Need a Traditional Panamanian Dessert

[RuthWells]

As part of a class United Nations project, my sixth-grader needs to bring in a traditional Panamanian dessert next week. We were going to go with Tres Leches Cake, but I'm getting mixed information from my web research as to whether that is really representative of Panama. Plus, the rum in the soaking syrup might not be the best to inflict on the sixth-graders!

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

[Beto]

As part of a class United Nations project, my sixth-grader needs to bring in a traditional Panamanian dessert next week.  We were going to go with Tres Leches Cake, but I'm getting mixed information from my web research as to whether that is really representative of Panama.  Plus, the rum in the soaking syrup might not be the best to inflict on the sixth-graders!   

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

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I ate a lot of arroz con leche when I lived in Panama.

[Marigene]

Here is a site with a few Panamanian dessert recipes.

Panamanian Cuisine

[RuthWells]

Here is a site with a few Panamanian dessert recipes.

Panamanian Cuisine

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Thanks, Marigene -- I'm getting a Wikipedia page defining HTTP with that link.

[RuthWells]

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I ate a lot of arroz con leche when I lived in Panama.

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[Beto]

It's rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon. Make sure and add one or two cinnamon sticks to the pudding.

[saltshaker]

Checkout this site as well:

Cooking Diva, Melissa is a chef in Panama who posts about local food, things she's experimenting with, etc.

[helenjp]

No doubt the sixth graders ate their Panamian dessert long ago, but I'm becoming fascinated by this real crossroads of food cultures.

El Amor por la Cocina is a blog from Panama, with lots of recipes (in Spanish).

Cocina del Mundo has a Panama section too, and includes a recipe for the Cocada mentioned in Cooking Diva's blog.

The basic cocada recipe seems to be one coconut, grated, cooked up for about 20 minutes in 2 cups of brown sugar (heated until dissolved) or 4 cups of cane syrup (maybe boiled down a bit?), with cashew nuts as an optional extra.

I don't read Spanish, but with a little thought and a little Googling, you can figure quite a bit out!