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All About South African Pastries And Desserts

By Helga Stokes


In the United States, and many other countries, African cooking is not commonly heard of. However, African cuisine actually has a lot of flavor and is very nutritious. South Africa, specifically, has it's own unique style of food that includes soups, stews, seafood, wild game and any different desserts. A combination of French, German, Dutch, Indian and British culture have cultivated amazing foods, especially South African pastries.

Items such as koeksisters, which are similar to a fried doughnut, are among most people's favorites. Another common favorite is melktert, which is a custard based pastry that was most likely influenced by Dutch settlers. The name itself use Dutch terms combine with those that originated in Africa.

Mulva pudding is another common South African dessert. It has a cake like appearance and consistency, but with a condensed milk sauce poured on top. Like many other sweets from the region, milk and eggs are primary ingredients in the recipe. Most desserts and pastries from the region use these two ingredients, which is due to their common availability in Dutch settlements.

Soetkoekies are another famous dessert from the region, although some have difficulty considering them a dessert. They are basically biscuits that are spicy and contain almonds and port. The spicy notes do not come from peppers or the like, but rather ingredients such as cloves, cinnamon and ginger.

Crunchies are a very popular cookie bar that contain oatmeal and shredded coconut. They are just as popular in South African as the chocolate chip cookies is in the United States. They are popular among both adults and children. The ingredients list is very short and basic for these sweets. In fact, most of the items would already been in the refrigerators and pantries of most people. They also contain milk, as mentioned before due to the Dutch influence in the region.

Peppermint Crisp Tart is also a very popular dish in the region. It's main ingredient is Peppermint Crisp chocolate, which is a type of candy bar made by Nestle and sold only in Australia and South Africa. Tennis biscuits are also a primary ingredient, which are essentially a cookie with a coconut base. These ingredients are common in this region, but they will be difficult to find in others. However, because of the internet they are still easy to find.

Krakelinge are another type of cookie made in the region. Basic pantry staples and almonds are also the primary ingredients in this sweet treat, like many others. These cookies don't look like your typical cookie, however. Instead they are more similar to biscotti in their shape and texture. The only difference is in how they are sliced, which is usually in much thicker and more squared pieces than biscotti is.

There are numerous South African pastries and desserts to be made. Almost all of them use basic ingredients and do not involve any labor intensive steps. There are a few common ingredients, such as almonds, that are seen throughout South African desserts. Although many ingredients are the same in these recipes, the taste of each is uniquely different.




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