By LESLIE KOREN

WHEN IT COMES TO SAVORY, SOUTH OF THE BORDER IS BIG. From restaurants to cookbooks to prepared foods, interest in Latin cuisine has exploded. The region’s sweets, however, have been less successful at tempting non-Latino taste buds.

But like a piñata, signs suggest the category is about to break open. This spring, Starbucks® launched a new line of dulce de leche drinks to great fanfare, including a feature on NBC’s Today Show. “Latin American cuisine is trend-forward, and dulce de leche is part of that, so we think that people want to push the envelope and taste something new and different,” Rob Grady, Starbucks beverage category vice president, said during the segment.

Retailers are tapping this growing category by offering authentic sweets. At Kitchen/Market in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, Owner and Executive Chef Dona Abramson has been selling Latin candies for years. The shelves in the tiny store are packed with a variety of popular Mexican and South American treats. Many of her customers are familiar with the brands from vacations in the countries of origin, but others are just interested in trying new flavors. “Whatever we put on the counter, people buy,” she says.

Education is essential, Abramson continues—for customers and buyers. She regularly visits distributors to try new flavors and check out the full product list. Abramson says that customers are often interested in products that are part of customs and special events, such as the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Ignacio Hernandez, president of www.mexgrocer.com, notes that Mexican customers are nostalgic for the brands they knew in their homeland and his Anglo customers have often been introduced to the flavors through Mexican friends or in ethnic neighborhoods.

At the Queens, N.Y.-based Paradise Distributors, which imports food from South America, the high profit margin of the candy selection makes the category strong, but reaching the crossover market of specialty food shops has proven difficult. “Buyers have to be open-minded,” says Yasmin Valencia, vice president. Valencia has found that once people taste the candies, country of origin becomes meaningless. “People like it. After they try it, they just keep up with the candy,” she notes.

Sweet and Sugary Treats
While names can vary from country to country, many flavors are similar. Here is a guide to the region’s most popular and distinctive tastes:

Dulce de Leche: One of the best-known South American confections, dulce de leche is similar to caramel. In its simplest form, it’s made by heating milk and sugar (or condensed milk), and is used in a variety of ways including flavoring ice cream, in candy, and spread on wafers, cookies and cakes. It is also commonly called cajeta (Mexico) and arequipe (Colombia).

Alfajores: A traditional cookie found in Argentina, Peru and Chile. The most basic recipe sandwiches dulce de leche between two shortbread cookies, which are then covered with powdered sugar or a thin film of chocolate. Alfajores are delicious and quite popular, but difficult to find in the States because of their short shelf-life, says Paradise’s Valencia.

At Split Bean Coffee, a California-based distributor of specialty coffee and sweets, Owner Roger Navas-Balladares has been baking and selling his family’s alfajores recipe for four years. The company originally intended to sell only coffee beans imported from Nicaragua, but a former co-worker convinced Navas-Balladares to list his alfajores on the website, www.splitbeancoffee.com; the cookies are now the most popular item. He has also created Americanized versions, filled with peanut butter, raspberry, quince and fig, among other flavors. Split Bean ships the cookies direct to consumers, as well as selling them wholesale.

Tamarind candies: The most popular candy at Fiesta in America, a party supply shop in Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market, is made with tamarind, says Owner Laura Sanchez. The two leading brands are de la Rosa’s Pulparindo, a sweet-and-sour Mexican candy made of salted and spiced tamarind pulp, and the Hershey-owned Pelon Pelo Rico, sold in plastic mustard-style squeeze bottles.

Flan: At La Estrellita Tizapan Mercado in Redwood City, Calif., individually pre-packaged flans fill the refrigerated case. Both Cubans and Mexicans claim their own flan, which is rooted in Spain. Both are a version of baked caramel custard made with a base of eggs, sugar and milk.

Guava paste: The scent of warm guava regularly wafts from Caribbean bakeries, where pasteles de guayaba (guava) are always in the oven. The sumptuous pastry is made of light dough filled with guava, or guava and cheese. They are a great party treat, best warmed on site. In Colombia, guava paste is also sold in small bars and is often eaten straight or served with cheese for a balance of salty and sweet.

Churros and hot chocolate: In the Mexican resort town of San Miguel de Allende, customers line up for this Spanish-influenced indulgence. The churros are pretty much the same—long fried sticks of dough covered in sugar. But Mexicans usually add spice to their chocolate, creating a hot chocolate with a kick. At Kitchen/Market, the drink is served year round—hot in the winter and chilled in summer. Several high-end confectioners now offer their own version of Mexican hot chocolate, including MarieBelle’s Aztec Hot Chocolate which is made from Colombian cocoa. Abuelita’s box of cinnamon-spiced cocoa tablets is one of the best sellers at www.mexgrocer.com.

Tejas: Think of these Peruvian confections as beautifully wrapped sweet dumplings. The classic version is filled with manjar blanco—a Peruvian version of dulce de leche. Helena Chocolatier in Miami has created a line of distinct fillings, including pecan, lime, prune, orange and chestnut, which are dipped in either a sugar-based fondant or fine chocolate.

Mazapán: Similar to marzipan, but made with peanuts instead of almonds, mazapán is one of the most requested candies at El Mercado Latino, in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, says Store Manager Luisa Bicierro. The round chewy confections, also made by de la Rosa, are sold covered in chocolate, too.

With Americans ever more exposed to Hispanic culture and cuisine, the treats of Latin America are a colorful and interesting option for specialty retailers and confectioners looking to expand and differentiate their inexpensive sugary offerings.

Leslie Koren’s articles have appeared in the Washington Times and the Bergen Record.