Okay so last week, I kept seeing mentions of Guatemalan desserts pop up on some travel food groups. Honestly, I couldn’t picture a single one, which kinda bugged me. Felt like a gap in my food knowledge, you know? Decided to dive in and actually make some to figure out what Guatemala dessert really means. Spoiler: way more interesting than I expected.
The Deep Dive Starts
First step, I hit up some Guatemalan food blogs and old recipe sites. Realized I needed ingredients I didn’t have, so grocery run happened. Spent like an hour hunting for quince paste and the right kind of baking squash – not easy on a Tuesday! Got most of it though. Ready to roll.
Trial and Error in My Kitchen
Started simple with Champurradas. Those are like hard cookie-sesame things? Mixed butter, sugar, flour, and way too much sesame seed at first. My first batch? Burnt bottoms. Seriously. Too hot oven. Second try, dialed it back. Got that perfect crispness! They’re addictive with coffee. Crunch city.
Then tackled Rellenitos de Plátano. This sounded wild – mashed plantains stuffed with sweet black beans? Cooked the beans forever with cinnamon and panela sugar til they were mush. Mashed ripe plantains like crazy. Wrapping the bean goo inside the plantain was messy. Fried a few as practice – some burst open. Learned to make ’em smaller and seal tight. Fried ’em golden brown? Oh man, that sweet bean and salty plantain mix with a crispy shell? Weird combo but so freaking good. Total surprise hit.
Made Pan de Banano next. Basically, super moist banana bread. Used super ripe bananas, a ton. Smelled amazing. Easy mix, poured batter into my scarred loaf pan. Baked til it passed the toothpick test. Let it cool – hardest part! Sliced in… perfect texture, dense but soft. Ate it with coffee for breakfast three days straight. Felt authentic.
The Sweet Classics & The Famous One
Had to try Dulce de Leche. Okay, this is basically condensed milk magic. Boiled that can forever – seemed risky, but it worked! Let it cool overnight. Opened it next day… thick, dark, glorious caramel paste. Dunked fruit in it, put it on crackers, straight spoonfuls. Pure danger.
Finally, tackled the famous Fiambre. Okay, okay – this ain’t sweet! But everyone says it’s THE dish for Day of the Dead. My practice round wasn’t the real deal. Chopped tons of veggies: beets, broccoli florets, olives, green beans. Made a salty vinegar brine with herbs. Chopped leftover meats too – chicken, sausage bits. Tossed everything together. Chilled it overnight. Taste test? Confusingly savory and cold, but the textures were wild! Definitely an experience, not dessert, but felt important for the full picture.
My Top 5 Picks After Actually Making Them
Based purely on my messy kitchen trials, here’s what blew my mind:
- Rellenitos de Plátano: That sweet bean stuffing in salty fried plantain? Mind changed.
- Dulce de Leche: Pure, simple magic in a can.
- Champurradas: Perfect crunchy dunkers for coffee.
- Pan de Banano: Comfort food, Guatemalan style.
- Fiambre: Not sweet, but gotta respect the tradition.
Honestly, this experiment taught me Guatemalan sweets aren’t crazy complicated, but the flavors feel unique. That plantain-bean combo? Would never have guessed. Practice makes… edible results! Highly recommend trying these yourself. Maybe skip the exploding Rellenitos phase.
