Kids & Family

A Library of Treats: Holiday Desserts Bridge Backgrounds, Heritage

What holiday celebration is complete until you have a dessert on the table?

When told that the Belmont Public Library was holding a dessert tasting as part of its holiday events, Ella Bauerle brought Swedish Lenten buns in part because her father and she are Swedish.

"I don't make these that often so I thought I'd try them and they came out OK," said Ella as her father sat nearby. "I've had them before and enjoyed them and I thought other people would also like them."

"But isn't Lenten buns baked for Easter?"

"It is an Easter food but I snuck them in," said the smiling Chenery Middle School seventh grader.

And you would be mistaken that this early Spring dessert could be served in late December, a light pastry with a whipped cream middle and a dusting of powdered sugar that sings Christmas. 

Bauerle's selection joined others brought by fellow residents to the library's second annual Holiday Dessert Tasting and Recipe Swap held Tuesday evening, Dec. 3. Cookies, pastries and other desserts and copies on how to make them were available for all those who came to the Assembly Room.

"I thought the baking was excellent," said organizer and Belmont Librarian Corinne Chan who like many at the event sampled each tasting. 

Chan presented her own dessert which she first made in college from the "Hawaiian Electric 100 Years of Best Recipes Cookbook": Jello-Cream Cheese Dessert.

"I found each year that people exchange desserts from their heritage and background and it provides a chance to see how the holidays are celebrated in each home," said Chan.

Need a recipe? Go to the Library's homepage as Chan said she'll attempt to post them.


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