When I was about eleven, I was dead set on becoming a baker. I made business cards in Microsoft Word, and watched clips of Cake Boss for hours on end on Youtube. And yes, you are allowed to laugh at me. Although my dreams of becoming a baker have dissolved for the most part, I still really enjoy trying new recipes and playing around in the kitchen. My absolute favorite things to bake though are recipes from other countries and cultures. Researching the recipes, and learning about how and why they came to be has taught me so many lessons about so many countries. It’s also a super fun way to step out of your comfort zone and try cooking methods and ingredients you might not have thought to try before.
In this blog post I’ve curated some of my personal favorite recipes. All of these recipes use ingredients that for the most part can be found around the kitchen, and only require a beginner to medium skill set. I hope you enjoy and have an amazing time trying all these fun recipes and tasting your way around the world from right in your kitchen!
Please feel free to share your own recipes as well. I’ll be updating this blog post with new recipes as I find them so stay tuned! I still have lots of exploring to do…
OCEANIA
First on the list are these amazing Mini Pavlovas from Curious Cuisiniere.
This was my first time ever making a meringue but this blog post does an amazing job explaining everything you need to know. The pavlovas were a big hit in my house, and definitely something I look forward to making again soon and trying the real deal come February when I visit New Zealand.
Find the Mini Pavlovas Recipe Here!
SOUTH AMERICA
Alfajores are a lemony, sweet, soft, and crumbly heaven of a cookie that can be found around South America, particularly Argentina. One may never really think of putting lemon shortbread cookies, dulce de leche, and coconut together into one dessert but I promise you it makes so much sense. As well, I love this blog post by Muy Delish because it does a great job explaining how to chill and roll the dough for first time cookie makers.
Find the Alfajores Recipe Here!
These one of a kind brigadeiros are juusstt the right amount of sweet. Using only five ingredients, they couldn’t be easier to make. You can find these Brazilian chocolate fudge balls at all birthday parties and celebrations around the country. Rumor has it the brigadeiro was created in honor of Brazilian Brigadier Eduardo Gomes in the 40s. I find myself making these time and time again whenever I’m craving a little sweet treat.
Pro Tip: Coat your hands in butter when rolling out the fudge balls. You may not be able to pick anything up for a solid 15 minutes, but it makes rolling out the brigadeiros a million times easier. I promise it’s worth it.
Find the Brigadeiros Recipe Here!
AFRICA
Also from Curious Cuisiniere are these great Malawian Sweet Potato cookies, or Mbatata. Malawi is one of the smallest countries in Africa, located in the Southeast next to Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The country gets its name from the beautiful Lake Malawi, which takes up nearly a third of the country.
These cookies can also easily be made vegan by using a butter substitute. These cookies turn out amazing and I’ve gone on to make them a few times now.
Find the Malawian Sweet Potato Cookies Recipe Here!
EUROPE
I couldn’t begin to explain to you how amazing this recipe is. As someone from the south of Spain I love olive oil and this bread was everything I could have ever wanted. Pompe à l’Huile or Sweet Olive Oil Bread is a Christmas staple in the south of France and is one of the 13 desserts of Christmas. This was my first time ever making bread and using yeast, but this recipe by Saveur does a great job walking you through the process. I found it super interesting that in order to serve this bread you must break it off with your hands, as cutting it will break off the relationships you have with those at the table.
Go & Grow 