Chile's Most Popular Sweets And Desserts To Try On Your Next Trip

For those of you with a sweet tooth and a looming trip to Chile, here are the tasty sweets, snacks and desserts you need to know about, from deep-fried pastries with oozing fillings to delicious donuts and German cakes.

Alfajores

Alfajores are two biscuits that are stuck together with manjar (a sweet spread made from boiled milk and sugar) and either coated with desiccated coconut or milk or white chocolate. As they are Chile’s most popular snack, you won’t struggle to find them.

Torta Tres Leches

Sopaipillas

Although these aren’t really considered a dessert, more like snacks for any time of day, they still warrant attention. Made from flour and pumpkin and deep-fried, you can drizzle them with a hot sauce made from sugar, cinnamon and orange rind.

Cuchuflí

Made with sugar, egg whites, flour, butter and vanilla, these tube-shaped treats are usually filled with dulce de leche or manjar. They’re extremely popular in both Chile and Argentina and you can get them from bakeries as well as street vendors.

Berlines Chilenos

These are a little like doughnuts; the doughy goodness is left to rise before fried on each side for about two minutes, then injected either with cream, jam, hazelnut spread, manjar or custard.

Cañones

These pastry swirls are truly scrumptious, with a harder layer of pastry on the outside and sweetness on the inside, usually manjar or dulce de leche.

Cocadas

These treats are great for those that avoid gluten, as they are made solely of eggs and desiccated coconut. They are soft and chewy, and are sometimes garnished with chopped almonds, although traditionally they’re just coconut.

Mote con Huesillo

This could be considered to be both a drink and a dessert. Made with dried peaches and mote, which is essentially wheat, they are cooked with sugar, water and cinnamon, making a sweet, sugary drink and particularly refreshing during the summer months.

Pan de Pascua

Pascua can be used in Chile to mean either Christmas or Easter, in addition to the word Navidad, meaning Christmas. This cake is usually eaten around Christmas time. Similar to a sweet fruity and nutty sponge cake, it is flavoured with ginger and honey as well as candied fruit.

Kuchen

When the Germans settled in the south of Chile, they brought Kuchen with them; good luck trying to avoid eating a slice! The most popular variation is cake with large chunks of fruit and topped with either a crust or a layer of crumble, although the ones to look out for are the ones with local fruits, such as mora (blackberries) and membrillo (quince); they really are divine.

Flan

If you treat yourself to lunch out, you may as well get the menu del dia, which is a cheap three-course meal. Chances are, the dessert will be flan, as this sweet, custardy dessert is on every menu in Chile!

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.