King Kong

King Kong is a large layered sweet associated with Lambayeque in northern Peru. Between layers of baked, biscuit-like dough, fillings are stacked, such as manjar blanco made by cooking down milk and sugar, a sweet pineapple filling and a peanut filling. It shares its name with the film, but its structure becomes easier to understand when you see it as a large alfajor.

When the thick block is cut, pale baked layers and several fillings appear in alternation. Rather than being decorated on the outside with cream, the sweet takes its appearance from its internal layers. The richness of milk, sweetness accompanied by fruity tartness and the flavor of nuts can all be enjoyed in a single slice.

Schematic diagram showing the composition of a version using three fillings: manjar blanco, pineapple and peanut. The number of layers, thickness and order are illustrative and are not the design of any specific product. Source. Diagram: Sweetlore.

Structured like a large alfajor

An alfajor is a sweet in which baked dough sandwiches a sweet filling. King Kong is known as an enlarged version of this composition with several fillings stacked. Many products are rectangular, but there are also round ones, and the size and number of layers are not fixed by any single standard.

Manjar blanco is a sweet paste made by cooking down milk and sugar. This thick, sticky filling is spread between the baked layers, and fruit is also layered in, cooked with sugar. When the sweet is cut, the pale milk layers and the fruit or nut fillings appear in cross-section.

Filling combinations differ by product: manjar blanco alone, milk and pineapple, or three fillings. Some products also combine passion fruit, lucuma, cherimoya and others. Even under the same name, the fillings come in many combinations.

A sweet named after a film

The sweet’s name is said to come from likening its size and hefty form to the giant gorilla of the film. According to the history of the long-established San Roque, Victoria Mejía de García and her fellow women made sweets on San Roque Street in Lambayeque in the 1920s to raise funds to support elderly people in need.

According to the company’s history, in 1933, when the film King Kong was shown, local residents began calling the sweet by the same name as the film. By this account, large sweets made by the women were already being sold in the town before the film’s name was given to them.

Later, Victoria’s daughter Perpetua took over the family business, and in 1970 production moved to a dedicated factory. Factory production developed in this way, and today King Kong has become widespread as a Lambayeque sweet made by multiple producers.

A sweet for cutting and sharing, and a regional festival

Large packaged products and small, easy-to-carry bars are the same layered sweet made in different sizes. It can be cut up at home or given as a gift or travel souvenir. Even as individually wrapped products increase, the layers in the cross-section remain the defining feature of the sweet.

In Lambayeque, an event themed on King Kong is held in late July, during the period around Independence Day. A producers’ association works with the municipality and others to hold production demonstrations, sales and the making of a giant sweet. The sweet’s nature as one large piece made jointly, then cut and shared, also carries over into the festival’s events.

At the 2024 event, 39 people from 19 brands took part in making a King Kong weighing 1,250 kilograms, which was then cut and shared. According to the regional government’s report on the day, there were 640 sheets of baked dough and three fillings: manjar blanco, pineapple, and chancaca with peanut. The sweet that each shop sells separately becomes, at this event, a large stack built by multiple makers together and shared with visitors.

Glossary