Desserts

4 recipes

Kuchen Alemán

The German-Chilean fruit cake from the country's Lakes Region, where 19th-century German immigrants brought their baking traditions and adapted them to local fruit. You cream butter with sugar for the base, beat in eggs one at a time, fold in flour and baking powder, and spread the batter into a 23 cm tin. Sliced apples or stoned plums press into the surface (whatever's in season - cherries, peaches and strawberries all work). A streusel topping of flour, butter, sugar and cinnamon crumbles over the top. Forty-five minutes at 180°C until the topping is gold and a skewer comes out clean. A dust of icing sugar before serving. Eaten with afternoon coffee on a Lakes Region veranda, or any Sunday wherever you happen to be.

1 hour 15 minutes Serves8

Leche Asada

Chile's homely flan, the simpler cousin of crème caramel that turns up on every household table without ceremony. You whisk eggs gently with sugar and vanilla so you don't beat air in, then drizzle warm milk in slowly to temper. Strain through a fine sieve into an oven dish to catch any cooked egg threads. Forty-five minutes at 180°C and the surface has gone deep gold and the centre wobbles only slightly. Unlike a French crème caramel, leche asada uses no water bath and no caramel sauce. The iconic browned crust comes from direct heat, and the custard underneath stays silky soft. Cools to room temperature, then chills. Sliced into wedges and eaten plain or with a spoon of fresh fruit on the side.

55 minutes Serves6

Manjar (Chilean Dulce de Leche)

Chile's version of dulce de leche, the slow-simmered milk caramel that turns up in alfajores, kuchen fillings and the breakfast spread on a thick slice of bread. You combine whole milk, sugar, a split vanilla pod and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in a heavy wide pan, then simmer slowly for two to three hours, stirring more frequently as the mixture thickens. The bicarb is the trick - it accelerates the Maillard reaction and is what gives manjar its iconic deep brown colour, where unaided dulce de leche stays paler. You're done when the mixture has reduced by two-thirds and turned the colour of dark caramel. Cool, store in a jar. Spread on toast, sandwich in alfajores, or eat by the spoonful when nobody's looking.

2 hours 35 minutes Serves600

Mote Con Huesillos

Chile's summer drink-dessert, the cold glass that street vendors carry across Santiago in heatwaves and that arrives on every patio table in January. You soak dried peaches overnight to soften them, then simmer with sugar, cinnamon and cloves into a deep amber syrup. Husked wheat (mote, or pearled wheat as a substitute) cooks separately in plain water until tender. Both chill thoroughly. Served in tall glasses with a big spoonful of cooked wheat at the bottom, two peach halves balanced on top, and the cold spiced syrup poured over. You drink it first - the syrup is the reward of a hot afternoon - then spoon up the soft peaches and the wheat at the bottom. A summer ritual.

1 hour 15 minutes Serves6