Photos via Pampeana Empanadas
Repeat after me: dessert empanadas with homemade dulce de leche.
I ask you to repeat after me, because I want to work on this infusion through repetition thing. If everybody starts chanting that, maybe dessert empanadas will become the next thing, and dulce de leche will accompany them on their rise to the top.
Of course, instead of trying to convince you of the merits of the humble empanada, I could suggest that those in the Seattle area give Pampeana Empanadas a sample.
I had the good pleasure of meeting the mother and daughter team behind this empanada business in Seattle, when they were feeding the hungry masses with their wares at the Urban Craft Uprising. My friend Jameson also pointed me in their direction, noting that these empanadas were characterized by a particularly spectacular crust.
Well, that's about all I needed to hear.
Pampeana Empanadas has a cute story: "Alexis met Leandro Torres in the Argentine ski town of San Martín de Los Andes in 2005. Fairly soon thereafter, Leandro, a schooled Argentine chef, showed up in Seattle and wow-ed everyone with his batches of homemade empanadas.
We loved that his baked empanadas were a much healthier alternative to the usual deep or pan-fried empanadas to be found in the local restaurants and stores. It was decided that not only did we need to have constant access to these, but so did the rest of the Seattle area!"
Talk about sweet ambassadors.
Oh, and in case you are curious about the name, their website addresses it: "Pampeana describes anything "from the Pampas", the region in Argentina where empanadas originated."
What a delightful find! All of these empanadas are made by hand, with a secret ingredient of love, I assume. Pampeana makes savory offerings and sweet, but you can tell which empanada is which with their handy "how to identify your empanada" illustration (I love it!).
Their sweet offerings include apple and dulce de leche, guava, pumpkin and dulce de leche in the fall, and "red, white, and blueberry" (strawberry, cream cheese, and blueberry) in the summer months.
Pumpkin dulce de leche. Don't you love it already?
They also offer empanada dough for sale, so you can choose your own adventure! As they say, "Our empanada dough is available for sale, frozen and ready for you to make your own empanadas at home. Each package comes with pre-made discs layered with wax paper for easy separation. With the dough as your canvas, you get to be creative with your own fillings!".
And yes, they also sell that dulce de leche that is used for the sweet fillings--but, you know, If at this moment I had an empanada with dulce de leche inside of it, I wouldn't be above dipping it in some more dulce de leche.
If you are in the Seattle area, rejoice! You can get these empanadas by special order. Find them online here.