Delicious Sweets You Need to Eat in Argentina

Must Try Argentinian Deserts and Sweet Treats.

It’s not just the people of Argentina that are sweet, their deserts are as well, the nation definitely has a sweet tooth. This passion for all things calorie-packed and sugar-enrich delights has resulted in a range of delicious Argentinian deserts and sweet treats to eat on the go. You might notice the star of Argentinian sweets is dulce de leche, or caramel made with sugar and milk or cream. You’ll find it in many deserts, pastries, cookies and just about anywhere where you can use this sticky brown substance to fill, cover, flavor or stick together the rest of the desert.

Facturas

You’ll find these pastries in the local bakery. They are usually made by following local recipes that include ingredients like all-purpose flour, sugar, dry yeast, and vanilla, which are then blended into a batter (perhaps by using a heavy duty industrial mixer) and converted into a dough.

Basically, these are sticky croissants with a fluffy and soft pastry, which has been stuffed with delicious crème pastelera (vanilla custard), dulce de membrillo (a type of quince jam), raisins, coconut, walnuts or dulce de leche. The factures come in all shapes and sizes and are sometimes dusted with sugar.

Churros

Perhaps best compared to a long donut, these deep-fired fingers of dough are usually sprinkled with sugar or even filled with…dulce de leche. Alternatively some restaurants serve the dulce de leche on the side so you can dip your churros into the dreamy, creamy, brown sweet, milky delight. Churros can be bought in bakeries or on the street. Churrero vendors walk the streets, especially in the tourist areas, selling churros.

Alfajores

These delicious melt-in-your-mouth cookies consist of two soft, round biscuits sandwiched together with Argentina’s favorite sweet, dulce de leche or caramel. The edges of the sweet treat are then rolled in flaky shredded coconut. Sometimes the mouth watering cookies are coated with chocolate, meringue or powdered sugar. These heavenly delights have become popular across the globe, but in Argentina they are made (and eaten) with a passion. Alfajores can be found in the most luxurious restaurants and also at the local corner bakery. My favorite ones are the ‘Cachafaz’ alfajores.

Helado

Helado is ice-cream, and in Argentina it comes in so many variations you’ll spend a long time deciding which flavor to choose. The stiff competition between helado joints (heladerias) means that they strive for excellent quality and mind-blowing, intense flavors. Argentinian ice-cream is similar to Italian gelato which means it is thicker and creamier than American ice-cream. The Italian influence may have come to the country with the many Italian immigrants who made Argentina their home in the 1800s. The delicious creamy texture can probably be attributed to the plentiful quality milk supplied by Argentine dairy cows. Of course dulce de leche features prominently in the Argentinian ice-cream but there are also fruit flavors, chocolate varieties and just about any other flavor you can think up! There are so many different ice cream shops (Heladerias) to choose from. I would recomend these 2 amazing heladerias:’ Persico’ and ‘Bufala’.