Authentic Mexican Dessert Recipes

If you love Mexican food then authentic Mexican dessert recipes should be part of your repertoire. For the most part they are not difficult to make, use ingredients that are easy to find, and just add that perfect ending to a great meal of Mexican food.

As with any regional cuisine, Mexican recipes should be made with the freshest ingredients possible. One of the delicious things about this South of the border food is that most items are grown, gathered, and cooked within a very short time period. Flavors are intensely fresh and clean.

If you use prepared sauces, frozen ingredients, and geriatric produce you just won't be able to achieve the final result that you are looking for.

Sopapillas are a fantastic ending to any Mexican or Tex-Mex meal. Light and airy, they add that touch of sweetness that you need to know that you are finished with dinner. What are sopapillas? A carb addict’s delight, hollow squares or rounds of a simple dough are deep fried, lightly dusted with powdered sugar, granulated sugar, or cinnamon sugar. Honey is served with them so you can pour it in the middle. This creates a sticky, sweet, satisfying treat.

If you are feeling nontraditional and even daring try one of the following instead of honey in the hollow sopapilla:

• Chocolate syrup
• Maple syrup
• Caramel syrup
• Warmed jalapeno jelly
• Agave syrup

There are of course many other possibilities. Sopapillas should be served hot, straight from the fryer and can’t be held over for another meal. They just begin to taste greasy and bland. You almost never see sopapillas in a grocery store for this reason.

Simple and filling, sopapillas are also an inexpensive dessert. Many people are afraid of them because of the deep frying but you shouldn’t be. They really are that simple.

Tips for Perfect Sopapillas

• Use an electric deep fryer heated to 375F
• Be sure to allow the dough to rest before frying
• Do not over crowd the fryer
• When they float to the top spoon the hot oil over them
• Turn once

Recipe for Sopapillas

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

1. Mix the dry ingredients together
2. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly and coarse
3. Stir in the water and mix until smooth, kneading if necessary
4. Allow the dough to stand, covered for about a half hour so that the gluten relaxes. This will keep the sopapillas tender
5. Heat the oil in the deep fryer to 375
6. Roll the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface
7. Cut in 2 x 2 squares
8. Fry until golden on both sides
9. Drain
10. Dust with sugar of choice and serve immediately with honey on the side.

     

If you are looking for authentic Mexican dessert recipes you really can't do much better than flan.  It is a creamy custard, simply flavored with vanilla and very hard to mess up.

Bake the flan in a water bath in the oven.  This merely means that you plunk the custard cups in a pan of water in the oven and leave them in the whole time.  The water around the cups keep the temperature heating evenly which in turn keeps the custards creamy and smooth.

• 8 eggs
• 1  can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 inch vanilla bean
• 1 tablespoon rum 
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

1. Heat the vanilla bean in the condensed milk over low heat,  stirring constantly.  The milk will burn if you are not careful, so you are only trying to warm it enough to have the vanilla bean transfer the flavor.  When the milk is warm to the touch remove it from heat and allow it to stand for 30 minutes. 
2. After 30 minutes remove the vanilla bean and cut it in half. Scrape the seeds out of the bean and add them to the milk.  Stir well. 
3. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
4. Combine the eggs, condensed milk,rum,  and vanilla extract.  Stir until well blended.  Set aside.
5. In a heavy sauce pan, cook the sugar, stirring constantly, until it liquefies.
6. Keep stirring it.  It will begin to turn a light golden brown. 
7. At this point remove it from the heat and cover the bottoms of the custard cups with it. 
8. Pour the condensed milk mixture over the hot sugar.
9. Place a folded dish towel on the bottom of a large roasting pan.  Place the custard cups on the towel and add warm water to the pan until it comes up halfway on the custard cups.
10. Bake for 40 minutes, checking after 30.  FLan should be set with a knife coming out clean when inserted halfway between the center and the outside.
11. Remove from water.  Allow to cool for about 20 minutes.  Run knife around the edge and turn out onto a plate.  Serve with an orange slice as a garnish. 

Makes 8 

Making authentic Mexican dessert recipes like the restaurants do is largely a matter of practice.  Unlike some cuisines, Mexican food uses not difficult techniques or off the wall ingredients.  Just good plain food.

You can find more Mexican dessert recipes:

• All Recipes Mexican Desserts
• Epicurious
• Gourmet Sleuth

Mexican food is about the freshness, the friends, and the fun.  It can be as simple as sliced bananas as long as it is fresh, perfect and enjoyed with gusto.