If you enjoy South American sweet treats, you will love Cuban dessert recipes. A lot of them are similar to easy Mexican recipes for desserts, which you have perhaps already made at some point. Lots of tropical fruits grow in Cuba, including bananas, mango, soursop, pineapple, tamarinds, coconuts and guava, which means that fruity desserts are especially popular.
Well loved Cuban desserts include rice pudding and merenguitos, which are sweet meringue puffs. Torrejas are like French toast. They are sweet fried bread slices served with syrup and raisins. In Cuba, French toast is served for dessert rather than breakfast. Cubans also like to make cookies and pastries using the locally sourced fresh fruit. Fruit turnovers and parfait desserts are really popular there.
Flan, which is also known as creme caramel, is very popular in nearly all Spanish speaking countries, including Cuba and Mexico. This delicious egg custard is flavored with vanilla and has a smooth, silky texture.
An Easy Recipe for Boniatillo
This sweet potato pudding is popular during the holidays in Cuba. The pudding is flavored with cinnamon, cream, lime juice, vanilla and more and everybody will love the delicious flavor of this wonderful and traditional Cuban dessert. Chill it for a couple of hours or serve it hot. It tastes great either way! This recipe makes enough to serve four people.
What you will need:
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 lbs sweet potato
2 limes
1 stick cinnamon
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or grated cinnamon stick
Water, as needed
How to make it:
Peel and chop the sweet potato and cover it with water in a pan. Add a teaspoon of salt and boil it for twenty minutes or until tender. Drain the potato and mash it using a fork, blender, or food processor.
Peel the limes and save the fruit for another use. Put the peel in a big pan with the brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and two cups of water. Cook the mixture over a moderate heat until it reaches 250 degrees F, stirring it all the time. You will need a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature.
Take out the peel and cinnamon and turn the heat down to low. Add the mashed sweet potato and keep stirring the mixture until it is smooth. Take it off the heat. Beat the cream, butter, egg yolks, and a pinch of salt until smooth, and then add this to the sweet potato mixture.
Cook it over a low heat for a couple of minutes, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. If the mixture is too runny, you can mix a quarter cup of cornstarch with a quarter cup of water and add this. Divide the sweet potato pudding between serving bowls and garnish each one with a little ground cinnamon.
