Angolan Desserts

For the most part, dessert is not a part of the traditional Angolan meal. Most Angolan desserts consist of simple fruits, but there are also western-like puddings like Cocada amarela, which was inspired by the Portuguese cuisine. Cocada amarela is the best known Angolan dessert and its main ingredients are: sugar, water, whole cloves, coconut, egg yolks and ground excellence. There are several recipes for this dish, but the differences between them are represented mainly by the cooking technique. Cocada amarela is a very sweet and heavy dessert and you might want to serve it in small portions. Another Angolan dessert is Caakiri, similar to the rice puddings of the Middle East and Asia. Traditionally it is made with fonio, millet, maize, or even black-eyed peas. Like Caakiri, Ngalakh is another Angolan dessert similar to a sweetened porridge. The main ingredient of Ngalakh is karaw or araw, a kind of couscous made from millet. Ngalakh is flavoured with peanut butter and the fruit of the baobab tree, called bouye, while Caakiri is made with a yogurt- or sour cream sauce. Kanyah is another dessert that consists of only three ingredients: rice, groundnuts and sugar.