European sweets
The geography of Europe is as diverse as possible. Moreover, most of the states located on its territory are developed countries with a rich history. The New Year in each of them is celebrated in a modern way, but with ethnic motives.
In Romania and Bulgaria, for example, pies with fruit fillings are served at the sweet table instead of cake. Their peculiarity is their small size, which is maintained so that each guest gets a separate sweet. And this is not done without reason. The cook hides a surprise in one or more pies - a bitter or salty filling. According to legend, anyone who gets a surprise pie will be blessed with good luck in the coming year.
The German New Year's table has been decorated with an "apple plate" for many centuries. Baked apples are placed on a special dish painted with bright colors. They are topped with syrup or caramel and generously sprinkled with chopped nuts and steamed raisins. The subtext of the dessert is this: the apple is the fruit of knowledge, and the nuts, with their hard shell and tasty center, are a symbol of the difficulties of life that lead to wealth. Traditional German desserts also include gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies.
Not a single New Year's table in France is complete without freshly baked crusty bread and national pastries: profiteroles and croissants. Open pies baked from chopped dough and brioche are also served for dessert.
The cuisine of Spain was formed under the influence of different cultures. And the dishes served here on New Year's Day are distinguished by a variety of ingredients. For dessert in Spain they bake polvoron - Andalusian shortbread. But the favorite sweet for the Spaniards, without a doubt, can be called turron - a sweet pie made from honey and egg whites with the addition of nuts and candied fruits.
Interestingly, this dish was originally Italian. In sunny Italy itself, the role of decorating the sweet table is played by chiacchiere - shaped thin and crispy cookies, strewn with powdered sugar.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were previously one state, are characterized by similar traditions in celebrating the New Year. So apple strudel should definitely be served on the sweet table. Each housewife bakes it according to her own family recipe, the secret of which is not revealed to outsiders. This sweet is a source of pride for the owners of the house, which all guests should definitely try.
New Year's gingerbread
A fun and delicious dessert - gingerbread with ginger. It has a special spicy taste. In Europe and America, they have long become a bright sign of the New Year holidays.
You will need simple ingredients that every woman has in her kitchen. A glass of flour 250 g; One egg; Pack of butter; Half a cup of powdered sugar; A tablespoon of honey - it will give a special taste; Half a teaspoon of soda; A pinch of salt; Seasonings: 2 tsp. ginger; 1 tsp cinnamon; Molds without a bottom for cutting out figures or just round ones.
We take all seasonings in a powdered, ground state - you can grind them in a coffee grinder or mortar yourself. Prepare the butter by leaving it out of the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Honey should also be prepared - it should be fluid, and if it is thick, then heat it a little, it will become more liquid.
Mix seasonings with baking soda and a pinch of salt (note that salt is a natural flavor enhancer, so the baked goods will not become less sweet). Now add flour to the dry seasoning mixture and mix.
In a food processor or mixer, beat the butter, powder, egg and liquid honey. Now add flour and seasonings. Mix at low speed with a food processor or mixer; you can even notice the dough at this stage with your hands. It will be soft and sticky. Wrap the finished mixture in film and chill in the refrigerator for an hour to make it easier to work with.
Divide the cooled mass in half: return part to the cold, roll out half with a rolling pin on the sheet where we will bake: on parchment or a silicone board-mat.
The figures should be about five millimeters thick - they will be soft and gingerbread-like. If you don't like the way the dough sticks to your rolling pin when you work it, cover it with another piece of parchment.
Now let's make the baked goods curly. We cut out the figures using molds. Move them away from each other: it will increase in size during baking.
Transfer the figures on the sheet to a baking sheet and into the oven preheated to 180 degrees. Bake for five minutes, during which time roll out the rest of the dough and cut out shapes from it.
Within half an hour after you remove the baked goods from the oven, keep them on the table or plate.
Unpredictable Asia
In Cambodia, where the average income level of people is low, for the New Year they buy sweets that are most loved by all family members. They are laid out on a beautiful plate and placed on the window to show off to the neighbors.
