21 Delicious Ecuadorian Dessert Recipes 

Rice pudding is a popular dish around the world, but especially in South America.

This recipe is as classic as they come, mixing rice with a blend of whole and condensed milk, sugar, and cinnamon.

I especially love the addition of rum and raisins to add texture and depth to this comforting and rich dessert.

Cocadas are another popular bite-sized candy snack, sold packaged in convenience stores and from artisanal candy stands in open-air markets and fun fares.

Cocadas originated in Peru but have become a cornerstone of Latin American desserts.

This easy recipe forms chunky shredded, sweetened coconut into mounds, using egg and sweetened condensed milk as a binder.

Meaning “eat and drink”, Come y Bebe refers to the way you eat this unique Ecuadorian fruit salad that is more like a fruit soup.

It combines bite-sized chunks of tropical fruits like mango, papaya, banana, and pineapple into a bowl, drowning them in freshly squeezed orange juice.

The sweet, tart citrus juice complements the tropical fruit. The best part is drinking the residual orange juice from the bowl.

Higo is Spanish for fig, and this recipe for fig preserves is one of Ecuador’s signature dessert dishes.

It is a tedious recipe requiring three days of preparation, but the result is a culinary masterpiece that provides enough preserves for multiple servings.

Ecuadorians eat fig preserves with cheese, similar to the French. 

Check out other fig recipes if you like this underrated fruit!

Dulce de Leche is widely known as an Argentinian specialty, but it's just as popular in Ecuador.

It’s become a worldwide sensation in recent years, featured as a sumptuous filling for M&Ms. 

This recipe for the thick, milk-based caramel sauce combines sugar, milk, and vanilla into a pot to simmer until it's as thick as hot fudge.

Espumilla is an endearing term that translates to “little foam,” a fitting description for these delicious meringue desserts.

These meringues are traditional light and crunchy egg-white desserts that melt in your mouth.

This recipe infuses the meringues with guava and passion fruit pulp, placing each colorful meringue on top of a waffle cone as if it were a scoop of ice cream. 

Flan is a popular Mexican dessert of a jello-like custard made with eggs, sugar, and milk.

This recipe for pineapple flan is a major upgrade, adding both rum and pineapple juice to the mix. 

This recipe uses tapioca starch to achieve a jelly-like texture. Instead of refrigerating jello to set, flan sets in the oven.

Meaning “one thousand sheets” in Spanish, Milhojas is a puffed pastry dessert that stacks sheets of thin puff pastry, smoothing a layer of decadent cream between each pastry sheet.

This recipe uses dulce de leche instead of confectioner’s cream, killing two birds with one stone in terms of Ecuadorian desserts!

This spiced corn drink reminds me of the Mexican corn drink known as Pozol. Ecuadorian corn isn’t the typical sweet yellow corn, but instead a starchy brown corn that’s more like hominy. 

This recipe soaks the corn overnight to release its starch before boiling it, producing a thick, pudding-like consistency. You sweeten the pudding with sugar and raisins.

These ear-shaped pastry cookies are another Mexican specialty that has gained prominence in Ecuador and other Latin American countries.

They consist of thin pastry dough formed into ear-shaped coils and brushed with a sugar-cinnamon mixture before baking to crispy perfection.

These are the quintessential sweet snacks to enjoy with a midafternoon coffee.

Not to be confused with the Mexican cheese-stuffed tortillas, quesadilla salvadorena is a sweet and savory pound cake made with parmesan cheese and sour cream. This recipe is originally from El Salvador, but it's popular in Ecuador as well.

The sharp taste of parmesan cheese adds a salty complement to the sugar and butter in this super dense and moist cake.

This recipe uses rice flour, making it a great gluten-free option. 

Quimbolitos are the dessert version of Mexican tamales, consisting of corn masa, raisins, cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

Unlike Mexican tamales, they are ball-shaped and steamed inside Ecuadorian native achira leaves.

Adding eggs and margarine to the corn masa gives these steamed cakes a bit more bounce and richness than a simple Mexican corn tamale in my opinion.

Suspiros means “sighs” or “breaths” in Spanish, but in Ecuador, it’s also one of the easiest and most beloved desserts.

Perhaps “suspiro” refers to their light, airy texture that dissolves upon hitting your tongue.

This simple, three-ingredient meringue takes no time to make, whipping egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into a cloud and piping them in a classic inverted teardrop shape.

Dairy lovers rejoice! This Three Milks Cake features milk in every iteration.

It should really be called four milks cake because you’ll find whole milk in the batter before drowning the cake in condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream.

This most decadent dessert is the go-to cake for birthday parties in most Latin American countries. 

An Argentinian creation, Alfajores are just as popular in Ecuador. They are composed of homemade dulce de leche sandwiched between two crumbly shortbread cookies.

The cookie sandwiches get one last adornment by rolling them in shredded coconut, which sticks to the exposed dulce de leche.

These cookie sandwiches are sinfully sweet, with my favorite texture trifecta of gooey, crunchy, and crumbly.

Chocolate and cheese may sound like an unlikely pairing for North American palates, but this utterly decadent hot chocolate drink with bits of soft white cheese will convert any skeptic. 

This classic hot chocolate recipe mixes cocoa powder, sugar, and milk, adding tiny squares of mild cheese for a surprisingly savory finish. 

Instead of gingerbread men, you can whip up these baby-shaped sweet bread figures to decorate with colorful icing.

Quechua is the primary indigenous language in Ecuador, and Guagua is Quechua for “baby.” These guaguas de pan are an indigenous Day of the Dead tradition in Ecuador.

They are simple white sweet bread with a deep brown, thin crust.

Originating from the Andean highland region of Ecuador, helado de paila is a fruit sorbet made by whisking the ingredients in a special bowl called “paila.”

This recipe calls for berry juice and sugar to be whisked to a cold sorbet inside the paila that’s placed over a block of ice.

Just as it’s customary in Italy and France to enjoy a cheese plate for dessert, it is also a popular tradition in Ecuador and Peru.

This simple recipe consists of cubes of goat cheese smothered in local honey. 

This is the easiest and classiest dessert, using whole, all-natural ingredients.

A popular dessert and sweet breakfast dish in Ecuador, Llapingachos are savory potato pancakes smothered in peanut sauce. 

These potato pancakes have onions and cheese with a nice zing from lemon juice.

You can leave the onions out for a more dessert-friendly recipe. You can also make the peanut sauce without the spicy or savory ingredients for a sweeter and creamier garnish.

A Christmas dessert, Pristinos are rings of fried pastries with indented edges that get doused in a thick honey or brown sugar glaze. 

The batter is a unique blend of flour, sugar, eggs, ground spices, and homemade spice water, making these delightful fritters a sweet and spicy treat.