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JAPAN Sweet Peanut Mochi

(Rice Cakes)

This dessert is eaten particularly during the Japanese holidays of New Year and Children’s Day. It was dough made of sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour) and ground up peanut paste. Then the dough was spread on cheese cloth and placed on a cooling rack over a pot of simmering water and covered by a lid. Then it is kneaded, cut and formed into flat circles with honey on them. They did not have that strong a taste, only tasting of peanut a little bit. They also were not too sweet and were quite chewy. They reminded me a lot of the cow tail candy part that surrounds the cream, only this was worse. My dad then did an experiment where he flattened each rice cake and fried them in a frying pan with oil. Now they were crisp on the outside, but still chewy on the inside. Although much better, I still did not love them. I do not think I will make these again.

  

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KAZAKHSTAN Baursaki

(Fried Doughnuts) These were enjoyable to make and I made them with my brother Galen. It called for wet or cake yeast, but I could not find it anywhere so I had to convert the recipe to dry active yeast. They were fairly simple to make. I mixed the dough, kneaded it, and let it rise. Once oil is heated the balls of dough are plopped into it. They sizzle a lot at first and then calm down. I would occasionally turn them over so they would be cooked evenly on both tides. When they achieved a deep golden brown I took them out and then let them drain on a paper towel. I had to sprinkle sugar on them as soon as I pulled them out otherwise the oil would seep into the dough and the sugar would not stick. Unlike a Dunkin Doughnuts, These were not as sweet and were much denser; they just were not very fluffy. Maybe if I had kneaded them longer they would have been fluffier, however, they were still tasty.

  

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KOREA Sesame-Seed Cookies

Of the Asian desserts, this one is the best. It was like sugar cookie dough with sesame seeds mixed into it. Then it is rolled in tin foil, or I used wax paper, and then placed in the freezer. Once stiff it is pulled out and I cut slices of it creating round cookies that were then baked in the oven. I actually ended up having to make it twice because instead of putting two tablespoons of water in, I put ¾ cup of water in, which is supposed to be the sugar amount. Therefore my dough was way too runny. Finally after I had struggled to roll it in the paper, and carry it to the freezer without it oozing out the ends (which it did a bit), did I look at the recipe and realize my mistake. At least it was a simple recipe that I could easily remake it. The cookies were good and I took them to church where people enjoyed them. Although it says it is Korean I actually wonder if these really are traditionally from Korea. The actually dough seemed European while the sesame seeds were the only real Asian thing. Well, at least they were good.

  

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Laos Sankhagha Makou

(Pumpkin Pudding)

This dessert did not turn out too well. I mixed up the sugar, coconut milk, and eggs, poured it into the scooped out pumpkin and place it in the refrigerator, to bake tomorrow for thanksgiving. Then I baked it and the pudding was not firming up so I took the lid off. Now it got firm around the edges but the middle remained soupy. I kept mixing it up and finally it firmed up a bit. But it looked more like cottage cheese than pudding, and it did not taste good. It tasted a lot like egg, and I was the only one who even tried it. I do not know why it turned out so bad. Maybe if I had steamed it or not put it in the refrigerator overnight it would be better. Although it was a cute idea, I am not going to make this one again.

  

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Malaysia Inti-Puff

(Coconut Surprise)

For this dessert I made pie dough, rolled it out and cut circles from it. Meanwhile I cooked brown and white sugar with cornstarch over the stove and then placed coconut flakes in it. Then I placed a dollop of it onto each circle and folded over the edges. This created a cute smile shaped pocket which was placed in the oven to cook for a little bit. I took it up to the dorm where everyone seemed to love them. I certainly will make this one again. It was easy to make and quite delicious.

  

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MALDIVES Dhonkeyo Kajuru

This was a simple and easy dessert to make. I made the batter which I thought was so delicious. I kept dipping my fingers in it and eating it. I think that if I poured it on pancakes or something similar that it would have been delicious. For deep-frying them I used a deep fryer. I dropped little spoons of it in. Each blob gained a nice brown color and was interestingly shaped; they almost looked like little creatures. Unfortunately, I did not like the taste because of the cooked banana, but they were cooked all the way through and had a nice texture. My family liked them and I brought them to the girl’s dorm where they were also enjoyed.

  

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MARSHALL ISLANDS

Macadamia Nut Pie This was a delicious pie. For the pie shell I got a frozen one so I had to heat it in the oven so I could then press the coconut shavings into it. I was a bit worried that I would not be able to find any macadamia nuts but I found little bags of them in the baking aisle and they happened to have the exact amount I needed. I mixed everything together and poured it into the pie shell and then baked it. When it was finished the top was hardened and had a nice golden brown color. The only problem was the middle was still watery but I realized that this was okay because it was the corn syrup. The whipped cream was good because it had that slight flavor of coconut. The whole pie was delicious. I took it up to the girl’s dorm and they all loved it.

