The Best Mexican Desserts

This delicious lemon cake is filled and topped with homemade dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is like caramel and it is made with either cow's milk or goat's milk. Goat's milk is more popular than cow's milk in Peruvian and Mexican dulce de leche recipes.

Another way of making dulce de leche is to remove the label from a can of sweetened condensed milk and boil it in a pan of water for a couple of waters, adding more water each time the level goes down so that the pan is always covered in water. Then you need to transfer the can to a pan of cold water. The problem with this method is that occasionally the cans of condensed milk can explode because of the heat so making dulce de leche from scratch is a safer option.

If you have some dulce de leche left over or if you want to double the recipe (you can serve dulce de leche, toast, or pancakes too), transfer it to a clean glass jar. It will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. This delicious layered cakes recipe is very simple and the dulce de leche goes beautifully with the lemon flavor. The white chocolate curls make the perfect decoration too.

Ingredients -

1 ¾ cups white sugar
3 ½ cups sifted cake flour
1 cup milk
6 eggs
¼ cup softened butter
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 oz white chocolate curls

For the Dulce de Leche:

4 cups milk
1 ¼ cups white sugar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preparation:

First, make the dulce de leche.

Stir the ingredients together in a heavy pan and bring the mixture to a boil.

Keep stirring it until the sugar melts.

Turn the heat down and simmer the dulce de leche over a very low heat until it is thick.

This will take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a pair of 9 inch round cake pans and line them with greased wax paper or parchment.

Mix the baking powder with the salt and flour.

Beat the white sugar with the white sugar and butter in a bowl until the mixture is well blended, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Stir in the lemon zest and juice, then add the flour mixture and milk gradually, stirring all the time.

Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pans and tap them sharply on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles in the mixture.

Bake for half an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes, and then unmold them on to a wire rack.

Spread half the dulce de leche over one cake and top it with the other one.

Spread the rest of the dulce de leche over the top and sprinkle the white chocolate curls all over the cake.

(Serves 10)

Photo Description:

This lemon layered cake is filled and topped with rich, smooth homemade dulce de leche and white chocolate curls are used as an attractive garnish. You can buy white chocolate curls or make your own, using a bar of very cold white chocolate and a sharp knife. This lemon layered cake is light and fluffy and the dulce de leche is really sweet and sticky. You can buy readymade dulce de leche if you prefer but homemade dulce de leche is especially good.

Mexican Cookie Tips

* Most Mexican cookie recipes will keep for several days in a sealed container. If you keep them longer, they might go soggy.

* To freeze baked Mexican cookies, layer them between wax paper sheets or parchment paper sheets in an airtight tin. When you want to serve them, thaw them in the tin.

* If you use all-purpose flour for your Mexican dessert dishes, remember than a pound of flour is the same as four cups.

* Cookies spread if your cookie dough is too pliable. This happens if you use very soft butter. If this happens when you make Mexican cookies, try chilling the dough in the refrigerator for an hour or two before baking.

Mexican Cake Tips

* When using nuts in a Mexican cake recipe you can heat them first in the oven, then dust them with flour before adding them to the cake batter. This stops them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.

* If you drop some eggshell in your cake batter mix, use the remaining piece of shell to remove it.

Freshness Tips

* Use the freshest ingredients possible for an authentic Mexican flavor in your authentic Mexican desserts. This includes fresh fruit and fresh milk.

* If you are using eggs in your Mexican desserts, put the egg in a dish filled with cool saltwater. A fresh egg will sink. It if rises, throw it away. Rotten eggs rise because they produce gas inside when they are stale.

Fruit Tips

* Old brown bananas can be frozen for later use in banana bread and Mexican banana desserts rather than throwing them away.

* If you want to make a Mexican strawberry dessert, add a little aged Balsamic vinegar because it really brings out the strawberry flavor.

Other Tips

* If your Mexican dessert recipe calls for whipping cream, you can replace the regular sugar for confectioners' sugar to make the cream stay firmer for longer and to make it fluffier.

* After using your blender to make a Mexican dessert, add a cup of warm water to the blender and blend it for a few seconds. Pour out the water, add a couple of cups of warm water and a little bit of dishwashing liquid, and blend again with the lid on. Rinse again and it is clean.

* Sometimes sugar goes hard and if you have hard brown sugar, put a slice of bread in the package and seal it well. The sugar absorbs the moisture from the bread and softens up within a few hours.

* Drain deep fried Mexican foods such as fried ice cream or dessert empanadas on brown paper bags instead of on paper towels to ensure they stay crispy.

Ingredients -

11 oz chopped Mexican chocolate
½ vanilla bean
3 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ¾ cups Half & Half
6 soft flour tortillas
1 sliced banana
24 seedless green grapes
24 seedless red grapes
2 tangerines, broken into segments
Powdered sugar, as needed
Chocolate ice cream syrup, for garnish

Preparation:

Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds from 1 half into a 3-quart pan. Add the Half & Half and the Mexican chocolate and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking it all the time.

Take it off the heat. Beat the salt and eggs in a bowl, and then pour in the chocolate mixture, whisking it all the time.

