5 Mouth-Watering Latino Desserts You Must Try
For Latinos, no meal is complete without dessert. Not just any desert but original Latin American recipes, the ones that they enjoy growing up. These desserts feel like home away from home. Whether they bring nostalgia or they're the best solution for the sweet tooth, these desserts are surely part of Latino table.
Here are five Latino desserts you must try:
1. Arroz con leche
Arroz con leche is a staple dessert among Latinos. But this isn't only served as a dessert - Latinos also enjoy the comfort of a warm bowl of arroz con leche during the winter months. Every culture and family may have their version of this simple dessert but it basically consists of these ingredients: rice, cinnamon, water and milk.
2. Dulce de leche
If you're Latino, dulce de leche basically flows through your veins. Although there are those who enjoy dulce de leche à la carte, it is also the ultimate ingredient used in all sorts of holiday treats such as alfajores, crepas and dulce de leche cake. There are different varieties of how it's made, but basically, its ingredients include vanilla, sugar, baking soda, and whole milk. Milk is slowly simmered with the sugar, and when most of the water evaporates from the milk, the concoction becomes a thick caramel-like spread. But take note that dulce de leche isn't caramel although both look similar.
Compared to dulce de leche, caramel is just heated sugar. In terms of ingredients, dulce de leche has to have milk in it, mixed in with the sugar. The flavor and look of dulce de leche is caused by Maillard Reaction, a chemical reaction that occurs between sugars and amino acids when they are heated, which causes the "browning" of dulce de leche.
3. Gelatina de leche
If you grew up in a Latino family, this old-school dish made with plain gelatin, sugar, and cinnamon sticks steeped in milk makes a regular appearance at celebrations and holidays.
While this dessert may be of a different generation, it doesn't mean it's any less flavorful and delicious since the milk stands out. It also has a number of benefits, from the gelatin that promotes healthy body tissues and skin care to the dairy milk associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes and helps with lowering blood pressure in adults.
4. Flan
No holiday is the same without this custard dessert. Compared to other custard recipes which are extremely tricky to master, flan is easy to make: caramelize sugar and a little water in a saucepan and pour into the bottom of a mold. Then whip up eggs, milk, and sugar in a blender and pour over the caramel. Bake in a water bath or baño maría.
5. Tres leches
A little cake won't harm your diet, especially if it's the mouth-watering slice of tres leches cake. This widely-loved sponge cake is soaked in not one but three different kinds of milk. Tres leches cake traditionally uses whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk.
If you haven't tasted any of these Latino desserts, now is the chance to do it!
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