  

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NEPAL Kera Ko Misthanana

(Banana Pudding)

This was yet another banana pudding I made, but it was different from all the others I made. This was more the consistency of an actual pudding. It was banana and milk cooked in a double boiler with the rest of the ingredients. It said to dice the banana so I cut them length wise two times and then cut them into many little pieces. It said that if it began to curd, to pull it immediately off the burner. I think it began to curd a bit so even though there were still a few chunks of banana I removed it from the stove. It was by far the weirdest banana pudding of the three I have made. It was too soupy and too chunky. Although I did not like it very much, other people seemed to enjoy it. My uncle, Lock Brown, even said that this was the best banana pudding he had ever had. I know though that I will never make this again.

  

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PHILIPPINES Maja Blanco

(Coconut Cake)

This dessert was more of a pie than a cake. It was shredded coconut and butter mixed together and then pressed into a pie pan to create a crust which is then placed into the oven. The filling is mainly coconut milk, eggs, cornstarch and sugar cooked over the stove. It is then poured into the pie shell and refrigerated. I liked it a little bit; my mom liked the filling which was weird because she does not like coconut. I brought it up to church and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was easy to make and people liked it so I might make it again.

  

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SINGAPORE Sarikauja

(Coconut Custard)

This was a fairly easy dessert to make. I was surprised that I made the coconut milk instead of just buying it. Also I thought that I would add the coconut shavings to the custard but that is not what the recipe said. When I mixed everything together, I poured it into a pie pan and cooked it. I cooked it about twice as long as it said, because the custard was still too watery. It was okay, it tasted a bit like coconut but I think it would have been better it coconut shavings were in the custard. I took it up to the girl’s dorm and I they liked it.

  

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SRI LANKA Gingered Bananas

This was a simple and easy dessert to make. I cut each banana in half and placed them all in a pan. Then I sprinkled them with ginger and poured the sauce over them. They tasted okay. They were a bit too spicy for me but the lemon flavor was nice. My sister likes spicy food so she enjoyed them. I brought them to play practice and about half of them were eaten. Some people enjoyed them but many thought they were strange.

  

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THAILAND Tong Ek

(Golden Thai Cookies)

This is the first and I hope the only dessert that did not work at all. I even made it twice and the batter just did not get thick. I guess that is good considering how many desserts I have made, just think of all the desserts that could have gone totally wrong. This dessert consisted of coconut milk, brown sugar, cashew crumbs, egg yolks and jasmine essence cooked until it becomes thick. Then you turn off the stove and keep stirring until it becomes as thick as bread dough. Hmmm, well the second time I made it, it did turn out thicker than the first time, but it still did not get thick enough. I am not going to try and make it again at all. It’s weird because once it becomes thick like bread dough, you cut it into cookie cutter shapes and that’s it, you don’t even cook them. Also I had no idea what jasmine essence is, nor could I find it, so I just used jasmine tea instead. Well, I can assure you that I refuse to attempt to make this dessert again; it just does not work out for me. Oh well.

  

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VANUATU Banana Cake

This was another easy recipe to make. I found it interesting that coconut was in it but I think it made the flavor particularly tasty. I had to cook it extra long because the middle took a while to cook all the way through. By the time it finished, the top had a nice tan color. It smelled like banana bread and looked like it too. Its texture was that of moist cake, practically perfect. Although there is banana in it I actually liked it which is exciting. I attempted to take this up to the boy’s dorm because I need to give them some more desserts. Unfortunately, when I got up there the door was locked and nobody was at the front desk. Therefore, I took it over to the girl’s dorm instead. This dessert is a good one and I am sure I will make it again.

  

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VIETNAM Che Troi Nuoc

(Sweet Dumplings in Ginger Broth)

This definitely was the nastiest desserts I have made. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a picture of them. I will just have to describe them well. It was rice flour, both rice flour (gluten free) and sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour). There is a distinction between them! I took the dough and rolled it into balls. I should have covered the rest of the dough because it would dry out very quickly. Then I put a hole in the balls and placed a droplet of mung bean paste in it. These were split mung beans cooked over the stove with water and then mashed up. I could not find split mung beans so I used ones with shells still on them. This made it extra hard to mash them up and left little pieces of shell in the paste. Once in the rice flour ball I closed up the hole and then boiled them in water. Then I placed them all in the sugary ginger syrup to soak. They were very snug in the syrup and almost did not fit! They looked like tan hockey pucks, just slightly smaller. They did not taste good at all, the mung bean paste was disgusting and the rice flour part was way too chewy and thick. I think I should have made the walls thinner. The broth, syrup gave it a little bit of flavor but it was still extremely bland and not tasty or very sweet. I am positive that I will never make this dessert again!

