All recipes

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Khailmag (cream and raisin sweet)

Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year, means 'White Month', and white dairy foods stand for purity, plenty and a clean start to the year, so homes across the country set out cream, curds and sweets beside the steaming buuz. Khailmag is one of the most luxurious: clotted cream (or Mongolian öröm, the thick skin skimmed from boiled milk) is cooked with butter-toasted flour, sugar and raisins until it turns into a golden, fudgy porridge. It is very rich, so serve small spoonfuls with salty milk tea, or alongside ul boov biscuits and boortsog. There is no alcohol in it. Chef's tip: toast the flour slowly until it smells nutty; that toasting gives khailmag its caramel flavour.

30 min

Mongolian Desserts

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Turrón de maníPeanut nougat

On an Argentine Christmas Eve, after midnight toasts, the 'mesa dulce' appears with pan dulce, garrapiñadas and turrón de maní: a chewy white nougat of honey, sugar, whipped egg white and roasted peanuts, often set between two sheets of rice paper. Families make it in the days before Nochebuena. The egg white is cooked by the hot syrup. It is gluten free if you use gluten-free wafer paper or none. Chef's tip: work fast once the syrup is in, as the nougat stiffens as it cools and gets hard to spread.

60 min

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Quinotos en almíbar (Argentine kumquats in syrup)

In Buenos Aires and the river provinces of the Litoral, kumquat trees ripen in the middle of winter, between June and August, and the fruit goes straight into jars of syrup. Grandmothers' pantries held quinotos for the whole year, brought out for birthdays and long Sunday lunches. Each little fruit turns glossy orange and translucent, with a soft, bittersweet skin and a sharp, juicy centre. Spoon them over vanilla ice cream, serve them with a slice of fresh cheese in the style of postre vigilante, or eat them straight from the jar. Many bar menus offer them steeped in spirits; this version keeps only the syrup. Naturally egg-free, the quinotos rely on sugar syrup to preserve them, while pectin from the peel gives the syrup a light, jammy body. Chef's tip: blanch the fruit three times from cold water; the common mistake is skipping this, which leaves the skins tough and bitter.

120 min

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Helado de dulce de leche (Buenos Aires dulce de leche ice cream)

Dulce de leche is the flavour Buenos Aires heladerías are judged by, and on a summer night the queues at neighbourhood ice-cream shops stretch out onto the pavement well after dinner. Locals order it plain, with a ripple of extra dulce de leche (dulce de leche granizado adds chocolate flakes), often by the kilo to take home. It is dense, chewy and deeply caramel. This home version is egg-free with no custard: a little cornflour cooked into the milk thickens it the way yolks would, and the dulce de leche itself is milk and sugar cooked down, its sugar and milk solids keeping crystals tiny so it stays smooth and scoopable. Churn it, or still-freeze and stir it every 45 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the extra dulce de leche before rippling it in; the common mistake is folding in a warm one, which melts into the ice cream instead of leaving ribbons.

295 min

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KoserevaCandied bitter orange peel

Kosereva is a Paraguayan home preserve from the days when nothing was wasted: thick strips of bitter-orange peel soaked and boiled to soften their bite, then cooked slowly in dark cane molasses until glossy and nearly black. In the countryside it is eaten after lunch with a slice of fresh cheese or simply on its own. Bitter oranges (Seville oranges) are in season in winter. The most common mistake is not changing the boiling water enough, which leaves the peel unpleasantly bitter. Chef's tip: taste a sliver of peel after the third boil; it should be gently bitter like marmalade, not harsh.

180 min

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Ka'i ladrilloPeanut molasses bricks

Ka'i ladrillo — 'monkey brick' in Guaraní — is the sweet sold by vendors on Asunción buses and at country fiestas: roasted peanuts bound in boiled cane molasses and set in brick-shaped blocks, crunchy and dark with a slightly smoky toffee taste. It contains peanuts, so keep it away from anyone with a peanut allergy. The common mistake is taking the syrup off too soon, so the bricks stay sticky and never set. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; it is ready when it sets into a brittle thread that snaps.

40 min

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TsagaaSweet rice with raisins and curd

Tsagaa is a sweet, buttery rice dish served during Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year, when white foods (tsagaan idee) stand for purity and a good year ahead. Rice is cooked soft, then mixed with butter, sugar, raisins and crumbled aaruul or fresh curd, and served in small bowls to guests during the round of family visits. A common mistake is using long-grain rice, which won't turn creamy; use short-grain. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in hot water first so they're plump and juicy.

