Create an International Cookie Buffet Table for Your Wedding
Fancy cookies are no longer just for the holiday season anymore. A cookie buffet table full of cookies from around the world can be a delightful experience, especially for guests who appreciate gourmet sweets. Instead of restricting just one type of cookie to a plate, place a variety of French cookies on one large decorative plate, then repeat the procedure with the other cookies. Before ordering any cookies online, check your yellow pages for international food stores, including bakeries. Some of the better independent bakeries carry European cookies. The list below certainly is not exhaustive, but will give you an idea of what kinds of cookies you want to include in your wedding cookie buffet:
Chinese cookies. International food stores will carry these cookies, which are quite different from those in the western world. Chinese cookies usually consist of rice crackers, cashews or peanuts, and caramel. These cookies are crunchy and quite good. Almond cookies are another favorite standby. Save the fortune cookies for your Chinese take-out meal, though. Don’t forget to add sesame cookies to your buffet, too.
French cookies. French cookies can be found in many bakeries and even the larger grocery stores. No doubt you have seen these pre-packaged decorative cookies found in supermarkets. Pepperidge Farm also offer French cookies such as the Bordeaux, Pirouettes, and Geneva ones. Macaroons are another delicious cookie to add to the buffet table. Scour your local grocery stores for French cookies, as chances are you will not come up short in this department.
German cookies. Bahlsen of Hanover is one of the top cookie manufacturers in Germany. Lambertz and Kronen are two other cookie producing companies based in Germany. Chocolate cookies are a standby favorite with tea, as are orange and gingerbread. Some German cookies resemble small cakes, being slightly thicker than most cookies. This should not be a surprise though as the very word cookie is of German origin (koekie). If by some chance you cannot find any German cookies at your favorite store, buy them though Bahlsen.us.
Italian cookies. Like French cookies, Italian cookies are ubiquitous in food stores. Biscotti, anise date and fig swirls, anginetti (lemon cookies), amaretti, and hazelnut cookies are just a few Italian cookies worth adding to your cookie buffet.
Persian cookies. Think of dates, walnuts, honey, and bereshtook. That last one is the Persian halva, a nut butter, sugar, and flour sweet frequently found throughout the Middle East. Fard Company has a wide variety of Persian cookies to choose from.
Polish cookies. While Polish cookies may have names that are difficult to pronounce for the non-Polish speaker, they are as delicious as any other cookie. Ciasteczka herbatniczki, or tea cookies, are colorful sugar cookies as they are decorated with nonpareils, confectionary sugar, and various shapes of sugar such as stars and flowers which are also found on fancy cakes. Kolacky, or diamond shaped cookies containing walnuts, jelly, or real fruit, are also delicious.
As a fun addition to your international cookie buffet, add a small flag (the kind made with toothpicks as the pole) to the plate to designate which nation the cookies originated.
Image Credit: Till Westermayer from Freiburg, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
