5 Peruvian desserts that you will love to try at Christmas

With the holidays approaching, you may want to surprise your friends and family with a couple of famous desserts. So, in this article we will recommend the best Peruvian desserts for you to try something different for Christmas, and who knows, maybe you and your family will find your new favorite dessert, it will be a Peruvian dessert. 

1. Peruvian Alfajores

This is, perhaps, one of the most recognized Peruvian desserts worldwide. Peruvian alfajores are two cookies in the center of which you can find delicious blancmange. For its part, the manjar blanco is a Peruvian dessert in itself, which is nothing more than a cream composed of cinnamon and lemon zest. 

So, these are cookies made with flour, butter and powdered sugar. Then, these are put together with blancmange in the middle, which because it is sticky allows them to stay together, simulating a sandwich. 

It is also common for Peruvian alfajores to be coated on the outside with extra powdered sugar.

2. Rice pudding

Another Peruvian dessert that is really well known internationally is rice pudding. In this way, it is similar to the rice pudding that you can get in other countries, but with a special touch to become one of the favorite desserts not only in Peru but in a large part of Latin America. 

Thus, rice pudding is prepared with cooked rice, milk, condensed milk, egg yolks, cinnamon, vanilla and, depending on the preferences of the cook, it can contain raisins. The objective of this Peruvian dessert is to make it creamy, not watery. In Peru, it is common to find it in street stalls, however, if you want to try this Peruvian dessert in Canada, you can order it at the SolyMar restaurant.

3. Picarones

When it comes to famous desserts, we must undoubtedly talk about picarones. These are a Peruvian dessert similar to donuts, as they are round with a hole in the middle. Thus, picarones can be classified as fried donuts, which use more eggs than flour. 

They are a truly traditional Peruvian dessert, dating back to the colonial period and if you have had the opportunity to try buñuelos, they are quite similar. They are often served with cinnamon or honey in the outer crust.

4. Purple mazamorra

Corn has been consumed in Peru since long before colonial times, thus, mazamorra morada is a Peruvian dessert that honors this tradition. Thus, its main ingredient is purple corn, hence its name. 

Thus, in these Peruvian desserts, corn is boiled together with cinnamon, pineapple and other chopped fruits. The idea is that the ingredients give their flavor to the water, and a thickener is added to give it a creamy consistency, such as sweet potato flour. The pieces of fruit or cinnamon cloves are strained from the water before serving.

It is also worth mentioning that this Peruvian dessert can be eaten hot or cold.

5. Lucuma ice cream

If you want a more familiar dessert, you can try lucuma ice cream. Prepared like any ice cream you have ever tasted, but with a traditional fruit from Latin America, particularly Chile and Peru. 

Thus, lucuma is consumed when it is ripe enough to be sweeter and, as with purple corn, it has been used in Peruvian cuisine since before colonial times.

The fruit can be described as a yellow oval fleshy fruit, which, the riper it ripens, the more intense its sweet flavor. Thus, it is ideal for use in ice cream.

If you want to offer your relatives more Peruvian dishes, you can check out our article on how to prepare Peruvian roast chicken. However, if cooking is not your forte and you still want to try these Peruvian desserts in the Canadian area, you can visit Solymar or request a home delivery.