40 min

Mongolian Desserts

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Cremolada (Lima passion fruit slush)

From January to March, when Lima's coast swelters, queues form at the cremolada counters of Barranco and along the Jirón de la Unión downtown for cups of this thick fruit ice. It sits between a granita and a sorbet: frozen fruit pulp scraped again and again until it is slushy and spoonable, with real bits of fruit through it. Passion fruit (maracuyá) gives a sharp, bright flavour; creamy lúcuma, with its maple and sweet potato taste, is the other favourite. Chef's tip: use a shallow metal tray; it freezes faster and evenly, so you get fine crystals rather than chunks.

180 min

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Martín FierroCheese with quince paste

Ask for dessert in a Montevideo bodegón or a country parador and you may be offered a Martín Fierro: a thick slice of fresh, mild cheese laid with an equal slice of dense quince or sweet-potato paste, named after the gaucho of the epic poem. It's salty against sweet, soft against firm, and takes two minutes to assemble. Uruguayan fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so choose one with vegetarian rennet if that matters to you. The mistake is serving it fridge-cold, which dulls both flavours. Chef's tip: cut the cheese and paste to exactly the same thickness, about 1 cm, so every bite has both.

5 min

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SerraduraCream and biscuit crumb pudding

Portuguese for 'sawdust', serradura is the cool, creamy dessert you'll find in every Macanese restaurant and café from Taipa to the Senado Square backstreets, ordered to round off a long Macanese lunch. Alternating layers of sweetened whipped cream and powder-fine tea biscuit crumbs set softly in the fridge, so each spoonful is light, milky and caramel-sweet, with a gentle crumbly texture. It is usually served in small glasses, sometimes semi-frozen like an ice cream cake. Coarse crumbs are where it goes wrong; they stay crunchy and gritty instead of melting into the cream, so grind the biscuits as fine as sand. Chef's tip: whip the cream and condensed milk together only to firm peaks and stop there, or it turns grainy and buttery.

20 min

Macanese Desserts

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Budín de panBread pudding

Thrifty Argentine kitchens never throw away stale bread: it becomes budín de pan, soaked in sweet milk and eggs, poured into a caramel-lined ring mould and baked in a water bath until it sets into something between a flan and a pudding. Bodegones in Buenos Aires and neighbourhood bakeries serve it in fat wedges, cold, with a spoonful of dulce de leche or whipped cream, the amber caramel running down the sides. The texture should be smooth and dense with only faint traces of bread, studded with plump raisins. The mistake to avoid is skipping the blending or soaking: chunks of dry bread turn into wet sponges and the pudding splits into layers. Chef's tip: let it cool and chill overnight in the mould before turning it out; a warm budín breaks when unmoulded and the caramel won't have melted into a sauce.

90 min

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ChocotortaNo-bake chocolate biscuit cake

Born in 1980s Buenos Aires as an advertising idea and adopted by the whole country, chocotorta is the cake children ask for at every birthday and the easiest dessert in the Argentine repertoire. Chocolate biscuits are dipped briefly in milk (adults often use coffee), layered with a cream of dulce de leche beaten with cream cheese, and left overnight until the biscuits turn soft and cake-like. It is rich, sweet and a little tangy, and slices cleanly straight from the fridge. Any plain crisp chocolate biscuit works; rectangular ones make the neatest layers. The mistake to avoid is soaking the biscuits too long: a one-second dip is plenty, or they collapse into mush before you can lay them down. Chef's tip: assemble it a day ahead in a loaf tin lined with cling film; overnight chilling is what turns it from biscuits and cream into cake.

20 min

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Dulce de batataSweet potato paste

Deep orange and firm enough to slice, dulce de batata is the sweet potato paste Argentines eat with cheese, bake into pastelitos and pasta frola, and pack into school lunch boxes; the classic commercial block often hides a ribbon of chocolate in the centre. Making it at home takes patience at the stove, but the result tastes of real roasted sweet potato and vanilla. Traditional recipes simply cook the purée down for a long time; some factory versions set it with gelatin. This one uses a little agar, a seaweed-based setting agent, so it is reliably firm and stays vegan. Choose pale-fleshed sweet potato (batata) if you can, which gives the classic colour and dense texture; orange-fleshed ones work but set softer. The usual problem is too little cooking, which gives a paste that weeps; it is ready when a spoon drawn through it leaves a clean line. Chef's tip: cover your hand with a tea towel while you stir, because the thick paste spits like lava.

