A beloved Chilean summer drink-dessert: whole dried peaches simmered in spiced caramelized syrup, served cold over cooked husked wheat. It is sold from carts in every plaza when the weather turns hot.
An iconic Chilean street refreshment dating to the 19th century, so common it gave rise to the saying 'más chileno que el mote con huesillo'.
Cold and sweet, with the deep toffee note of caramelized syrup and warm cinnamon behind it. The peach is soft and almost jammy, while the wheat at the bottom is chewy and faintly nutty, turning a drink into something you eat with a spoon.
Caramelizing the sugar before adding water builds a toasted depth that plain syrup lacks. The wheat is cooked separately so its starch doesn't cloud the clear amber syrup, and overnight chilling lets the peaches absorb the spiced sweetness.
Variations
Versions with extra cinnamon or cloves, made with dried apricots, with a splash of peach nectar, or thicker syrups for a more dessert-like result
On the Palate
Where Mote con Huesillo sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 1480 min
Soak the dried peaches (huesillos) in water overnight until plumped.
- 26 min
Make a syrup by melting sugar to a light caramel, then carefully adding water.
Watch outWatch the sugar go just to a light amber, then add the water off to arm's length — it will hiss and spit hard; take it past deep brown and the syrup turns bitter.
- 32 min
Add cinnamon and orange peel to the syrup, then the soaked peaches.
- 425 min
Simmer the peaches gently until very soft and the syrup is amber, then cool.
Watch outSimmer low until the peaches go really soft and the syrup thickens to a clear amber — rushing on high heat clouds the syrup and toughens the fruit.
- 525 min
Separately boil the husked wheat (mote) until tender, then rinse and drain it.
- 6120 min
Chill both the peach syrup and the cooked wheat thoroughly.
Watch outChill the syrup and wheat all the way through before serving — this drink lives on being ice-cold; lukewarm it tastes flat and heavy.
- 71 min
Spoon a layer of wheat into each tall glass.
- 82 min
Top with peaches and cold syrup, serving one peach per glass.
