Dulce de batata substitutes

The other classic Southern Cone fruit paste, sold in the same kind of block or tin.

Best for

pasta frola, cheese boards, postre vigilante with salty cheese, empanada and pastry filling

The safest swap by a wide margin, because it has the same firmness, the same sliceability and the same behavior in a hot oven: it softens but holds its shape instead of running out of the lattice. The flavor is brighter and more acidic, with a floral apple-pear note, where dulce de batata is mellow, earthy and almost vanilla-like. A pasta frola made with membrillo tastes sharper and less comforting. Nobody will think you made a mistake, since both fillings are traditional.

Firm Latin American guava preserve sold in blocks and tins.

Best for

pasta frola, cheese pairing, pastelitos and turnovers, when quince is unavailable

Identical to work with, since it slices, grates and bakes the same way, and it is the easiest of these to find in a US supermarket. The flavor is a much bigger jump: intensely perfumed, tropical and floral, and usually sweeter, so it dominates a tart where dulce de batata sits quietly underneath the pastry. It is superb with salty cheese, which is the other main use for batata paste, so that pairing survives the swap intact.

The actual ingredient, made from scratch in about an hour.

Best for

pasta frola, cheese boards, getting the true flavor, controlling sweetness

Roast about 2 lb of orange or white sweet potatoes until collapsing, scoop out the flesh, weigh it, and cook it in a heavy pan with an equal weight of sugar, a strip of lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, stirring often over medium-low heat for 30 to 45 minutes until a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a clean trail that holds. Pour into a lined loaf pan and chill overnight. It will be softer and less rubbery than the commercial block, which uses added pectin or agar, but the flavor is right in a way no substitute is.

The shortcut version of the homemade paste.

Best for

pasta frola, tart and turnover filling, weeknight substitution

Drain the syrup off well, mash, then cook with sugar and a squeeze of lemon exactly as above. It gets you to the right flavor in 25 minutes instead of an hour and a half. It will never fully set to a sliceable block because canned sweet potato carries more water and less fiber, so treat it as a thick spreadable jam rather than something you cut into slabs. For a lattice tart, stir in a tablespoon of cornstarch to keep it from bubbling over.

Blended dates, thick, dark and sticky.

Best for

tart and pastry filling, cookie filling, reduced-sugar baking

Similar sticky density and a similar job as a sweet paste filling, and it has a caramel depth that echoes the molasses side of dulce de batata. It is much darker in both color and flavor, more raisiny than rooty, and it lacks any fruit acidity, so the finished pastry tastes heavier and less refreshing. Brighten it with a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup. Will not slice cleanly.

Ordinary supermarket preserves used as a last resort filling.

Best for

pasta frola, cookie and pastry filling, toast

The honest position: these are not much like dulce de batata. They are looser, more acidic and more obviously fruity, and in a lattice tart they will boil, thin out and run through the gaps. If it is all you have, stir a tablespoon of cornstarch or two tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs into each cup before filling the tart, and bake it a little lower and longer. The result is a decent jam tart, not a pasta frola.