Cuban Desserts and Baked Goods

by Audrey Erickson Beyond simple nourishment, food can be seen as a show of love or celebration, a gift to be given, or a way of bringing people together— be it with a religious or cultural tradition or through casual conversation around a kitchen table. Always reflective of the region and time in which it was developed, a culture’s cuisine can teach us about its history, traditions, values, and more. Cuban food and dessert is no exception; today, Cuba’s cuisine is deeply influenced by the country’s cultural, political, and economic history.

Cuban food is reflective of the country’s rich blend of Caribbean, Spanish, and African cultures, with nods to French, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese cuisines. Dishes favor complex flavor profiles and versatile spices that combine and borrow from these countries. Furthermore, Cuban cuisine was largely shaped by Cuba’s fluctuating access to money and resources. In 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power and the country saw subsequent economic instability, Cubans came to rely on cheap and accessible food that they could make special with technique and sparing use of seasonings. As the country’s international relations suffered over its history, more and more dishes were adapted to heavily use ingredients and products that were native to Cuba, or could be grown there following the country’s agricultural boom. As such, we see a lot of the same ingredients appear in many Cuban recipes, repurposed and inventively used to create a myriad of dishes.

The creator of Bea’s frijoles recipe, Nitza Villapol, played a huge part in shaping traditional Cuban food following Castro’s rise to power. Starting out with Cuba’s first popular televised cooking show in 1948, Villapol taught her audiences how to make classic Cuban recipes like picadillo (a stew made with beef, tomatoes, olives, and raisins), vaca frita (fried shredded beef), and arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). Her recipes and approaches changed over the course of her nearly 50-

a tyPiCal CuBan dinner oF VaCa Frita, riCe, and Fried Bananas

year tenure in response to the changing national landscape. She eliminated ingredients from her cookbooks that had been sourced from America before the Cuban-American embargo, and she made creative use of pieces of scrap food and unpopular cuts of meat that would have previously been thrown out. Although it was considered a “peasant” dish, Villapol announced congri (rice and beans) to be “a cornerstone of Cuban culture.” She continuously adapted classic recipes to fit the resources of a typical Cuban household.

This period of Cuban history has impacted the country’s traditional baked goods as well. Cuban bread was traditionally a short, round loaf of soft, leavened bread. Following the Cuban war for independence, flour became less accessible since it was largely imported from other countries, and Cuba’s government put a ration on many staple foods and ingredients, flour included. In an effort to adapt, Cuban bakers made their bread into longer, flatter loaves that were easier to cut into small pieces for rationing. Even as economic and trade conditions improved, the common and wellknown bread shape never changed, creating the flaky-crusted and soft-textured bread found in Cuban bakeries today.

Cuban desserts are an everyday occurrence and made to be extremely sweet; as Bea says, “Cubans love their sugar!” Even though they are common, Cuban desserts—as in many cultures—are especially passed around during holidays, family gatherings, and celebrations. Rice puddings, mango bars, coconut flan, and tres leches are often seen at these events.

Other treats you may see at Bea’s Café Eleguá (and could try to make yourself at home!) include:

Pastelito: A baked puff-pastry made into a pocket, filled with a sweet or savory filling.

Brazo de Gitano: A cake roll, filled with frosting and jelly (often guava).

Señorita: A flaky pastry filled with layers of creamy custard, traditionally chocolate or vanilla

Buñuelos de Viento: A small, fried dough ball, similar to a doughnut.

Cake de Ron: A rum cake, especially popular at Christmas.

A Recipe for Señoritas

by Raúl Musibay, Glenn Lindgren, and Jorge Castillo (Makes 4 to 6 servings)

ingredients

1 can condensed milk, 1 can evaporated milk 1 can water (use the evaporated milk can) 3 egg yolks 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch (combine this with the water until smooth) 2 tablespoons sugar Add last: 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature 1 sheet from 1 package of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets 1/2 cup powdered sugar (approximate)

Filling:

1. Combine the first five ingredients in a medium pot. 2. Stir on low heat until mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. 3. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and beat with a wire whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until cool.

Pastry:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. 2. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the pastry sheet into 3 strips along the fold marks. Place the pastry strips onto baking sheets. Handle the pastry as little as possible! 3. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastry sheets from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Split the three baked pastries into 2 layers, so that you have 6 layers in all. 4. Sprinkle some powdered sugar to cover all of the layers. Assemble the señorita by spreading approximately 3/4 cup of the filling on the first layer. Top this layer with a second layer, again spreading the filling on top. Finally cover this layer with a third piece of pastry. 5. REPEAT this process with the remaining three puff pastry layers. (When done you will have two large pastries, each with three layers.) 6. Slice these rather large pastries into individually sized portions with a wet serrated knife. For easier slicing, refrigerate the señoritas for at least 1 hour before slicing.