In Tibet, even New Year's baking is approached philosophically. From year to year, the housewives of this area bake real mountains of pies with unimaginable fillings, the variability of which is limited only by their imagination. Interestingly, the family does not eat the pies, but distributes them to passers-by. And it doesn’t matter whether they know the person or not. It is believed that the increase in wealth in the house will be proportional to the number of desserts distributed.
In Japan, only those dishes that are designed to bring happiness are prepared for the New Year's table. The traditional sweet here is roasted chestnuts, which are sure to attract success in the workplace. While eating them, the Japanese do not speak loudly or listen to music, so as not to be distracted from thinking about the future. There are also mochi rice cakes filled with fruit and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
New Year's sweets from around the world
New Year is a truly international holiday. It is celebrated by residents all over the planet. Dishes on this day are prepared specially, with meaning. The culinary traditions of Easterners, Europeans or Americans are naturally different. The only thing that New Year can never do without is all kinds of sweet treats. Children are generously presented with sweets, and at home celebrations, dessert traditionally ends the feast.
Each country usually serves its own national dishes, so after preparing national sweets, you and your whole family can go on an impromptu culinary “trip.” Agree, it’s educational, pleasant, and most importantly, very tasty. So, what do housewives on different continents put on the New Year's (Christmas) table as dessert?
Australians prefer a light meringue cake named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. New Zealanders even included dessert in the list of their national values.
Temperamental Italians love to enjoy the most delicate, rich “Pannetone” cupcakes made from yeast dough, with the addition of candied citrus fruits, vanilla, and chocolate. They are prepared here for Christmas or Easter.
The Greeks simply love melomakarona honey cookies flavored with spices. This dessert is worth making, and its taste is appropriate, well, very New Year’s.
The Germans prepare their traditional Christmas cake, Stollen, almost a month before the holiday. It is believed that only over a long period of time is it able to fully reveal the aromas of the spices included in the recipe.
Poles, however, like most of us, prefer simple and tasty dishes. For dessert, they serve cottage cheese cookies “kolachki” filled with jam.
The French know a lot about fine cuisine. Their favorite Christmas dessert is log cake, which, by the way, strongly resembles a Soviet-era confectionery product with the same name.
The Swedes make do with fragrant bread on New Year's Eve, the Dutch prefer to serve donuts, and the British spoil their family with traditional ginger cookies.
Discreet UK
The main New Year's sweet in England has been pudding for many centuries. Instead of flour, bread crumbs are used to prepare it. And before serving, the dish is generously poured with rum and set on fire. The flaming dessert, seen by a European for the first time, makes an amazing impression. But the taste of the pudding is quite specific and not everyone likes it.
The traditions of Ireland are influenced by the Catholic faith. Therefore, the New Year is celebrated here with candles, in a quiet, but fun, family way. The Irish New Year's dessert is called seed cake - these are cookies or muffins with caraway seeds. They have a spicy unusual taste. In addition, pudding with fruit is always baked for the sweet table.
In Scotland, New Year's Day is called Hogmanay. The national sweet here is oatcakes. They begin the meal on the morning of December 31 and end dinner on New Year's Eve. They are baked in the shape of a circle with a small dimple in the center. The Scots believe that an oatcake that breaks during baking portends trouble. Therefore, they are prepared very carefully.
American continent
In the USA, sweets are the most purchased product during New Year's week. It is customary not only to treat guests with them, but also to decorate houses and decorate the festive table. Classic dessert options include cane-shaped lollipops, painted with white and red stripes, and all kinds of sweet snacks. But the first place in popularity is undoubtedly occupied by chocolates.
Traditional Canadian desserts include chocolate, cookies and gingerbread houses. A slightly more original treat from this region is Christmas logs. These are shortbread cookies that are baked in the shape of small cylinders. On the holiday table, it reminds us of the truly Canadian inhabitants - lumberjacks.
Some peoples of the American continent still maintain the tradition of hiding coins inside the dessert. In Mexico they are baked in special pies - rosca de reyes. So be careful when trying New Year's sweets there! The dessert is ring-shaped and decorated with candied fruits. The lucky person who finds the coin will become richer in the coming year.
Applies to sections: New Year's sweets Sweet table Gingerbread house
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