Delicia de Coco

Dulce de leche.  Nobody loves this sweet, decadent food more than this girl!  I became exposed to dulce de leche (translation: sweet milk) while studying abroad in Argentina, where everybody bakes  it into their desserts.  From a dulce de leche Starbucks frapp to Freddo ice cream, I soon realized that the Argentines do exactly what the Americans do with peanut butter...they put it in EVERYTHING.  Now, while I am totally flumoxed by Americans' strange love affair with peanut butter, I was the last to complain when dulce de leche was somehow incorporated into my meal. 

This recipe is my host-mother's and is to die for!  Since I had limited access to a couple of the ingredients, I improvised.  I was unable to find plain, coconut cookies, so I used coconut macaroons instead.  As for the main ingredient, I brought a small tub of dulce de leche home with me.  But for everybody else who do not wish to travel 5000 miles to buy some, it can be purchased through Amazon.  I have also been told that it can be found in some Dillons grocery stores in the international aisle, and Pinterest has a recipe to make your own -- I will have to try the recipe when I have eaten all I brought home.

Ingredients

Base:
8 oz coconut macaroon cookies
4 oz melted butter

Filling:
1/2 a 400g jar of dulce de leche

Topping:
3 oz grated coconut
4 oz sugar
1 egg

Directions

1. Crush cookies into breadcrumbs (I used a large zip-loc bag and crushed them with a rolling pin).

2. Melt butter in microwave and add to cookies.  Mix well.

3. Press mixture into a cake tin/sheet (I used a 9 x 9 pan).
4. Cover base with dulce de leche,  spreading with a spatula moistened with water to prevent sticking.

5. Beat together egg, sugar, and grated cocount.  Spread on top of dulce de leche.
6. Bake at 400F for approx. 20 minutes or until light brown.
7. Cut into squares.  Cover and store in fridge when cool.

Serves 20 people

Bon Appétit!