Milhojas is a popular dessert in Colombia and Latin America. Layers of wonderful puff pastry, perfectly sweet cream and delicious dulce de leche combine to make an amazing treat.
One of my favorite Colombian desserts is Milhojas, a pastry delight. It is a popular dessert in Latin America and there are many different variations. It is made with simple ingredients, but it is absolutely delicious.
What is Milhojas?
It translates to “thousand leaves cake”. It is basically puff pastry layers filled with pastry cream and topped with dulce de leche or arequipe. In Colombia there are different fillings options for this desserts. I am sharing my favorite version ” Milhojas de Arequipe”.
Ingredients to Make Milhojas con Arequipe
You will find the printable recipe card with exact amounts and directions below.
- Puff Pastry: You can make your own, but it’s a lot of work. I recommend using frozen puff pastry.
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk to make the pastry cream.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar.
- Salt
- Vanilla extract: Always use a good quality vanilla extract for your recipes.
- Cornstarch
- Egg: This recipe only uses the yolks. You can use the left over egg whites to make meringue cookies
- Butter
- Arequipe or dulce de leche
Tips to Make this Recipe
The pastry cream can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate until 1 hour before using. Give it a quick whisk when ready to add it to your milhoja recipe.
When your pastry cream is cooking over heat stir well and constantly until is thick.
Milhojas con Arequipe Recipe (Colombian Dulce de Leche Pastry)
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
For the filling (pastry cream)
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ½ cup sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks beaten
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup arequipe or dulce de leche
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400F.
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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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Cut pastry into 3 strips along fold marks. Place on a baking sheet and poke a few holes in the each pastry with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from baking sheets and let them cool on a rack.
Make the Cream:
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In a medium saucepan place the milk and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt.
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Gradually add the cornstarch mixture to the milk and cook stirring often about 6 minutes or until thickens. Whisk in the yolks and cook for about 2 minutes more stirring often.
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Stir in the butter and vanilla extract and remove from the heat.
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Let it cool at room temperature, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Nutrition
Calories: 560kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 10gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 157mgSodium: 199mgPotassium: 197mgFiber: 1gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 350IUCalcium: 141mgIron: 2mg
The other night I was craving an arequipe dessert. Not just any dessert, mind you, I was craving Milhojas from a bakery in Medellin, Colombia called Astor. Too bad, because I live 6 hours away by airplane 🙂 So guys, I made it myself and it was easy and fantastic.
Other Desserts To Try:
Coffee Flavored Cake (Torta de Café)
Guava Pastries (Pastelitos de Guayaba)
Coffee Mouse (Esponjado de Café
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