Peruvian cuisine is influenced by Mayan and Incan dishes and features a range of desserts, including rice pudding, alfajores, and pionono. Native fruits and vegetables, such as lacuma and passion fruit, are often used in desserts, and some are related to religious events. Roadside vendors also sell picarones, a donut pancake made with native spices.
Like all countries, South America’s Peru has a rich culinary tradition. Informed by age-old Mayan and Incan dishes, Peruvian cuisine is also punctuated by a wide range of sumptuous Peruvian desserts that apparently began to evolve after the Spanish colonization began. These treats range from the simple rice pudding and caramel-filled cookies called alfajores to more complex creations like the airy braid cake of three kinds of dairy products or the caramel-filled rolled cookie known as pionono.
Peru is home to a rich selection of native fruits and vegetables, from ubiquitous limes to more exotic lacums. Lacuma is a savory, yet sweet, orange-colored treat that heavily impacts the preparations of many bakers since it is found only in Peru. Numerous Peruvian desserts make use of popular local renditions, including vegetables in mazamorra morada – a jelly turned purple with local purple corn that freezes around various fruits. Key lime pie, a tweaked version of the Northern Hemisphere lemon meringue pie, is also among the most popular native delicacies. Passion fruit also makes its way into several delicacies.
Some Peruvian desserts are particularly related to religious events surrounding the predominant Catholic church. During October, the month dedicated to the celebration of El Señor de los Milagros, or Lord of Miracles, a popular staple is a syrup-drenched rack of aniseed cookie bars called turrón de doña pepa, all glued with molasses or caramel. Though it’s now sold year-round, with a variety of celebratory sprinkles and other candies on top, it’s more related to this annual ritual, which culminates in a grand parade on October 18.
Pionono is one of the most aesthetically seductive desserts. This is a simple cake of flour, eggs, sugar and perhaps some aniseed or vanilla extract. The batter is cooked in a shallow pan to form a thin sheet of cake, which is coated liberally with caramel and rolled up to be cut into swirled bites. Some of the more legendary versions of this dessert have sweet cream cheese or chopped nuts alongside caramel and perhaps a light dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Some types of Peruvian desserts are related to the roads and are often created by roadside vendors on the fly in small tubs of oil. An age-old donut pancake called picarones is made with an inexpensive but distinctive blend of flour, squash, squash, baking powder, sugar, a little brandy, and a pinch of salt. It also includes native spices such as aniseed, cinnamon, allspice, flaxseed and cloves. After being fried like pancakes or donuts with holes, these treats are then topped with a syrup just as complex as the donut – with molasses, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, citrus zest and brown sugar.
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