the cake is ready.
5. Remove cakes from the oven and cool in tins for about 4 minutes. Gently turn the cakes out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.
6. Sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving.
7. To store, keep friands in a air-tight container for up to a week.

• Syria

Although it is not well known to most people, Syria is a huge fan of sweets and desserts. Some common sweet treats are dates and prunes, suggared almonds and various other richly spiced fruits and nuts.


Baklawa is a popular Syriand dessert similar to the Greek Baklava. It consists of nuts and fruit commonly found in Syria and sounds like a really tasty treat!
Heres the recipe... 

Ingredients

• 1 pound filo pastry
• 1 pound unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound walnuts, ground
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• dash cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon rosewater
• For the Syrup:_
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

1. Thaw the filo pastry and cut to fit pan 
2. Make the filling with the walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and rosewater.
3. Butter the pan, then place two filo sheets onto the bottom. Butter these. Sprinkle with thin layer of walnut mixture. Place another filo pastry down, butter, and sprinkle with walnut mixture again. Continue this pattern with 1 or 2 pastries, butter, walnuts until you end up with 2-3 filo sheets. Place remaining walnut mixture on top, buttering each layer.
4. Cut into 24 squares and bake at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes (mine took 37 minutes), until lightly browned.
5. Make syrup while pastry is baking. Boil syrup ingredients for up to 45 minutes, watching carefully to prevent browning or burning. This can happen fast, so be careful. I boiled mine for 35 minutes. 
6. When pastry is done baking, remove and immediately cover with syrup. Allow to cool completely (about 2 hours) and to allow the syrup to absorb into the pastry.

         

• Jamaica:

The island of Jamaica in the Caribbean has plenty of coconuts, rum and most commonly the banana or "plantain" used for breakfast, dinner and dessert in Jamaica. That is why I chose this dessert as it is a common everyday sweet for all Jamaicans.

Blue Drawers is one of Jamaica's most colorful food names. It's also known as Tie-a-Leaf or Duckunoo. Traditionally, Blue Drawers is made by wrapping cornmeal and other ingredients in a piece of banana leaf, and tying with a piece of bananabark before cooking. The banana leaf gives a blue tinge to the final product. 

Ingredients:

2 cups cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
banana leaves/aluminium foil
banana bark/string


Recipe:


Mix all dry ingredients and grated coconut together. Add coconut milk and vanilla, and mix well.Place about 1/2 cup of mixture unto the banana leaf or foil. Fold up the sides to make a secure parcel.Tie with banana bark or string.
Drop into boiling water. There should be enough water to cover the parcels. Simmer for about an hour.
Remove banana leaves (and foil, of course) before eating.