A culture is defined by its language, its traditions, and its cuisine. After all, the food people eat depends on what grows in the area, though their dominant worldview and traditions shape what they’re willing to eat and how they prepare it. This results in wildly different menus even in countries raising the same crops. We tend to invest the most in sweet treats, whether they’re the final course of a meal or treats literally served for special occasions. Here are sweet treats from around the world you must try.
Turkish Delight
The main ingredients of Turkish delight are sugar and a starch like cornstarch. You can find many different recipes that add additional flavorings. Middle Eastern recipes often call for lemon juice, rosewater or bergamont. People might add walnuts, dates, hazelnuts or other nuts to the mix. It is often dusted to prevent the squares of Turkish delight from sticking. Whether that’s dried coconut meat, sugar or cream of tartar depends on the cook.
Mango Sticky Rice
This traditional Thai dessert uses a different method for cooking one of the staples of Asian diets: rice. You aren’t trying to create fluffy rice such that they are almost dry. Instead, you want a thick rice mixture that resembles rice pudding. It could be boiled in water, but locals often go with coconut milk. And then there’s the mango. The mango is diced and served on the side.
Ferrero Rocher
Ferrero Rocher is an Italian chocolate and hazelnut treat. It consists of a dense ball of hazelnut cream surrounded by a thin layer of crisp chocolate. It is definitely a step up from traditional chocolate bars. These premium treats are often sold with each treat wrapped in its own gold wrapper. The Sweet Hamper Company offers hampers or gift baskets full of Ferrero Rocher for you to enjoy.
You could pair it with real Italian hot chocolate. They make real hot chocolate. What do we mean? Their version uses real melted dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder. It is mixed with whole milk and sugar. It is generally topped with a little cream called panna.
Maple Taffy
Maple taffy originated in Canada. The taffy is made by boiling pure maple syrup. Traditionally, it was then poured on clean snow to cool and harden. As it solidified, it was rolled onto a stick like taffy, hence the name.
Castella
Castella is a Japanese dessert with European origins. It is a type of sponge cake sweetened with honey. Unlike European sponge cake, no butter is used to make it. It is made from bread flour, eggs, honey and sugar.
Tres Leches Cake
Tres Leches cakes were developed in Mexico. It gets its name from the fact that three different types of dairy are used to make it: condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream. Each layer is made from a different milk product. The recipe does include flour, baking powder, butter, sugar and eggs. One popular theory for the dessert is that it was promoted by Nestle to help sell more canned and powdered milk.
