Underrated Latin American Desserts Archives

Jericalla: Guadalajara’s Baked Cinnamon Custard Cups

Bake jericalla, Guadalajara’s cinnamon custard, hot and uncovered so the top turns deep brown without any water bath or caramel sauce.

Bake Mexican capirotada with butter-fried bolillo bread, piloncillo syrup, and melted queso fresco for a spiced Lenten bread pudding.

Layer soaked sponge cake with coconut custard for Venezuelan bienmesabe, a rum-spiked dessert chilled until sliceable and topped with whipped cream.

Poach egg white meringue in cinnamon milk, then build a silky yolk custard for Chile’s classic leche nevada, a light make-ahead dessert.

Bake Venezuelan quesillo in a water bath for a dense custard and deep amber caramel sauce, no cheese required despite the name.

Simmer purple corn, cinnamon and dried fruit into mazamorra morada, a chilled Peruvian pudding thickened with cornstarch and finished with lime.

Bake espumillas, Ecuadorian meringue cookies swirled with guava paste, until the shell sets crisp and the center stays soft like marshmallow.

Bake layered torta chilena, Costa Rica’s dulce de leche cake, using 8 thin pastry rounds stacked with silky caramel filling.

Layer sponge cake, whipped cream, canned peaches, and crushed meringue for authentic Uruguayan postre chajá, chilled 4 hours before serving.

Layer chocolate cookies, dulce de leche, and cream cheese into a no-bake chocotorta that chills into soft, sliceable Argentine squares.