Adventures In Food: South America's Sweets

 

{dulce de leche filled churros}

 

This might turn out to be the longest post ever on Milkshakes and Pattycakes! South America is legendary for dessert and there are lots of border-blurring foods so I decided to make one big post on the topic. I have divided it up into several recurring flavours that are just classic SA. Warning: there will be no fruity flavours here, only serious desserts allowed!

 

Dulce de leche

 

 

{dulce de leche ice cream}

 

 

 

 

{trifle with biscuit, dulce de leche, whipped cream and peanuts}

 

Technically an Argentinian flavour, you can't escape dulce de leche in South America. It's caramel made from milk, so it's sweet and creamy at the same time. It invades (in the BEST way possible) everything from ice cream to biscuits to pudding to pastries to flavoured milk. I ate it from the jar on several occasions. Not to be underrated!

 

Alfajores

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Ok, another Argentinian food. But I started seeing these the moment we landed in Peru! It is basically two shortbreads sandwiches with a chocolate or dulce de leche filling, but the variations are endless... chocolate shortbread, chocolate dipped, dipped in nuts, add coconut, triple layer, white chocolate filling... single packaged alfajores are everywhere in Argentina and while I tend to prefer homemade baked goods, the shop bought ones are seriously, seriously good.

 

Custards/flans

 

 

 

These photos probably do not convey the level of deliciousness in these bowls. I saw more flans in Uruguay and Brasil than the Andean countries. The one on to has more shape to the custard with a liquid caramel sauce, and the one underneath was THE MOST AMAZING custard topped with a spoonful of, yep, dulce de leche.

 

Pastries

 

 

{with dulce de leche}

 

 

{with custard}

 

 

{jam slice}

 

 

{with dulce de leche}

 

Pastries were fairly common across Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil. I tended to go for ones with dulce de leche or custard fillings, although jam slices also made several appearances.

 

Chocolate and nuts

 

 

Obviously a classic, but SA does it well. Peru has a chocolate bar called Sublime, basically milk chocolate with peanuts, that was a daily treat for me. Nuts also work well with dulce de leche.

 

If you love dessert, go to South America!