Peruvian Caramel Meringue Pudding (Suspiro de Limeña)

This hard-hitting dessert from Lima, Peru layers a dulce de leche caramel custard with a sweet wine meringue.

‘Suspiro de Limeña’ literally means ‘a sigh from a lady of Lima’, a foreshadowing of both softness and intensity, which summarises this dessert perfectly. It features two parts: a dulce de leche caramel custard at the base, and then a topping of Italian meringue which is flavoured with port wine. It’s surprisingly easy, and this particular version skips a lot of hard work from making your own dulce de leche, and is adapted to use the ready-made dulce de leche caramel that’s available in a can. Combined with egg yolks and milk, the caramel custard is briefly cooked and then allowed to set in its serving glasses. As for the meringue, a whisked egg white is combined with a hot sugar syrup made from port wine. The meringue takes on a marshmallow lightness which buoys on the caramel custard with ease. I wouldn’t even bother piping it on either - though you could - just offload clouds of the meringue with a spoon before finishing it with a skiff of cinnamon. A truly decadent way to punctuate a Latin American meal. Let’s go!