As mentioned in another recipe, manjar blanco is the Peruvian version of dulce de leche. On its own it is already a heavenly piece of sweetness, but with this 2.0 version it becomes even heavenlier 😉 This dessert is based on the traditional Suspiros de Limeñas (sighs of women from Lima) which combines manjar blanco with meringue. What makes this version special is the addition of fruit two ways: fresh, ripe mango and lucuma powder. Lucu-who?? Lucuma: it’s a Peruvian fruit which you can buy as powder (harina de lucuma). It adds an extra dimension to the flavour and makes this dish truly special (you can order lucuma powder at Que Rico). This dessert is just as irresistible without the lucuma, if you can’t get your hands on some 🙂

Ingredients
300 ml sweetened condensed milk
250 ml double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons lucuma powder

Italian meringue
100 gr egg white
200 gr sugar
100 ml water

Garnish
1 ripe mango

Directions

  1. Put the milk and vanilla essence in a pan on low heat.
  2. Combine the cream and lucuma powder into a paste and add it to the pan.
  3. Bring the mixture to a boil, constantly stirring, until it thickens and its colour darkens a bit.
  4. Strain the manjar and divide it into 4 serving bowls or glasses and leave to cool.
  5. Start with the meringue. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a pan.
  6. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites stiff.
  7. Once the sugar syrup has reached 118ºC, start beating the egg whites again and add very, very slowly the syrup. Once all the syrup has been added, you should get a silky smooth meringue. Leave to cool and then transfer into a piping bag.
  8. Peel the mango, cut the flesh into small cubes and divide them among the 4 serving dishes.
  9. To finish, make generous peaks of meringue with the piping bag. If piping nags aren’t your thing, just use a spoon or an ice cream scoop.