120 min

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Frejol coladoSweet black bean paste

Chincha, south of Lima, is the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture, and its signature sweet is frejol colado: black beans cooked, pushed through a sieve (colado means strained) and then stirred for a long time with sugar and spices until the paste is dark, glossy and thick enough to stand a spoon in. It is traditionally served in little gourd bowls called potos, sprinkled with toasted sesame, and sold in Chincha's square and at festivals in El Carmen. The taste is deep and molasses-like, with clove and cinnamon, and nobody guesses it's beans. The beans need an overnight soak, which isn't counted in the time. Most people give up stirring too early; under-cooked frejol colado is runny and tastes of beans, so keep going until it pulls away from the pan in one mass. Some cooks add milk; this version is dairy free. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and a long wooden spoon, and wear an oven glove, because the thick paste spits as it reduces.

150 min

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Helado de lúcumaLúcuma ice cream

Ask anyone in Lima, Cusco or Trujillo for the national ice-cream flavour and they will say lúcuma, the green-skinned Andean fruit with dry, golden-orange flesh that tastes of butterscotch, maple and sweet potato. Every ice-cream parlour, supermarket freezer and street cart sells it, and it's also folded into cakes and milkshakes. This no-churn version needs no machine: frozen lúcuma pulp (or lúcuma powder, both in Latin shops and health-food stores) is whisked into condensed milk, then folded into whipped cream and frozen. It comes out smooth, rich and naturally caramel-coloured. The mistake is over-whipping the cream to stiff peaks, which makes the ice cream grainy and buttery; stop at soft peaks. It needs at least 6 hours in the freezer, so make it the day before. Serve with a slice of chocolate cake or on its own. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt and a few drops of lime sharpen lúcuma's mellow flavour so it doesn't taste flat when frozen.

20 min

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Leche asadaBaked milk custard

A fixture of Lima's set-lunch menus and school canteens, leche asada is the plainer sibling of flan: milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla baked in a dish until set, with no caramel layer, so the top browns into a freckled skin that's the best part. It is lighter and a little less smooth than crème caramel, faintly scented with cinnamon and lemon zest, and served cold in squares or straight from little ramekins. Many cooks rush it in a hot oven, which makes the custard bubble and weep watery holes; bake it low and in a water bath, and only brown the top at the end. It makes a gentle end to a heavy meal and keeps for three days in the fridge. Chef's tip: strain the custard and skim off the foam before baking for a smooth, even set.

65 min

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Mamón en almíbarCandied green papaya

Along the subtropical northeast, papaya (mamón) trees grow in backyards from Corrientes to Formosa, and the unripe fruit is turned into this old-fashioned dessert: strips of firm green papaya poached slowly in syrup with cloves and cinnamon until they turn amber and translucent, chewy at the edges and tender inside. It is served cold in little bowls, traditionally next to a slice of fresh cheese for that sweet-and-salty contrast (choose a plant-based cheese to keep it vegan). Rushing the syrup is the misstep that turns the papaya hard and sugary on the outside and raw within, so the heat stays low for well over an hour. Green papaya is sold in Asian and Latin grocers. Wear gloves when peeling; the milky sap can irritate the skin. Chef's tip: soak the strips in water with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda for an hour before cooking; it firms the outside so the pieces hold their shape in the syrup.

130 min

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Zapallo en almíbarCandied squash

Across the Argentine countryside, when the autumn squash harvest piles up, cooks turn some of it into zapallo en almíbar: cubes of firm orange squash soaked briefly in slaked lime (cal) and then simmered in syrup until they are crisp-skinned outside and tender, almost translucent inside. Farm stalls in Córdoba and Santiago del Estero sell it in jars, and it is eaten as dessert with a slice of cheese, the same idea as postre vigilante. This home version skips the lime and uses a short sugar cure instead, which still keeps the pieces whole. It is vegan as written; serve it with vegan cheese or toasted walnuts to keep it that way. The mistake to avoid is stirring: the squash breaks into purée, so shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: use a dense, dry squash such as Crown Prince or butternut neck, and cook the syrup slowly; if it boils hard the outside candies before the centre softens.

