Living under a dessert rock
Beth Cash
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Features
There is no such thing as a hot fudge sundae in Denmark.
I was shocked. No, I was scandalized. How could the concept of warm, sticky chocolate goo over cold and creamy ice cream, topped with the perfect cloud of whipped cream, not exist? Needless to say, my future plans now involve opening a sundae shop in Copenhagen. I think I will make billions of Danish kroner.
Recently, I was discussing Thanksgiving with my host family. When we got to the topic of dessert, I was disturbed that I not only had to explain what an apple pie was, but also the concept of pie in general. My mom had to send me canned pumpkin and tinfoil pie plates for the holidays because I have not been able to find either item in grocery stores.
How could Denmark forsake these iconic desserts that we hold so near and dear to our hearts? How could the country's citizens live without the pastries that we wait for months to devour?
The fact is that the Danish are too busy enjoying the sweets that are nearly impossible to find in the U.S. After sampling marzipan pastries from my local bakery, and layer kage (cake) from a Copenhagen sweets shop, my only question is this: How could we, America? How could we?
While lacking in the pie and sundae departments, Denmark certainly makes up for it with its tarts and kages. While fruit and cream fillings tend to dominate American pies and tarts, the star ingredient in Danish tarts is marzipan.
Marzipan is a brown, sugared almond paste, and Danish bakers have mastered the art of this confection with its application in almost every type of sweet Denmark has to offer. It is in chocolate bars, it is stuffed in dates at Christmastime, it is dyed pretty colors and it is the filling for the best tart I have ever had.
Every Friday is kage day at my house. My host family has the whole extended family over to eat, laugh and catch up on each other's week. When I came home from school one Friday, there was a marzipan tart sitting on the dining-room table - a perfectly buttery tart crust was filled with the almond paste, topped with honey-glazed hazelnuts and almonds and generously drizzled with a dark chocolate ganache. It had the perfect amount of sweetness, balanced with the savory nuts and the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate.
I was shocked. No, I was scandalized. How could the concept of warm, sticky chocolate goo over cold and creamy ice cream, topped with the perfect cloud of whipped cream, not exist? Needless to say, my future plans now involve opening a sundae shop in Copenhagen. I think I will make billions of Danish kroner.
Recently, I was discussing Thanksgiving with my host family. When we got to the topic of dessert, I was disturbed that I not only had to explain what an apple pie was, but also the concept of pie in general. My mom had to send me canned pumpkin and tinfoil pie plates for the holidays because I have not been able to find either item in grocery stores.
How could Denmark forsake these iconic desserts that we hold so near and dear to our hearts? How could the country's citizens live without the pastries that we wait for months to devour?
The fact is that the Danish are too busy enjoying the sweets that are nearly impossible to find in the U.S. After sampling marzipan pastries from my local bakery, and layer kage (cake) from a Copenhagen sweets shop, my only question is this: How could we, America? How could we?
While lacking in the pie and sundae departments, Denmark certainly makes up for it with its tarts and kages. While fruit and cream fillings tend to dominate American pies and tarts, the star ingredient in Danish tarts is marzipan.
Marzipan is a brown, sugared almond paste, and Danish bakers have mastered the art of this confection with its application in almost every type of sweet Denmark has to offer. It is in chocolate bars, it is stuffed in dates at Christmastime, it is dyed pretty colors and it is the filling for the best tart I have ever had.
Every Friday is kage day at my house. My host family has the whole extended family over to eat, laugh and catch up on each other's week. When I came home from school one Friday, there was a marzipan tart sitting on the dining-room table - a perfectly buttery tart crust was filled with the almond paste, topped with honey-glazed hazelnuts and almonds and generously drizzled with a dark chocolate ganache. It had the perfect amount of sweetness, balanced with the savory nuts and the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate.
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