Coconut Kisses (Besitos de Coco)

History & Origin

Besitos de coco are one of the most beloved traditional sweets in Mexico, present in bakeries, markets and fairs across the country from Veracruz to Colima and the Riviera Maya. Their name is a culinary compliment: small, round and sweet as a kiss. They belong to the family of coconut sweets that flourished in colonial Mexico when the coconut palm, originally from the Asian Pacific, was introduced to Mexican coasts by Manila galleons during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The coastal regions of Mexico's Pacific, especially Colima, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz, embraced the coconut enthusiastically and created a sweet-making tradition based on desiccated coconut that has survived to this day. Besitos de coco are Mexican cousins of the French macaron and the British coconut macaroon, yet with a completely distinct identity thanks to condensed milk, introduced to Mexico in the late nineteenth century and now fundamental to popular Mexican confectionery. The condensed milk provides the sweetness and moisture to bind the desiccated coconut without much flour or butter. The baking creates their characteristic appearance: golden outside with toasted peaks contrasting with the tender, fragrant interior.