So, the other day I got this itch, you know? Felt like trying something different in the kitchen. Been seeing a bit about Central America lately, and Honduras popped into my head. Thought, okay, what do they eat for sweets down there? Jumped online for a bit, just poking around.
Saw a few things, like coconut candies and stuff, but these little corn ring cookies, Rosquillas, caught my eye. Looked kinda simple, savory-sweet maybe? The recipe didn’t seem too crazy either. Just needed masa harina – that corn flour stuff – some cheese, butter, bit of sugar, sour cream. Figured I could handle that.
Getting Started with Rosquillas
First hurdle was the cheese. The recipes mentioned ‘queso duro’, a hard, salty cheese. My local supermarket didn’t have anything labeled exactly like that. Found something called ‘queso cotija’, which looked crumbly and salty, so I grabbed that. Hoped for the best. The masa harina was easier to find, thankfully.
Back home, I started mixing. It felt weird, honestly. The masa, the crumbled cheese, softened butter, a splash of sour cream, touch of sugar. It wasn’t like regular cookie dough. More like a slightly sticky, grainy paste. I followed the instructions, kneaded it a bit until it came together.
Then came the shaping part. Supposed to be little rings or wreaths. My first few looked more like lumpy snakes biting their tails. Definitely not winning any beauty contests. After a while, I got a sort of rhythm going, rolling little logs and pinching the ends together. Laid them all out on a baking sheet.
- Mixed the dough (masa, cheese, butter, etc.).
- Kneaded it slightly.
- Tried to shape them into rings (with limited success!).
- Baked them until they looked golden-ish.
They baked pretty quickly. The kitchen smelled interesting, kind of toasty corn and cheese. Pulled them out, let them cool. Took a bite.
Okay, they were… different. Crumbly, definitely not super sweet, with that distinct corn flavor and a salty kick from the cheese. Pretty dry, good with coffee I guess. Not bad, just not what I expected from a ‘dessert’. Felt more like a snack cracker thing. Made a whole bunch, so I’ve been munching on them for days.
Trying Something Else – Tres Leches
After the Rosquillas experiment, I wasn’t really up for another big baking project right away. But I still had that Honduran sweets idea buzzing around. Remembered seeing Tres Leches Cake mentioned a lot too. Now, I know lots of places have Tres Leches, but heard it’s big in Honduras.
Decided to cheat a bit. There’s a little Latin bakery not too far from me, so I went over there and bought a slice. Way easier.
And man, that was totally different. Super moist sponge cake, absolutely drenched in that milky mixture – evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream, the whole nine yards. So sweet, so rich. Completely the opposite of the dry, savory Rosquillas. It was good, maybe a little too sweet for me after a few bites, but definitely felt like a proper dessert.
So yeah, that was my little adventure into Honduran desserts. Got the crumbly, cheesy Rosquillas on one side, and the super-sweet, wet Tres Leches cake on the other. Quite a range. Was fun to try making something new, even if my rings looked wonky. Always interesting to see what folks enjoy elsewhere.
