This recipe originally appeared in the November 2018 issue.

For our November 2018 “Feast Around the World” feature, we asked five of the state’s top chefs to create festive meals to serve this season. What we got was a cornucopia of global flavors. 

Maribel Rivero’s three-year journey across South America, which included her native Bolivia as well as neighboring Peru, inspired the chef to return to Austin and open a Peruvian restaurant of her own. Her holiday feast is a celebration of the flavors found at Yuyo. Below is the dessert, featuring Peru’s favorite fruit, from Rivero’s “Peruvian Party” feast.

Lúcuma Ice Cream and Alfajores With Dulce de Leche

Peru’s favorite fruit shines in this delicious end to chef Maribel Rivero’s “Peruvian Party” feast.
Servings 1.5 quarts; 3 dozen or more cookies

Equipment

  • 1 electric mixer
  • 1 ice cream mixer

Ingredients  

Lúcuma Ice Cream

  • 10 egg yolks
  • cups sugar
  • 1 (14-ounce) can evaporated milk
  • cups (12 ounces) heavy cream
  • ¼ cup lúcuma powder (available online)
  • 1 (13.4-ounce) can dulce de leche (such as Nestle’s La Lechera)
  • ½ to 1 cup chocolate ganache, your favorite recipe, optional

Alfajores With Dulce de Leche

  • 2 cups (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • cups sugar
  • 9 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4⅔ cups (about 1⅕ pounds) cornstarch
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 (13.4-ounce) cans dulce de leche (such as Nestle’s La Lechera)
  • powdered sugar, optional

Directions 

Lúcuma Ice Cream

  • In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar and set aside.
  • Heat the evaporated milk in a saucepan until bubbles start to form. Add half the heated milk to the egg-yolk mixture in a slow stream, stirring to avoid curdling the eggs.
  • Stir in remaining milk all at once, and put the bowl in an ice bath to cool.
  • In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
  • Add lúcuma powder and mix well.
  • Add cooled egg-yolk mixture and beat until incorporated.
  • Transfer to an ice cream mixer and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Serve drizzled with dulce de leche and chocolate ganache, if desired, accompanied by Alfajores.

Alfajores With Dulce de Leche

  • In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat butter until light and creamy.
  • Add sugar and mix well, then egg yolks, and finally vanilla.
  • In another bowl, mix cornstarch and flour together and add to the butter mixture in batches. Dough should be soft and pliable.
  • Divide into 4 or 5 balls, cover, and refrigerate until firm.
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  • Flour the outside of 1 dough ball and roll out ⅛ inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds. Repeat with remaining balls.
  • Bake on a sheet pan for 8 minutes, rotate, and cook about 6 more minutes. Cookies should be firm, pale golden on the bottom, and very light (not browned) on top. Cool on a wire rack.
  • To serve, make into cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche filling, sprinkling with powdered sugar if desired.