  

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Middle East

  

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AFGHANISTAN Khatai Cookies

I got this recipe from a woman who knew a person from Afghanistan. These were simple cookies that were easy to make. It consisted of a batter that had flour, sugar, corn oil, and crushed cardamom. I was surprised how grainy the batter was; it looked and felt almost exactly like wet sand. Once baked, the cookies were very crumbly but good. I only could eat one at a time. My mom thought they tasted delicious. My parents took them to their Pause class and the people there seemed to enjoy them. I really appreciated how simple and fast they were to make.

  

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ARMENIA Paklava

This dessert is basically the same as baklava. This is because Armenia is in the Middle East. This region of the world along with North Arfrica has baklava or variations of it as a common dessert. Paklava has a few more ingredients, such as citrus peel and citrus juice. Although they are similar it did taste slightly different from the baklava. I think this tasted even better than baklava. The taste reminds me very much of sticky buns. I took this dessert up to the boys’ dorm, and I think they all enjoyed it. The next day Mr. Gruber told me how he found the dessert marvelously delicious. This dessert and baklava will definitely be made again. They are so tasty!

 

 

  

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AZERBAIJAN Shekerbura

This dessert took a long time to make. First the dough is made. One of its ingredients is powdered vanilla; I just ended up using regular vanilla extract. Then the filling was made and I used all three types of nuts because I did not have enough of one kind of nut. But I am glad I used them all because it added to the flavor. After I cut each circle out, I cupped it in my palm and put two tablespoons of filling in the center. Then I folded it in two and pinched together the ends creating a dumpling shape. I had to press extremely hard to get the ends together otherwise they would not stick. Then the seam where the sides are pinched together, is supposed to be twisted. It was quite challenging to get the hang of it and the first one I created the twisting was not great looking. Finally by the end I managed to twist them well and fairly quickly. I would basically take the end twist it in then take a pinch of dough right after and pull it out slightly and fold that over and repeat this all the way down the seam. Also, I do not own maggash tweezers, so I just left the top plain instead of trying to do the design. They tasted good but they were a bit too dry, I think they would have been even better if the filling had honey or apple in it. I took them up to contemporary church and everybody there loved them.

  

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BAHRAIN Lowzina B’shakar

(White Sugar Candy)

This dessert was simple but not as good as the other candies I made. If I were to make this again I would chop up the almonds. Also I would not put rose water in because it gave the candy a strange perfume flavor. Then I forgot to cut it while it was still warm so it shattered when I tried to cut it. Then the actual candy was so hard that it felt as though my teeth were going to be pulled out. If the almonds were cut in tiny pieces I think it would be easier to just suck the candy and it would be better. Overall I will make the walnut candy before I make this candy again.

  

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CYPRUS Ma’amoul (Filled Cookies)

This dessert was strikingly similar to the dessert from Azerbaijan only much easier. The dough was almost the same and the filling used almonds and cinnamon instead of cardamom. I basically made balls of dough and made holes in the middle. Then I put a bit of filling in and pinched the dough together. They were balls and I did not have to do the twisting decoration so they were much easier. I baked them a bit longer so they would get a golden color. They were also quite dry but still good. I took them to the girl’s dorm and they enjoyed them.

  

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GEORGIA Walnut Honey Candy

This is a simple, healthy and delightful dessert. It has walnuts, honey and ginger all cooked together. Then it is flattened out. I used oiled foil to flatten it just like with the sesame seed candy. It was delicious. I do not even like honey and I liked it. It was chewy but not too chewy. It tasted a bit like a sticky bun. I took it to play practice and everybody loved it. I certainly will make this again!

  

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IRAN Sholezard

(Saffron Rice Pudding)

I made this yellow pudding with Jency Boyce. We boiled the rice then added the cornstarch and saffron. Then it is boiled for much longer. We were supposed to add the sugar in with the saffron but we forgot. Thank goodness that we did eventually realize our mistake! After the rice is done boiling we added in the other ingredients. We did not have any saffron but my Nonna did, so we borrowed it. I was fascinated how each packet had just a pinch of it. We needed a ¼ teaspoon of it and we ended up using about five packets. It does make sense, though, because saffron is one of the most expensive spices. I was surprised how watery the pudding was; it looked a lot like oatmeal except yellow. I did not like the taste of it but Jency thought it was okay. Then we distributed it into paper cups and took it up to the dorm. I think they all thought it was pretty weird. One girl had dinner with her relatives and ended up taking some with her and her uncle actually loved it. The next day I was talking with Vienna Tompkins and she said she still could not decide if she liked it or not. This was definitely another strange dessert.