Make an international treat for a housewarming gift.
Next time you need a small but thoughtful homemade gift, consider making a batch of international treats that will allow the gift recipient to experiment with sweet snacks from around the world. There are a wide variety of sweets that you can make that are easy and fairly economical. When selecting a food to make, consider snacks that can be packaged and stored easily.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mexican wedding cookies are an easy, ethnic treat that involve only a few ingredients. To make them, the Food Network's Paula Deen recommends preheating your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and covering the tops of your cookie sheets with parchment paper. You will mix 1 cup unsalted butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar with an electric mixer, fold in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 3/4 cups of flour and 1 cup finely chopped pecans. Then, you dust your hands in flour, roll about a tablespoon of dough into a crescent shape. Bake the Mexican wedding cookies for about 40 minutes, and roll them in powdered sugar while they still are warm.
Turkish Delight
Make a batch of Turkish delight candy. This candy requires that you soak 2 tablespoons of gelatin in one tablespoon of water for about 10 minutes. You then squeeze the juice of one medium orange and one medium lemon into a bowl. Place the fruits to the side. Blanche and slice finely 4 tablespoons of almonds. Wash the fruit peels, and extract the fruit. Then, mix together 3 1/4 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup water, the juices and the peels in a pot. Bring to a boil and add the gelatin. "Simmer until it dissolves," advises a Cooks.com recipe. Then strain and cool. As the mixture thickens, add the almonds and mix. Pour the mixture into a wet bowl and refrigerate until it sets.
Hawaiian Chocolate Nut Tart
Evoke the flavors of Hawaii by making an Hawaiian chocolate nut tart. This baking project requires you combine semi-sweet chocolate chips with rich macadamia nuts. You will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The All Recipes website recommends that you toast 1 1/4 cups of macadamia nut pieces and 1 cup of coconut flakes "in separate pans in the preheated oven until golden brown." Press 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a nine-inch frozen pie crust. Mix three eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, the eggs and 1 cup of light corn syrup together in a large bowl, and then fold in 1 cup of white sugar, 3 tablespoons of melted margarine, the macadamia nuts and the coconut flakes. Pour into the pie crust and bake for about 50 minutes.
Tags: about minutes, your oven degrees, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, degrees Fahrenheit, into bowl