Category: Sweet Treats
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Honeycrunch
It’s not a party if there’s no honeycrunch! When I was growing up in the seventies in New Zealand, Rice Krispies seemed to be one foodstuff that every family had in their kitchen. Whenever a kid had a birthday party, along with little red “cheerio” sausages on sticks and Bluebird chips, there would…
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Chocolate Crackles
Chocolate Crackles: essential New Zealand party food When I was growing up in New Zealand in the Seventies, every single birthday party I went to would have a plate of chocolate crackles sitting proudly on the party food table, just waiting to be gobbled by sugar-frenzied, over-excited herds of children. The Seventies seem to…
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Hokey Pokey: New Zealand’s Best Kept Secret
Candy surprise from Down-Under I had forgotten all about hokey pokey until recently when we went down to visit my family in New Zealand. Suddenly I saw it everywhere: in ice-cream, in biscuits, in chocolate and even by itself. It’s New Zealand’s best kept secret (or maybe second best, after the fact that…
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Strauben: Sugar-Dusted Swirls From The Dolomite Mountains
Strauben: Sugar-dusted swirls from Northern Italy I came across these delicious fried treats a few years ago when we went to the Dolomite mountains in the North-East of Italy. There’s nothing better than a crunchy-tender freshly fried pastry dusted with powdered sugar or lavishly spread with jam (traditionally it’s blueberry jam) to give you…
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Pasticciotti: Custard-Filled Pies From Puglia, Italy
Where you can find pasticciotti custard pies I first came across pasticciotti a few years ago, when we spent a long weekend in the Salento region, way down in the “heel” of Italy. These custard-filled pies are typically eaten for breakfast there with a frothy cappuccino. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you eating…
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Nutella Crostoli: Italian Carnival Pastries
What happens during Carnival in Europe? It’s Carnival time in Europe right now! In France, that means that Nice on the Cote d’Azur has an enormous parade and a flower-throwing battle and the children get to dress up in costumes and throw confetti around (but more about that later). In Italy, for Carnevale, people…
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Mothballs: A Sweet Treat From New Zealand
Don’t be deceived by the unappetizing name Since the holidays season is here, over the next few weeks on Italian Kiwi, I’m going to be sharing recipes for sweet treats and cookies that you can make for this time of the year. Christmas is a great excuse to load yourself up with sugar.…
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Concorde Grape Sorbet (Sorbetto all’Uva)
Waiting for grapes in the Fall Fall is fast approaching. The mornings are cooling off and, at least where I live, the olives are swelling on the trees and the tomato plants are starting to go brown. I love this time of year as all sorts of fruits and vegetables are coming into…
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Pears In Red Wine Syrup
The importance of pears I was at the greengrocer (does anyone still actually use that word?) the other day and found some pears that I’ve only ever seen in Italian restaurants: small brownish-green pears called the Martin Sec, which are a very old variety of pear. Apparently the pears were first mentioned in…
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Russian Fudge From New Zealand
The international history behind Russian fudge When I was a kid, my mother used to make fudge often for us. As we got older, fudge was one of our favourite things to help her cook on a rainy weekend when there was no chance to go outside to slide around in rivers and…
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Raspberries And Cream, Dolomite Style!
A Little “Hot-Love” From The Dolomite Mountains No, don’t worry, I’m not changing the theme on my blog to something more raunchy (though I could probably make money if I did). Last year, when we went to the Dolomite Mountains in the North-East of Italy, one of the desserts that we HAD to try…
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Strawberries And Cream: San Candido Style!
The Secrets Of The Dolomite Mountains Unveiled! Last year we went for a couple of weeks to the Dolomite mountains in the North East of Italy, near the Austrian border. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly. I heard that the mountains were very beautiful, but that was about all I knew. I…
