Mexican Dishes: Desserts
Traditional sweet recipes from Mexico.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From One Hundred & One Mexican Dishes by May E. Southworth, 1906.
Camote y Piña
Boil a pound of sugar to the candy degree, remove from the fire and add a pound of sweet potatoes, boiled and pressed through a sieve. Return to the fire and cook until thick, stirring constantly; then add half a pineapple grated and cook a few minutes more. Serve in sherbet glasses.
Dulce
Pick the stems from each raisin and wash in boiling red wine; then put them in an infusion of cognac, Marsala wine and slices of fresh lemon for three days. Remove and heap them in bunches about the size of large goose-eggs and wrap each bunch in large fig leaves, layer upon layer, and bake for a half-hour in a light oven. When serving turn the leaves back and send to the table hot.
Mantecado
Melt a cupful of granulated sugar in a smooth saucepan; add a cupful of English walnut meats and pour into a shallow buttered pan to harden. When cold grate or chop fine. Crumble twelve macaroons fine and toast in the oven a few moments. Make a custard of the yolks of two eggs, a fourth of a cupful of sugar and a cupful of milk, then pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs and let cool. To a pint of cream add a third of a cupful of sugar and beat until thoroughly mixed, add the custard and flavor with maraschino, then freeze. When half frozen add the macaroon-crumbs and half of the grated walnut mixture and finish freezing. Sprinkle the remaining grated walnuts over cream at serving time.
Postre de Manzanas
Take a goodly portion of Roquefort cheese and about one-third as much butter and rub them together until they are thoroughly mixed, then add about a dessert-spoonful of French cognac or just enough to moisten the mixture well. Peel, core and slice the round way, rather thick, russet apples, and over each slice spread the cheese. Serve with black coffee.
Realengo
Rub three-quarters of a cupful of fresh fruit through a sieve; heat and sweeten. Beat the whites of three eggs until stiff; add gradually the hot fruit pulp, beating continually; turn into a buttered mold, set in a pan of hot water and bake in a slow oven until firm. Remove and cover the top with whipped cream, flavored with sugar and wine and decorated with preserved cherries, angelica or citron.
Torto Frutas
Line the sides of a baking-dish with a light puff-paste; cover the bottom with sliced pineapple; next, a layer of peeled sliced oranges, then sliced bananas and then a few thin slices of lemon. Sift a most generous supply of sugar between each layer. Repeat the layers until the dish is full and cover the top layer with chopped nuts. Lay over the top narrow strips of the pastry and bake slowly for an hour or more.
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