By Sinchana Holla and Sophie Schwarz
Mexico – Churros
A churro is a fried dough from Spanish and Portuguese cuisine. Although some people say a churro is almost the same as a donut, that is not true because churros have a distinct form.They are piped in a line rather than a circle and they are covered in a cinnamon-sugar topping. The distinct star shape comes from being piped from a churrera, a syringe-like utensil that features that unique shape. The fun part is deciding what to pair the churro with. They can come with cinnamon, chocolate, or caramel.
Morocco – Saikouk
Saikouk is a combination of two ingredients that from the basis of many recipes in Morocco: cooked barley semolina and whey milk. Many morrocans like to consume this dessert after a hearty evening meal. A popular ingredient in North African dishes, barley semolina is a substitute for corn semolina. Most Moroccan families make saikouk for their Friday meal to use any leftover semolina that was not made into couscous. This dessert is literally couscous with buttermilk. It’s an easy dessert to make!
Italy- Gelato
Gelato can often be classified as a type of ice cream, since both gelato and ice cream contain cream, milk and sugar; however, there are differences, too. Authentic gelato contains more milk and less cream than ice cream and generally does not have egg yolks, which are often in ice cream. The slight difference in ingredients causes a silkier and denser texture compared to ice cream. From dark chocolate, to pistachio, to stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate shavings) there are endless options and flavors for everyone.
Russia – Bird’s Milk Cake
One of the main ingredients in this dessert is sour cream. It has a light, thin, sweet milk-soaked cake as a base and a sour cream filling. When you whip up the sour cream, it takes about 15 minutes to almost double in size. This mousse is stabilized with gelatin, so there is no need to worry about it losing its height. It gets topped with a chocolate ganache for a richness that pairs perfectly with the sweetened sour cream tang.