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5 holiday desserts from around the world

What’s the best part of travelling? For me, it’s about the local culture, including the unique foods. This holiday season, you don’t need a passport to experience any of these international cultural traditions. North American holidays are known for turkey, stuffing and an assortment of sweet and sticky pies, but what are some other holiday desserts you can find around the globe?

Women’s Post showcases five unique and decadent international desserts from different cultures that are bound to impress guests at your next holiday party:

Phillipines- Pinoy Fruit Salad

Filipino food is amazing! While known for their glazed Christmas ham or desserts like halo-halo, during the Christmas season one of the most popular sweet treats is fruit salad. Yep, fruit salad, but this isn’t any random fruit salad. Normally, Filipino fruit salad, sometimes called Pinoy fruit salad, takes one can of fruit cocktail mixed with heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk. You can also find versions with coconut meat, coconut milk, jello, tapioca pearls or added pineapple. Talk about easy, creamy and delicious.

France -Buche de Noel

This dessert might look familiar to some North American homes. Buche de Noel or Yule Log is a traditional sweet treat found in France and French-influenced countries during the Christmas holidays. It is made using a classic sponge cake coated in chocolate buttercream and rolled in chocolate shavings to resemble an actual log.

England- Christmas Pudding

Christmas pudding, Christmas pudding ! What’s Christmas without some traditional Christmas pudding, especially if you’re from the U.K. Also known as plum pudding, this dessert is usually served after Christmas dinner and is made using a mixture of dried fruit,spices, molasses. There are no plums in the actual pudding, but lots of raisins. The pudding is often steamed for approximately three hours. Many people often soak the fruits before hand in Brandy  and once the pudding is done it is splashed with more alcohol. This helps to preserve the pudding for almost up to one year,

Guyana- Black Cake

Similar in look to the christmas pudding, this cake is made using minced dried fruits that have been soaked in cherry brandy or rum The fruits are mixed with flour, eggs and sugar, spices and molasses or browning. Once baked, the cakes are generously soaked in rum. This Christmas treat can be found in many Caribbean islands including Jamaica and Trinidad. Black Cake or Caribbean fruit cake are also popular at weddings and is said to bring prosperity and luck.

Australia- Pavlova

Even though it’s technically summer in Australia during the Christmas holidays, this doesn’t mean that Australians can’t indulge in a refreshing Christmas- summer dessert treat. This popular meringue- like dessert is named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova after she toured New Zealand and Australia in the 1920’s. Pavlova is made using egg whites, sugar, and cream, but it has a firm and crunchy exterior and a delicate inside. This dessert is usually served on Christmas day.

What are your favourite global holiday desserts? Comment and indulge!

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Recipe: What’s the deal with breakfast bowls?

Healthy habits may develop slowly, and it starts by planning out your meals.

As a big breakfast fan, I love the idea of breakfast bowls. They look so pretty on Instagram and on Pinterest — but when it comes to actually making it, I find myself lazy and cheap. How do you make something so beautiful so early in the morning? And what is a “breakfast bowl” anyway? Women’s Post seeks to answer some of those questions below:

Superfood it up

This is the one pictured most often in articles about breakfast bowls. It is also the option that requires a real investment — both financially and mentally. first of all, most bowls have a quinoa base. Cook the quinoa (rinse first), by placing 1/2 cup of the seeds in a pot with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of coconut or almond milk. Cook like you would rice, until the liquid is gone and the quinoa is fluffy. If you don’t want to do a quinoa base, try a chia seed and yogurt base. Top with superfoods like merjool dates, golden raisons, shredded coconut, goji berries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, flax, and more chia seeds. Add nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as berries or nuts to your liking.

Smoothie bowl

This one seems like a waste of a bowl to me. Essentially, you make a smoothie and then put it in a bowl and top it off with superfoods and fruit — chia seeds, coconut, and berries for example. You then proceed to eat the smoothie with a spoon. Personally, I make a smoothie for breakfast only when I’m on the run. I can put all these good things IN the blender (chia seeds, berries, granola, flax, ect.) and drink it on the bus. Why on earth would I want to make it into a bowl?

I think the answer is obvious: for the Instagram likes.  Am I right?

Savoury twist

Sometimes breakfasts can be a bit too sweet. Try making a quinoa base and topping it with nuts, hardboiled or poached eggs, some sausage, and avocado. Not feeling like the extra carbohydrates? Try exchanging the quinoa base for greens like kale or spinach for a breakfast salad-type of thing. Top with sprouts, sweet potatoes, or other light-vegetables that are easy on the stomach. Add some nuts for extra protein and a light homemade dressing with lemon juice, oil, and spices.

Want to satisfy a sweet craving?

Try making a chocolate chia pudding and topping it with fruit. This pudding can be quite filling, so half a cup is plenty.

In a bowl, whisk together one to two cups of milk (or almond milk) , 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1/4 cup cocoa, a sweetening agent (I use agave or maple syrup), and some vanilla. Refrigerate overnight in the bowl or divide into jam jars for portability. You may have to experiment with the ratio of chia seeds and milk until you reach a consistency you like. Top with fresh strawberries, bananas, or blueberries. Or go crazy and choose all three!

While these “bowls” are picturesque, I’m not sure if they are worth the time (and money) it would take to make them. I’m more then happy with my regular smoothies and granola-yogurt combinations — which by the way, is the exact same thing as these “bowls”, but without the expensive superfoods.

But, what do you think?

Have you made a breakfast bowl before? Let us know what you put in it in the comments below!

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Oh My! Homemade vegan banana pudding pie!

Sugary cravings are only normal around Christmas time and as a vegan, there are many delicious dessert options with hidden health benefits to choose from. This week, I craved a classic banana pudding pie.

I decided I wanted to use a cookie crust with a banana pudding to suit my own taste buds. Here’s the recipe:

Cookie Crust:

  • A box of white Oreo cookies
  • 3 tbsp. vegan earth balance butter

I purchased a box of white Oreo cookies (which are vegan!) and blended them with vegan butter until they were the consistency of sand granules. Then press them into a pie shell container until even. Refrigerate for one hour while making the rest of the pie.

Blending white oreo cookies with earth balance butter to create a pie crust. By Kaeleigh Phillips.
Blending white oreo cookies with earth balance butter to create a pie crust. By Kaeleigh Phillips.

Banana pudding pie mixture:

  • 4 ripe mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)
  • 2 cups of almond milk
  • 1/8 tsp salt and tumeric
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 1/2 tbsp coconut butter or buttery spread
  • 1/2 cup almond milk of choice
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mash four bananas together in a bowl and add the almond milk, salt, turmeric, maple syrup and coconut butter and blend together. Once blended, warm up and add cornstarch and additional almond milk and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir with a whisk consistently for two minutes while the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool.

Heating up the banana mixture with cornstarch. By Kaeleigh Phillips
Heating up the banana mixture with cornstarch. By Kaeleigh Phillips

Once cool, pour on top of the cookie crust and refrigerate for two to three hours until it is solid. Enjoy!

Vegan desserts use top-quality ingredients and that usually makes it takes a bit more authentic than the typical pudding pies you see in stores.  Try adding a bit of flax seed and vanilla protein powder for a hidden nutrient kicks (especially if feeding to kids).

What kind of pie would you like to see Women’s Post make? Let us know in the comments below.

 

vegan-banana-pie

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