Okay, so today I wanted to try making some Bolivian desserts. I’ve never really had Bolivian food before, but I was feeling adventurous, and I love trying new things, especially sweets. So I did some digging around online to find a few recipes that looked interesting and somewhat doable.
First off, I decided to tackle Cocadas. The name itself sounded fun, and from what I read, they’re basically coconut macaroons. I gathered my ingredients: shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites, and a bit of vanilla extract. Seemed easy enough.
- I started by preheating my oven to 350°F.
- Then, in a big bowl, I threw in the shredded coconut and the condensed milk, mixing them up until the coconut was totally soaked.
- In a separate bowl, I whipped up the egg whites until they got all stiff and peaky.
- I gently folded the egg whites into the coconut mixture, being careful not to deflate them too much, and added a splash of vanilla.
I then used a spoon to drop little mounds of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I popped them into the oven and baked them for about 15-20 minutes, until they turned a nice golden brown. The smell in my kitchen was amazing, by the way. When they were done, I let them cool for a bit before trying one. They were chewy, sweet, and had a strong coconut flavor. Pretty good for a first attempt!
Next up, I wanted to try Alfajores. These are like sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche, which is a caramel-like sauce. I found a recipe that seemed manageable. For the cookies, I needed flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. For the filling, I just bought a can of dulce de leche because making it from scratch seemed a bit too time-consuming.
- I started by mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl (flour, cornstarch, baking powder) and creaming together the butter and sugar in another.
- Then, I added the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture.
- I gradually added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until a dough formed.
- I rolled out the dough on a floured surface and used a cookie cutter to make little circles.
I baked these cookies at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes, until they were lightly golden. Once they cooled, I spread a generous amount of dulce de leche on one cookie and topped it with another to make a sandwich. Some recipes also said to roll the edges in shredded coconut, so I did that for a few. Honestly, these were my favorite. The cookies were soft and crumbly, and the dulce de leche was just heavenly.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my Bolivian dessert adventure was a success! It was fun to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. The Cocadas and Alfajores both turned out pretty well, and I’d definitely make them again. If you’re looking for some new dessert recipes to try, I highly recommend giving these a go. They’re relatively easy to make, and the results are delicious!
