Don Day loves dessert. But Don Day doesn’t love Mexican dessert. At least most of the time. For even though Mexican cuisine is absolutely, definitely one of the world’s finest cuisines, there is a real weakness when it comes to the finishing touch for meals.
All too often, Mexican desserts are too bland, too doughy, too boring, too artificial, too dry, or, worst of all, too sweet. There’s a distinct lack of imagination in the most popular creations. And, as much as Don Day likes flan, Don Day might somehow survive even if he never sees flan again. Or pannacotta or tres leches cake.
I’ve never been able to figure out why, in a country overflowing with fabulous fruit, you so seldom see fruit incorporated into a dessert. Yes, there are a lot of carts and food stands all over San Miguel de Allende selling fresh fruit salads and fruit juices. But it is rare that those fruits ever make it into a dessert.
A few years ago, Don Day discovered a guidebook to San Miguel written in 1951. The book carried advertising and most of the ads were for shops selling candies. They used lines like “The Sweets Capital of Mexico”. Interestingly, a couple of those shops still exist today. But what they mostly sell is, to Don Day’s taste buds, far too sickeningly sweet. But there are exceptions and Don Day can’t understand why those exceptions…like some of the world’s best peanut brittle…doesn’t get incorporated into Mexican desserts.
So when Don Day wants to purchase a good dessert to eat at home, where in San Miguel de Allende does he go? There are not a lot of choices but there are a couple of places that have been around for a long time that produce very good baked goods. The first is La Casita Felix on Guadiana. Even better is Le Petit Four on Mesones. The problem for Don Day, with both of these places, is that they are not convenient. Though Don Day has been known to frequently consume a large quantity of beverages close to these locations, they are not very close to where he usually does his food shopping. But there is someone else baking superb pies and cakes. Someone that Don Day had neglected until recently. And someone that is very convenient. At least once a week.
Now Don Day had walked past this cake baker a few times. And I’d often seen people carrying little clear plastic containers with slices of cake that came from this baker. But this dessert baker was very Mexican. And all of the people eating her cakes were Mexican. So Don Day just presumed that the desserts would be Mexican. And way too sweet.
It was a woman who set Don Day straight. As women often do. Most often, the woman is Don Day’s Wife but this time it was another of Don Day’s favorite women, Susan Yorke. Susan, who blogs very well at cupcakesandcrablegs.com, said something very simple to me like, “Have you tried Diani’s desserts? You should.”
And so Don Day did what he was told. In fact, yesterday for lunch, Don Day ate nothing other than Diani’s desserts for his lunch.
Yesterday was a Tuesday and, on almost every Tuesday, you will find Don Day at San Miguel’s Tuesday Market. It’s also where you’ll find Pasteles Diani’s though you may not find it easy to find Pasteles Diani’s because every week at the Tuesday Market, Pasteles Diani’s moves to a different location.
I was almost in panic mode yesterday because I couldn’t find Diani’s and I’d already committed to staying away from the barbacoa, gordita, pastor and carnitas stands to dine exclusively on sweets. I was thinking that there was someone giving Don Day his just desserts because they thought there was something wrong in, once in a while, just pigging out on desserts. I needed a sugar fix. And quickly.
Then there it was. That garishly colored sign. A splash of candy floss pink and purple stripes that, normally, you’d only see on a cake. And there was Maria, in matching pastel purple attire and, as always, red phone in hand. I had found Pasteles Diani’s.
I started with a favorite, the berry cheesecake. Diani’s cheesecake has a cracker crust, as all cheesecakes should, a cheese that tastes similar but not quite identical to Philadelphia Cream, and a suitably thin layer of strawberry preserves that accents but doesn’t mask the taste of the cheese. It’s definitely a scrape every morsel from that plastic tray kind of cake.
Next up was another classic and, I suspect, Diani’s best selling dessert. The chocolate flan.
Now if you’ve ever had a chocolate flavored flan, you may be like Don Day and screw up your face at the very thought of it. Because, somehow flavoring a custard with chocolate just doesn’t work. But if you keep them separate as Diani’s does, with a rich layer of very moist chocolatey cake forming the base for a very creamy flan, you’ve got the almost perfect dessert. Those three words, “almost perfect dessert” came from Don Day’s Wife who is someone Don Day doesn’t even class as a dessert eater.
As man cannot live on bread alone, or cake, next Don Day ordered the apple pie. It was the first time I’d had one of Diani’s fruit pies. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen one (unless you count lemon meringue and key lime as fruit pies which Don Day doesn’t). Fruit in desserts may be rare in Mexico but traditional fruit pies are even more rare. Diani’s crosshatch crust was flaky and crumbly; I knew it would be. I liked the way it wasn’t gooped up with cream on top. Vanilla ice cream is OK with apple pie. Cheddar cheese is OK with apple pie. But that’s about it. Diani’s apple pie was not quite as tart as Don Day would like it but it was probably what most people would like.
If…sorry, I should say when, because you must find Diani’s at the market…you have a slice of cake or pie it will cost you 20 pesos. If you want a whole cake for a special occasion or a not even special occasion (simply being mildly hungry is classed as such by Don Day), they range from 190 pesos up to 350 pesos. The 190 peso cake is the chocolate flan and as you get 16 good size slices out of it, you get bliss with every bite for less than a buck a slice.
You can order a cake for pick-up at the market the following Tuesday, at Diani’s home/bakery in Colonia Santa Julia on almost any day, or have it delivered to your home.
In addition to the cakes and pies mentioned, other recommendations are the carrot cake, chocolate layer, key lime pie, coconut cake, cheesecake with chocolate, nuts and caramel topping, and one heartily recommended by Maria that Don Day hasn’t tried yet (but plans to next week), the mango layer cake.
Now if you’re wondering why Maria, the woman with the mischievous smile, is serving you instead of someone called Diani, Don Day will tell you that Maria is Diani’s mother. And if you’re looking at Maria and wondering how this woman could possibly be old enough to have a daughter with a bakery business, let me tell you she really does. And Diani is 17 years old.
Pasteles Diani’s is located at the Tianguis Municipale each Tuesday, from approximately 9:00 to 5:00 pm. To order for pick-up or delivery, telephone 415 124 7969.
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