Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post about Ecuadorian desserts, mimicking the style you provided.
Alright, so I got this wild hair to try making some Ecuadorian desserts. I mean, I’ve been baking forever, but wanted to branch out, you know? Ecuador kept popping up in my search results when I was looking for interesting sweets. Figured, why not? Let’s dive in!
First up: Dulce de Leche Cortada. Sounds fancy, right? Basically, it’s like a curdled milk thing, super sweet. I found a bunch of recipes online, and honestly, they were all over the place. Some called for lemon juice, some for vinegar, some for nothing but milk and sugar. I went with one that used vinegar ’cause I figured it’d be the most reliable way to get that curdled action going.
I grabbed a gallon of whole milk – gotta go full fat, people! – and a ton of sugar. The recipe said to simmer it for like, an hour, stirring constantly. Let me tell you, that was a workout! My arm was killing me! But I kept stirring. Then I added the vinegar, and BAM! Curds started forming. It was kinda cool, kinda gross at the same time. Like, “did I ruin this?” But I kept the faith and kept stirring. Eventually, the curds got bigger, and the liquid reduced down. It looked like sweet ricotta cheese.
I let it cool, and then… tasted it. Whoa. Super sweet. Like, almost too sweet. But also… kinda addictive? It had this slightly tangy, caramelly thing going on. I put it in the fridge, and honestly, I kept sneaking spoonfuls all day. Probably not the healthiest snack, but hey, I made it myself!
Next: Quesadillas Ecuatorianas. Don’t get this mixed up with Mexican quesadillas. They’re nothing alike, its a sweet cheese pastry. I found a recipe that looked pretty straightforward: flour, butter, cheese, eggs, and a bit of sugar. Mixed it all up and the dough was sticky! I was supposed to roll it out and cut circles, but it was sticking to everything! I ended up adding more flour, probably more than I should have.
So, the dough was a bit tougher than it should have been, but I managed to get some circles cut out. I filled them with a simple cheese and sugar mixture – nothing fancy – folded them over, and crimped the edges. Into the oven they went. They smelled amazing while they were baking!
When they came out, they looked…rustic. Okay, maybe a little ugly. But who cares, right? Taste is what matters. I took a bite. They were alright, but not great. The dough was a bit too tough, and the filling wasn’t sweet enough. I should have added more sugar to the filling. Lesson learned!
Moral of the story? Ecuadorian desserts are interesting! Some are easy, some are not. But it’s fun to try new things. I’m definitely going to keep experimenting. Maybe next time, I’ll try that “tres leches” cake everyone’s always talking about. Stay tuned!
