These Peruvian desserts won’t just satisfy your sweet tooth, they’ll also inspire you to take a trip to Peru for a complete gastronomic adventure!
Upon hearing the word “Peru,” the iconic Machu Picchu or Amazon Jungle immediately comes to mind. But when I hear “Peru,” I think of the amazing food!
I’ve recently tried a couple of Peruvian recipes and loved how each one tingled my taste buds.
After enjoying Peru’s bold flavors in the cuisine’s main courses, I ended up trying my hand at Peruvian desserts, too!
I’m so glad I did because these sweet treats are just as delicious as the Peruvian mains — a combination that’ll send you to Peruvian heaven.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here are 16 of the most delectable Peruvian desserts you can make at home today!
1. Purple Corn Pudding
Also known as mazamorra morada, this pudding is made with a unique variety of corn, dried fruits, and sweet potato starch.
Purple corn and dried fruits are abundant in Peru, so this pudding is one of the most popular Peruvian desserts out there.
It has a jelly-like consistency, brimming with warm flavors from cinnamon and cloves. Serve it hot for a winter comfort food like no other!
2. Peruvian Apple Pie
A crispy crust with juicy apple pieces and lots of cinnamon is the definition of a perfect apple pie.
When served with vanilla ice cream, this dessert will be an instant hit!
There are many variations to this apple pie, but you’ll love the one with blackberries.
They’re a great addition for a pop of color and slightly tart taste with earthy undertones.
For a fancy-looking dessert, you can make lattice strips on top of the pie before baking it.
3. Tres Leches Cake
This roundup won’t be complete without the iconic tres leches cake. Light, fluffy, and ultra-moist, who wouldn’t love this dessert?
Time to skip the store-bought version because this recipe will show you the easy way of making the most delicious cake of all.
From the recipe name, you might have already guessed that tres leches cake uses a three-milk mixture.
It includes heavy whipping cream, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk.
The mixture is slowly drizzled onto the sponge cake so everything is deliciously moist.
Topped with a lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries, this cake will blow you away!
4. Frejoles Colados
Frejoles colados is also known as the black bean pudding in Peru.
It’s a classic Afro-Peruvian dessert that calls for simple ingredients, such as black beans, milk, sugar, and spices.
The right consistency is achieved when you remove the skin of the beans before making a puree out of them.
Add in ground cloves, milk, cinnamon, and sugar to taste. With a little more stirring, you’ll get a nice thick paste full of comforting flavors.
5. Arroz Con Leche
Arroz con leche is a sweet rice pudding that’s deliciously creamy. This dessert is made with rice and milk, and is flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and sometimes raisins.
With only a handful of pantry ingredients, you’ll have an easy time making this delightful treat. You can enjoy this as is, or serve it the Peruvian way.
Place this creamy rice pudding in the same glass as the purple corn pudding. This results in a tempting glass of mixed desserts.
The cream and purple tones of each pudding match well together, and so do their textures and sweet flavors.
6. Picarones
Peruvian picarones are like American donuts, but easier to make. So, if you’re looking for a quick fix for your donut craving, it’s time to make some picarones!
The unique flavor of these deep-fried donuts comes from the pureed butternut squash and the addition of a premium beer to the dough.
When dripping with spiced syrup, picarones will be insanely addictive. Still, you can take it up a notch by serving this dessert with a scoop of ice cream.
7. Ranfañote
Ranfañote is Peru’s crunchy bread pudding that combines dried fruits, nuts, salty cheese, and of course, syrup-soaked bread chunks.
Up until now, it’s unclear how this flavorful Peruvian dessert came to be. Some think that it was invented by soldiers who got creative with their rations.
Others believe that colonial bakers were looking for a way to use stale bread. If that’s true, they found a super delicious way to do so!
Despite ranfañote’s unclear origin, this dessert will always be associated with Peru.
It might have disappeared for a while, but Peruvian chefs are now reviving this vintage treat.
8. Guargueros
Guargüeros is a popular dessert in Lima, available in most bakeries and coffee shops. It’s a fried dough filled with dulce de leche or slow-cooked sweetened milk.
