Try these simple sweet and salty summer treats from around the world

Try these summer treats from around the world to cool you down in a hot day – or to warm you up when it’s raining.

You can find appropriate background music from this post, where we’ve gathered the best summer songs in four languages!

Frozen chocolate bananas – the USA

This super easy and satisfying treat from the States only requires a few ingredients!

Here’s the recipe for 6 servings:

• 3 ripe bananas
• some nuts
• 100 g of dark chocolate
• Popsicle sticks

Peel the bananas and cut them in half. Stick the popsicle sticks in the banana halves and put them on a plate with baking paper. Freeze for 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Mix frequently.

Crush the nuts. You can replace the nuts with sprinkles or dried fruit if you like. Take the bananas out of the freezer, cover the bananas in the chocolate and sprinkle with the toppings of your choice. Freeze them again for a short while and you’re done!

Affogato al caffe – Italy

Affogato literally means “drowned” in Italian. This coffee-based treat takes less than 5 minutes to make if you have some ice cream ready in your freezer.

For each portion you need:

• one shot of espresso
• 1 to 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• optionally a splash of liqueur of your choice (coffee-based, nut-based, Cointreau…)
• some grated chocolate or chopped nuts as a topping

Brew an espresso, pour it in a cup on top of the ice cream. Add a bit of liqueur if you like. Top it all with some grated chocolate or chopped hazelnuts to give some crunch to it!

Spaghettieis – Germany

This ice-cream–based dessert that looks like spaghetti (hence the name) was invented by the son of an Italian immigrant in the 1960s in Mannheim, Germany. The ice cream is pressed through a Späetzle press or potato ricer to give the spaghetti-like appearance.

Gazpacho – Spain

Gazpacho is a chilled tomato soup originating from Andalucía, Spain. For Gazpacho, you need:

• 600 g ripe tomatoes
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• a few slices of white bread
• about 2 dl of water
• 0.5 dl of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• a pinch of salt

Chop the tomatos and cucumbers, leave out the bases. Mince the garlic. Remove the hard crust from the bread and use only the soft parts. Puree all ingredients in a food processor until they turn into smooth soup. Serve at fridge temperature. Healthy and refreshing!

Strawberry cake – Sweden

In Sweden, summer always tastes like strawberries!

An authentic Swedish strawberry cake is a very simple but outstanding dish to offer at a summer party. It’s both a traditional midsummer dish as well as a popular birthday cake.

A Swedish strawberry cake is a three-layered cake consisting of a sponge cake with strawberry jam, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries as filling. After assembling the cake, it is topped off with a thick layer of whipped cream and decorated with strawberries.

Blueberry pie – Finland

Blueberries are supposed to be good for your eyesight… what better way to enjoy them than in the form of this delicious pie?

For the crust you’ll need:

• 2.5 dl of flour
• 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1.5 dl of oat flakes
• 1 dl of brown sugar
• 150 g of melted butter
• 1 egg

For the filling you’ll need:

• about 5 dl of frozen blueberries
• 50 g of melted butter
• 1 dl of brown sugar
• 2.5 dl of oat flakes

Mix the flour, oat flakes and baking powder. Add the brown sugar, egg, and melted butter. Mix into a dough and press it into a pie tray without forgetting the borders. Spread the frozen blueberries evenly on top of the dough.

Mix the butter, sugar and oat flakes. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the pie and put it in the oven at 200 C for 30 min. Once the pie is ready, enjoy it with some ice cream, vanilla sauce or whipped cream. Guaranteed success!

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