Alright folks, buckle up because today’s kitchen experiment was all about Venezuelan Desserts. Figured I’d try my hand at some “beginners quick sweet creations” like the title promised. Let me tell you, “beginner” my foot!
First Try: The Quesillo Fiasco
Thought I’d start easy with Quesillo – basically Venezuela’s flan. How hard could caramel and custard be, right? Wrong.
Step one was caramelizing the sugar. Big mistake number one: Multitasking. Had my kid asking for homework help. Total disaster. Left the sugar bubbling a smidge too long. Instead of golden caramel, I got this dark, bitter tar stuck to the pan. Smelled vaguely like burnt plastic. Scraped that nightmare out and had to start over. Patience is key, apparently. Second time, eyes glued to the pot like a hawk watching prey. Managed a light amber colour. Poured it into the mold quickly – almost burned my fingers! Already felt like I’d run a marathon.
Then the custard mix: Eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla. Simple list. Mixed it all smooth… then poured it over the now rock-hard caramel? Whoops. Learned the hard way caramel sets FAST. My nice layer was cracked to bits when the custard hit it. Gave it a good stir anyway like it wouldn’t matter. Bad choice. Baked it in a water bath. Came out looking slightly lumpy and jiggled like nervous jelly.
Trying to flip it out later? Oh man. It wouldn’t budge. Tapped, coaxed, begged. Finally gave the mold a death shake. It plopped out… upside down. The top (now bottom) was weirdly pale, the caramel sauce barely trickled down, and it looked like roadkill custard. Tasted… okay. Mostly eggy. My family ate it politely. Mostly.
Round Two: Golfeados Hail Mary
Feeling defeated, but I had all this shredded cheese and panela. Thought I’d attempt Golfeados – little cheese-stuffed sweet rolls. Quick creation? Ha!
Made the dough:
- Flour everywhere. Sticky fingers.
- Kneaded until my arms ached. Supposed to be smooth? Mine looked battle-scarred.
- Let it rise. It puffed up nicely! Small victory.
While that happened, tackled the filling. Shredded cheese mixed with panela (that unrefined cane sugar block). That stuff is HARD. Chopping it was an upper-body workout. Ended up grating some, hacking at the rest like a caveperson with my biggest knife. Mixed the messy chunks with the cheese. Looked promising, like lumpy sweet sand.
Rolling out the dough? Got it sorta rectangular-ish. Spread the cheese/panela mess over it. Rolling it up jelly-roll style… cheese and panela trying to escape at both ends. Pinched desperately. Sliced into pieces. They looked more like mangled snails than neat little rolls. Totally not picture-worthy.
Baked them praying. They spread out, oozed cheese, turned sort of golden brown in places. Smelled amazing though! Sweet and cheesy – weird combo that worked. Taste test? Salty, sweet, crunchy panela bits – a chaotic but delicious surprise! The clear winner today. Messy, ugly, but actually tasty.
Why Bother?
So why put myself through this? Honestly? Saw these recipes online, tagged “easy” and “quick.” Sounded like perfect blog fodder. Plus, Venezuelan food? Don’t see enough of it. The contrast of sweet and savory/salty fascinated me – like the quesillo’s rich caramel and custard, the golfeados’ cheese surprise.
Trying to cook them brought back memories – vague, warm feelings tied to smells I couldn’t quite place. Made me think about people actually making this stuff every day, especially with things in Venezuela being tough. Felt… humanizing somehow. Connecting over food, even your own messy attempts.
Final thoughts? Beginner-friendly? Maybe with clearer disaster warnings! Quick? Only if you’re a Venezuelan grandma. Sweet Creations? Absolutely. Messy triumphs count. My kitchen looks like a bomb hit it, but hey, we got some decent golfeados out of it. And that quesillo? Well… the dogs seemed interested.