For this dessert, you can use a canned dulce de leche or make your own, although the latter is quite time-consuming.
For the dough, you’ll just have to fry it and let it cool before adding the sweetened milk. The result is a gorgeous pastry that melts right in your mouth!
9. Peruvian Bread Pudding
Looking for an extremely sweet dessert? This bread pudding recipe is what you’ll need. Oh, and also a couple of simple pantry ingredients.
These include crusty bread, eggs, sugar, and full-fat milk. Add in the caramel, vanilla, raisins, and lemon zest for flavoring.
In half-an-hour or so, you’ll have a dessert that’s well-loved by many Peruvians. It looks so simple, but the taste is highly addictive!
10. Chicha Morada
Chicha morada is a traditional cold beverage from Peru. It’s a healthy, invigorating drink made with purple corn, green apples, lime juice, and a few spices.
Powdered mixes of chicha morada are available in the US, but making it from scratch is more satisfying and economical.
All it takes is some boiling of purple corn and some stirring once you add the rest of the ingredients.
For the most authentic taste, only use purple corn for chicha morada. Serve over ice for a completely refreshing drink.
11. Alfajores
If you loved the silky smooth dulce de leche in guargüeros, then you’ll adore alfajores, too!
It’s a cookie sandwich with cinnamon-infused dulce de leche, then rolled in powdered sugar.
Everything comes together quickly, especially when you use dulce de leche in a can. Other variations of this recipe use shredded coconut in place of powdered sugar.
These soft, delicate cookies have a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. I’m sure you’ll go back for seconds!
12. Peruvian Hot Chocolate
This is the recipe that chocolate lovers have been waiting for. Peruvian hot chocolate is rich, creamy, and soul-warming.
The trick to getting the best flavor is to use a chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa.
The result is a naturally sweet drink with a hint of spice from cloves, cinnamon, and star anise.
For a foamy hot chocolate, you can blend the drink before serving.
For a fancy presentation, add whipped cream and some marshmallows. It’s the perfect drink to have with alfajores!
13. Chilcano De Maracuya
The most refreshing cocktail drink for the summer is here: chilcano de maracuya. This drink features Peruvians’ classic spirit, pisco, and passion fruit pulp.
If you love the strong ginger flavor, don’t skip the ginger ale. Serve with crushed ice and add a few drops of bitters for a drink that packs a punch.
14. Torta De Dona Pepa
Also called Turrón de Doña Pepa, this Peruvian dessert is popular during October when locals celebrate the Feast of the Lord of Miracles.
It’s believed that an ill woman created this dessert as a sign of respect to El Señor de los Milagros, who healed her.
Turrón de Doña Pepa has several variations, but the ideal one to have is chewy and easy to cut for individual servings.
The recipe creates layers of soft cookies infused with caramel and topped with colorful sprinkles and dried prunes.
15. Lucuma Ice Cream
If you haven’t used your ice cream maker for a while, bring it out now for this fantastic recipe that’s worth your time and effort!
This dessert will remind you of the addictive flavor of caramel or maple and is unlike any ice cream you’ve ever had.
It’s made with lucuma — a sweet and fragrant fruit that you’ll only find in the Andean valleys of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador.
To capture the original flavor of this ice cream, you can use frozen lucuma pulp or lucuma powder for flavoring.
For a decadent variation, simply add dulce de leche into the mix.
16. Huevo Chimbo
This traditional Latin American dessert dates back to the XIV century. It’s believed to have been created by Spanish nuns looking for a way to use leftover egg yolks.
Mexico and Chile have their own variations of this recipe, but I must say that the Peruvian version is unbeatable in my book!
Peru’s huevo chimbo has a syrup with a high content of Pisco, which is why this dessert is also called drunk chimbo egg.
This fluffy cake is full of warm flavors, thanks to the addition of cloves and cinnamon.
Using only six simple ingredients, you’ll be done making this unique dessert in less than an hour.
16 Easy Peruvian Dessert Recipe Collection
Get an authentic taste of Peru with these Peruvian desserts! These recipes are easy, traditional, and will satisfy your sweet tooth!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a treat from Peru in 30 minutes or less!
