Crêpes with dulce de leche sauce and fruits

Dulce de leche is a popular confection in Latin America. It is made by slowly heating sugar and milk for several hours until getting a thick sauce which can be used as a spread on bread or cookies, or as a filling on many pastries. For this recipe we are using a dulce de leche from Argentina found at “El gaucho” a butchery and Latin America products’ store north of Toronto. Many large grocery stores in Canada carry dulce de leche spreads imported from different countries; find it in the ethnic or baking products aisle.

Cranberry & cream cheese flan

Flan is a custard topped with caramel. It is a very popular dessert in Spain, Latin America and Caribbean countries. There are endless varieties of flans. Mexican flans start from a similar base mixture: whole eggs, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar and vanilla extract. This flan was made with cranberry sauce and cream cheese, a celebration of our Mexican-Canadian heritage.

Churros

Churros were brought to Latin America by the Spaniards who shared this tasty treasure with Mexico and the rest of the colonies in centre and south America. Churros were a popular pastry among Spanish sheep herders who used to make them while attending their “churras’ sheeps”. They ideated a pastry that was easy to make outdoors with just a few ingredients, using a pan and some oil. As you can guess the name came from “churras’ sheeps” and the curve form of their horns.