Turrón de doña Pepa: novel presentations that you did not know of this Peruvian dessert

Even though, it has already three centuries of existence, turrón de doña Pepa does not stop amazing Peruvians. These are some of the new presentations that reinvent this traditional dessert.

With more than 300 years of history, the turrón is already an important dessert of the Peruvian gastronomy. Since it was created by Josefa Marmanillo, as the history says, its relation with the month of October and the Lord of Miracles is known by every Peruvian. Josefa was a black slave who was sick and prayed for her recovery to the Christ of Pachacamilla. On her prayers, she promised the Purple Christ that if she was healed, she would invent a new dessert on his name.

That is the origin of turrón de doña Pepa that has as a base a of wheat flour dough, butter, egg, milk, anise, and cinnamon. The dough is baked in long bars shape and placed one over another, covered with chancaca honey and decorated with sprinkles and candies of different colors and shapes. 

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Perú (@peru)

However, the Peruvian’s gastronomy’s creativity is always a step forward. Today, the traditional recipe is not the only way that turrón-lovers have to prepare it. Peruvian bakers and pastry chefs found new ways to honor Josefa and provide them with new options to their diners. 

CHEESECAKE

The traditional dough maintains its base by keeping the original flavor but is crowned with a creamy and sweet cream cheese layer, eggs, and sugar, among other ingredients. To accentuate the turrón taste notes, it is usual to include anise and cinnamon in the mix.

ICE-CREAM

Ice-cream is also an art and science. To transform the turrón into an ice-cream, you just have to prepare the traditional recipe and adapt it. This gelato includes all the ingredients that you find in the turrón: milk, fresh fig honey, wheat flour and anise.

CUPCAKE

It is a way to enjoy this traditional Peruvian dessert to go and is perfect for children. It is made of a vanilla cake with notes of anise and pieces of homemade turrón, covered with cream cheese frosting and little pieces of crumble turrón, and decorated with honey and sprinkles.

MACARONS

Macarons are traditional cookies of the French and Italian gastronomy made of egg-white, ground almond, powdered sugar, and sugar. Its presentation uses to be very colorful, and its adaptability allows to play with its flavors and color. Fusion them to get a macaron with turron flavor is one more sample of the Peruvian gastronomy’s creativity.