mercredi 21 août 2013

South African Pastries And Desserts

By Helga Stokes


any different countries, the United States included, have no clue what African cooking even involves. African cuisine is a flavor packed variety of food that is often highly nutritious. In South Africa, more specifically, a very unique style of food has evolved that includes seafood, wild game, soups, stews and some great desserts. With British, Indian, French, German and Dutch cultural influences, amazing food is abound, especially when it comes to South African pastries.

Items such as koeksisters, which are similar to a fried doughnut, are among most people's favorites. Another common favorite is melktert, which is a custard based pastry that was most likely influenced by Dutch settlers. The name itself use Dutch terms combine with those that originated in Africa.

Melva pudding is another popular dessert in the region. It is almost cake like in appearance and consistency, but instead o frosting has a sauce that contains condensed milk poured over the top. Most South African treats contain milk and eggs, which were both very common in Dutch settlements many years ago.

Soetkoekies are another famous dessert from the region, although some have difficulty considering them a dessert. They are basically biscuits that are spicy and contain almonds and port. The spicy notes do not come from peppers or the like, but rather ingredients such as cloves, cinnamon and ginger.

Crunchies are probably the most popular sweet treat that comes from the area. They are cookie bars made from oatmeal and shredded coconut pieces. Their popularity can easily be compared to the popularity of chocolate chip cookies in countries like the United States. The recipe calls for simple pantry staples that most people keep on hand at all times. They also contain milk, just as many other recipes do, due to the Dutch influence in the region.

Peppermint Crisp tart is another highly popular regional dessert. The main ingredient in it is Peppermint Crisp chocolate, which is a candy bar sold in South Africa and Australia and manufactured by Nestle. The recipe also calls for Tennis biscuits, which are a coconut based cookie common to the area as well. These two ingredients will be hard pressed to find in some parts of the world, but many online retailers carry them and ship worldwide.

Krakelinge are a cookie popular to the area. The ingredients include very simple pantry items as well as almonds, just like many of the other desserts from the area. However, krakelinge do not resemble traditional cookies in their appearance. They are actually more similar to biscotti in both shape and texture. The big difference in the two is the way in which they are sliced, which is a thicker and more square shape.

There are numerous South African pastries and desserts to be made. Almost all of them use basic ingredients and do not involve any labor intensive steps. There are a few common ingredients, such as almonds, that are seen throughout South African desserts. Although many ingredients are the same in these recipes, the taste of each is uniquely different.




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