My Argentine Feast – Part 7 – Dulce de Leche Panqueques

What dinner party would be complete without dessert, right?! This is the last of my Argentine Feast series, and it is all about the dessert of course. The piece de resistance, and our last course of the evening was some Argentine crepes, or dulce de leche panqueques.

Dulce de leche is a very popular dessert in the Latin world, but Argentina is renowned for their dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is a thick, silky, smooth, and glossy confection made from milk and sugar that has been caramelized. The name translates to “sweet from milk” in Spanish. It is a beloved part of Argentinian culture and cuisine. In fact, it is so popular in Argentina, that they even celebrate International Dulce de Leche Day on October 11 to honor the national delicacy. Dulce de leche is a source of national pride in Argentina and Uruguay, and is considered a regional staple. In 2003, Argentina attempted to declare dulce de leche a national patrimony, but other countries in South and Central America objected.

Dulce de leche is used in many ways. You can spread it on or add it to anything you want to sweeten up a bit. And after all, we all know the world needs a lot more sweeteners. 🙂

No one really knows the story of how ducle de leche was actually created, but one rumor has it that Napoleon’s cook heated a blend of milk and sugar for far too long way back in 1804. Some say it was an accidental discovery made by a cook for Argentinian leader Juan Manuel de Rosas, when she left sweetened milk on the stove, only to come back and find it had transformed into a thick and creamy mixture, back in 1829. Other theories suggest that dulce de leche originated in Indonesia in the 6th century and was brought to the Americas by Napoleon or Rosas. Again, no one really knows, and we may never know. All that we know, and all that really matters, is that it is an excellent dessert. 🙂

In keeping with the Argentine theme for the evening, I finished it off with some delicious dulce de leche panqueques, or crepes.

Dulce de Leche Panqueques

I made the batter ahead of time and let it set in the refrigerator for a few hours before making the crepes. It is a basic crepe recipe.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs

1 cup cold water

1 cup cold milk

4 TBSP butter, melted

dulce de leche sauce

Combine all the ingredients, except the dulce de leche, and whisk together well. Let set in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 24 hours before making the crepes.

When ready to make the crepes, take the batter out of the refrigerator a little before cooking. Get a small skillet very hot, then spray with cooking spray and add a dash of butter to the pan and swirl it all around to coat the skillet. Add about 1/4 cup of batter and immediately swirl it all around to coat the bottom of the skillet with a very thin layer of batter. Cook for about 1-1 1/2 minutes, then carefully flip over and cook for an additional 1-1/12 minutes. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a plate. Do this for every crepe until the batter is finished.

While the crepe is still hot, and another one is in the skillet cooking, spread about 1 TBSP of the dulce de leche all over the crepe, then roll it up.

!Esta perfecto! I don’t think it needs anything else, but Larry being the ice cream lover that he is, thought it needed to be topped with ice cream as well. 🙂

This is a very simple dessert, made with very simple, basic ingredients, but it was a huge hit. As I often say, simple is always the best. 🙂

This concludes my Argentine feast series. I hope you all enjoyed my Argentine dinner party as much as we did. !Desfruta!

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay sweet, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.