Transfer it to a clean pan and cook it over a low heat, stirring it with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes or until the mixture reaches 175 degrees F.

Strain it through a fine sieve into a metal dish.

Put the metal dish in a dish of ice water and cool it, stirring it every few minutes. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker, then transfer it to an airtight container and freeze it until hard.

This will take about an hour.

Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the base of a skillet and cook the tortillas one at a time for half a minute or until the sugar becomes a liquid.

Sprinkle more powdered sugar over the top and flip them over.

Cook for half a minute.

Let them cool a little, and then cut them into triangles.

Divide the ice cream between 6 serving plates and garnish with the fresh fruit and the tortilla wafers.

Drizzle chocolate syrup over the desserts, then sprinkle some powdered sugar over the plates.

Serve immediately.

(Serves 6)

Most of us are familiar with savory empanadas - delicious pastries stuffed with beef and egg, chicken or vegetables. However, dessert empanadas can be equally satisfying. The following dessert empanada recipe uses fruit and cinnamon for a delicious flavor. You can substitute the fruit preserves for many different kinds of fruit and feel free to experiment with this recipe.

Caramel apple empanadas are very tasty as well. You will also find that the dough, made from butter, flour, and cream cheese, goes perfectly with the sweet filling. Empanadas can be served as they are, either for a dessert, breakfast dish, or sweet afternoon snack, or with some whipped cream, ice cream, or chocolate sauce for an indulgent treat. You can wrap the unbaked dough and freeze it if you want to make extra. In addition, the baked empanadas can be frozen too.

Dessert Empanadas Recipe

Ingredients -

3 oz cream cheese
%u2153 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup softened butter
1 cup fruit preserves
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
Powdered sugar

Preparation:
Cream the butter with the cream cheese, then beat in the flour.

Shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap or foil.

Chill it overnight or for up to a week.

Take the dough ball out of the refrigerator and leave it for half an hour to reach room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll the dough out thinly and cut disks with a 3 or 4 inch cookie cutter.

Put a spoonful of preserves in the middle of each one, moistening the edges with some water.

Fold the dough disks over and press the moistened edges together.

Bake for about 18 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet then roll the empanadas in powdered sugar mixed with ground cinnamon.

(Serves 4)

Mexican Fried Bananas - Platanos Machos

You might have had deep fried bananas in batter before but Mexican fried bananas are extra delicious, thanks to the addition of cream, orange, butter and a dash of flavorful Grand Marnier. Mexican fried bananas, known as platanos machos in Mexico, have a soft, caramelized centre and hot, crispy outsides, making them one of our tastiest Mexican dessert recipes.

Making authentic Mexican desserts is quite easy and this delicious Mexican dessert takes just minutes to put together. Mexican fried bananas are hot, comforting, and go beautifully with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or simply by themselves. They are just as popular with adults as they are with kids. If you are looking for a last minute Mexican dessert recipe and you have some bananas, why not try this one? The Grand Marnier is optional but does give a nice flavor to the dish.
Orange Flavored Fried Bananas

Ingredients -

4 semi-ripe bananas
1 cup dark sugar
4 tablespoons butter
Juice of 2 oranges
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
½ tablespoon Grand Marnier (optional)

Preparation:

Peel the bananas and cut them once lengthwise then half once.

Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the bananas on all sides until golden.

Mix the rind, juice, Gran Marnier if you are using it and sugar together and pour this mixture over the bananas.

Simmer for 10 minutes over a medium heat.

Transfer the bananas to serving bowls.

Combine the powdered sugar and sour cream and pour this mixture over the bananas.

Serve at once.

(Serves 4)

Nothing finishes off an authentic Mexican meal better than a delicious Mexican dessert. Mexican cuisine offers a nice variety of dessert recipes you can re-create in your own kitchen. The recipes presented here are representative of the wonderful desserts found in the homes and restaurants of Mexico.

Traditional Mexican Desserts

Tres leches cake is a very popular moist and delicious dessert. Bunuelos is a fritter like dessert often enjoyed as a snack. Flan or crème caramel is rich custard dessert topped with soft caramel. Dessert enchiladas are tortillas filled with fresh fruits such as apples, strawberries or cherries, baked and finally covered with a sauce made with fresh raisins.

Mexican Desserts

When one thinks of Mexican food dessert is not always on the top of ones, mind. Things such as burritos, tacos and Nacho Chips with salsa come to most people but the truth is Mexican cooking and diet have include desserts both simple and more complex like any other culture. The desserts of Mexico are a wonderful blend of appetizing delights from fried ice cream to scrumptious baked goods like cookies and cakes.

Mexican desserts have been influenced by both Native People including both the Aztec and Mayan and European settlers with the main influence being that of the Spanish but also people from France played a part in the development of food recipes in Mexico.

MexicanDessertRecipes.net present their growing collection of time-tested easy dessert recipes with a Mexican flare. Our Mexican desserts showcasing and recreating the classics of Mexican cuisine abound and are sure to delight. The desserts are fun to make and delicious to eat. Enjoy the site, bookmark us, and come back often.