90 min

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MazamorraHominy milk pudding

Long before cake, there was mazamorra: dried white maize, soaked and simmered with water until the kernels burst, then finished with milk, sugar and cinnamon. In colonial Buenos Aires mazamorreras sold it from clay pots on the street, and it still turns up at school and town-hall celebrations every 25 May and on cold evenings in the interior, eaten warm or cold from a bowl. The kernels stay pleasantly chewy in a creamy, gently sweet milk, a bit like rice pudding with more bite. Look for maíz blanco pisado (cracked white hominy) in Latin American shops; dried white pozole corn is the closest substitute. Plan ahead: the corn needs soaking overnight. Adding the milk too early is the main mistake, because the corn will not soften in milk and the pot catches on the bottom, so cook it in water first. Chef's tip: stir in a little of the hot liquid with the sugar before you add the rest of the milk, and serve it with a dusting of cinnamon or a spoonful of honey.

160 min

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Arroz zambitoRice pudding with chancaca and raisins

Lima's Afro-Peruvian kitchens gave the city arroz zambito, the dark cousin of arroz con leche: rice simmered with cloves and cinnamon, sweetened with chancaca instead of white sugar, and enriched with milk, coconut and raisins. The name refers to its deep brown colour, and it is sold in cups at markets and from carts alongside mazamorra morada, often half and half in the same cup. It tastes of molasses and spice, soft and creamy with chewy raisins and nuggets of coconut. The way it usually goes wrong is adding the chancaca too soon, before the rice is tender; the sugar firms the grains and they never soften. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with cinnamon. Chancaca can be swapped for panela or dark muscovado. Chef's tip: melt the chancaca in a little water first and strain it, as the blocks often contain bits of cane fibre.

60 min

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RanfañoteToasted bread dessert in spiced syrup

Made from leftovers in colonial Lima by Afro-Peruvian cooks, ranfañote is one of the city's oldest sweets and turns up today at criollo food fairs and at old-style dessert stalls in Barrios Altos. Cubes of day-old bread are toasted crisp, then layered with walnuts, coconut, raisins and little cubes of fresh cheese and drenched in a thick chancaca syrup scented with cinnamon, clove and orange peel. The cheese is not a typo: its saltiness cuts the syrup, and the contrast of crunchy bread, chewy fruit and soft cheese is the point. It is eaten warm or at room temperature on its own. The common error is pouring thin syrup over the bread, which drowns it; the syrup should be thick like honey. Queso fresco is generally made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: toast the bread in the oven rather than frying it; it stays crisp longer under the syrup and is less greasy.

40 min

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TejasPecan and manjar blanco sweets

Ica's sweet shops, along the road into town and around the main square, stack tejas in long rows, each one wrapped in white tissue paper with frilled ends. Inside the thin, crackly sugar shell is a soft centre of manjar blanco with a pecan or a piece of candied fruit; Ica has been making them since the 19th century and they are the city's best-known souvenir. They are intensely sweet, so one or two with coffee is enough. The hard part is the fondant: stir it while it's too hot and it turns grainy and opaque too early, so let the syrup cool before working it. This version makes a quick manjar blanco from condensed and evaporated milk and uses pecans; candied lime or orange peel works the same way. Chef's tip: chill the filled centres until firm before dipping; warm ones melt into the fondant and lose their shape.

90 min

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Torta BalcarceSponge cake with dulce de leche

Mar del Plata's beachgoers and the people of Balcarce, a farm town an hour inland in Buenos Aires Province, both claim this cake, which was created in a Balcarce confitería in the 1950s and became famous when holidaymakers carried it home in boxes. Two layers of sponge sandwich a filling of dulce de leche, cream and crumbled crunchy meringue with walnuts, chestnuts or almonds and coconut, and the outside is covered in more cream and toasted coconut. It is soft, crunchy and very sweet, a celebration cake for Sundays and birthdays. Some bakers soak the sponge with a liqueur syrup; this version uses a vanilla syrup, so it is alcohol-free. The common error is mixing the meringue into the cream too early: it dissolves and the filling turns runny, so fold it in at the last minute. Chef's tip: bake the meringues the day before and keep them in an airtight tin; dry, crisp meringue is what gives the cake its crunch.

180 min