5 typical Argentinian sweet treats you must try!

As you might have noticed, Argentina has an enormous selection of cookies, sweets, cakes and desserts. To give you an overview of the best sweet treats to try, we created a top 5:

1. Dulce de Leche
   Dulce de Leche literally means “candy of milk.” This sweet, brown paste is made from condensed milk, sugar and baking powder, which is all slowly cooked together until it becomes a caramel paste. This heavenly sweet paste is mostly used as a spread on cakes, cookies, pancakes, ice-cream and other desserts. I recommend trying Dulce de Leche Ice-cream in one of the many heladerias (ice-cream shops). If you are a real sugar lover, you should go for Dulce de Leche Tentación. Warning: many students have become addicted to this paste.
2. Alfajores
   These cookies are simply delicious! They exist in many different sizes and forms, which is only more reason to try them all! (Not all at once though, if you want to avoid a stomach ache.) These sandwich cookies are filled with dulce de leche, jam or chocolate mousse. They are often dusted in powdered sugar or have a chocolate or meringue coating. The one pictured is an Alfajor de Maicena and these are the ones you see in most panaderías (bakeries). The other famous alfajor is the Marplatense, which is covered in chocolate. You can find these sweet galletitas (cookies) in every bakery, supermarket or kiosco, and there are even special alfajores shops, such as Havanna.





3. Postre Vigilante
   This is a very simple but typical Argentinean dessert. It is also called queso y dulce. It contains a thick slice of cheese, mostly Pategrás, with a thick slice of quince paste (dulce de membrillo) on top of it. Another variant is with a slice of sweet potato paste (dulce de batata). The name of this dessert comes from a few police officers who were called vigilantes. They always ordered the same thing: a slice of cheese with a slice of dulce de membrillo. From then on it became a normal combination called postre del vigilante. It is a must try!

4. Flan Mixto
   This is probably the most popular dessert in Argentina, and you might already know it as crème caramel or flan. It has become a typical dessert as a result of all the international influences in Argentina. Flan exists in different combinations, for example, with whipped cream (con crema) or with dulce de leche. However, the best version is the Flan Mixto which comes with both of them. There is hardly any restaurant that does not have this postre (dessert) on its menu, so if you haven’t tried it yet, go for it!
5. Chocotorta
   This is another simple and classic dessert but popular among Argentineans. You can order it in most cafés and restaurants or try to make it yourself, as it very easy to make! The only ingredients you need are chocolate cookies, cream cheese, milk and of course, dulce de leche. The combination of dulce de leche and chocolate cookies is unbelievably good!

These five are only a small selection of many Argentinian sweet treats, so if you have not tried any of them you should definitely start now!

---