5 European sweet treats you should give a try

Whether for dessert, as a snack in between, or for getting together over coffee and cake – sweets have a firm place in most culinary culture. As they do in Europe. We picked 5 classic and popular sweet treats from France, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Germany to show you what makes them special and how they are prepared.

CREDITS
Report: Christian Weibezahn
Edit: Andreas Ogrzewalla

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:16 French Macarons
02:02 Austrian apple strudel
03:08 Belgian chocolates
04:12 Italian gelato
05:20 German Black Forest cake

#sweets #candies #dessert
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Do you have a bit of a sweet tooth? Then you’re in for a treat. We’re going to show you five sweet highlights from Europe  that’ll make your tastebuds water! Our confectionary journey starts in France   with the crème de la crème of  patisserie creations: macarons.

To make the shells of chocolate  macarons, almond meal, powdered sugar   and cocoa are put into a mixer  along with liquid egg whites.   Seperately, sugar sirup is also mixed with egg whites. These beaten egg whites are then carefully folded in with the shell dough by hand. That way, it’s fluffier.

Once it’s dabbed onto the  baking sheet, things get loud. The word macaron comes from  the Italian term ammaccare,   which means to squash. This premium  confection is said to have been   brought by Queen Catherine de’ Medici from  Florence to France in the 16th century. The filling of chocolate  macarons consists of cream,  

Butter and three different varieties of  chocolate. One squirt from the pastry bag,   top up with a second shell,  and, voila, the macaron is done. The classic flavors include vanilla,  pistachio, raspberry and of course: chocolate. But weight watchers beware: A single macaron,   measuring three centimeters across,  contains up to 100 calories.

Next up is the Austrian capital of Vienna  – and its tasty apple strudel. The dough  is made of flour, salt, an egg, lukewarm water and oil. But how it’s made is what’s unusual: When the dough is thrown up in the air, it  stretches out and gets thinner in the middle.

The origins of Strudel dough are  thought to lie in the Orient,   from where it reached Vienna in the 15th century. The apples also have to be cut thin, so as not to  ruin the thin dough. Then, cinnamon, sugar, pieces  

Of butter and a mix of rum and raisins go into  the filling that gets rolled up into the dough. Best is to enjoy the finished apple strudel  warm, sprinkeled with a bit of powdered sugar. Our next stop is Belgium, where  a very sweet treat awaits us:   different variations of delectable pralines.

The chocolate is made of cocoa liquor,   some cocoa butter and sugar. Then come other  ingredients, depending on the type of praline. To make marzipan pralines, cut-up  pistachio marzipan is covered in   chocolate, then decorated by hand using a fork. Belgian pralines come in countless  varieties. Some are made with basil,  

Fresh mint, thyme or spices such  as cardamom, star anis or curcuma. The possibilities are endless. Now, we’re off to Southern Europe. Italy  isn’t just famous for pizza and pasta,   but for its exquisite ice cream:  gelato…in its many combinations. It’s important to use fresh  ingredients: Whether melons,  

Peaches, pistachios, pine nuts from  Tuscany or hazelnuts from Piedmont. Besides actual ice cream, sorbet is a common  alternative – and contains no milk. To make ice cream, milk is mixed with the other ingredients  and put into an ice cream machine.

In it, the  mixture is stirred and cooled to minus 25 degrees  Celsius until it attains the perfect consistency. Hungry for one more classic? This one’s  from Germany: the Black Forest cake. You take a sponge cake base and soak it  in high-proof kirschwasser brandy. Then  

You spread some pitted morello cherries on  top, and on a second layer of sponge cake,   you add one and a half liters of whipped cream.  Then comes the final layer and more cream to   top it off. Finally, you decorate it with  some morello cherries and chocolate flakes.

Some say the flakes are meant  to depict the dark Black Forest,   while the cherries represent the traditional  bollenhut hats typical of the region. And how’s it taste? It is lovely! So, did anything whet your appetite?  Let us know in the comments below.