Alegrías Queretanas de Amaranto y Piloncillo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •Candy thermometer
• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Wooden spoon
• •9 by 13-inch metal pan or shallow wooden candy frame
• •Parchment paper
• •Oiled chef's knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the mold

   Lightly oil a 9 by 13-inch metal pan or a shallow wooden frame set over parchment. Keep a second sheet of parchment ready for pressing the candy. Once the syrup is ready, you will not have time to look for equipment. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

2. 2

   Warm the seeds

   Place the popped amaranto in a wide bowl. Add the toasted pepitas, pecans, cacahuates, sesame seeds, and salt. Toss with your hands so everything is evenly distributed. The amaranto should smell nutty and dry, never stale. If it tastes tired, the alegría will taste tired. Start at the mercado, not the stove.

3. 3

   Cook the piloncillo

   Combine the grated piloncillo, water, miel de abeja, lime juice, cinnamon stick, and orange peel in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves. Stop stirring once it bubbles evenly. Let it cook until the syrup thickens, looks glossy, and reaches 245F on a candy thermometer.

   No thermometer? Drop a little syrup into cold water. It should form a soft, flexible ball between your fingers. If it dissolves, keep cooking. If it turns hard and brittle, you went too far.
4. 4

   Remove the aromatics

   Pull out the cinnamon stick and orange peel. Work carefully. Piloncillo syrup burns badly because it clings to the skin. This is not the moment for children near the pot.

5. 5

   Bind the amaranto

   Pour the hot piloncillo syrup over the amaranto mixture in a thin stream while stirring with a wooden spoon. Fold quickly from the bottom of the bowl until every seed is glossed with syrup. Do not crush the amaranto. You want it bound, not packed into paste. Así se hace y punto.

6. 6

   Press the slab

   Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover with parchment and press firmly with the bottom of a measuring cup or a flat wooden board. The surface should be even and compact enough to hold together when cut, but not so compressed that it loses its lightness. Women who make dulces at the feria know this pressure by hand. You will learn it by doing.

7. 7

   Cool and cut

   Let the slab cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, until firm but not rock hard. Lift it out and cut into 24 squares with an oiled knife. If you wait until it is completely hard, it will crack instead of cutting cleanly. Wrap each alegría in wax paper or stack them in a tin with parchment between layers.

Chef Tips

• •Buy amaranto reventado from a vendor with turnover. It should smell clean and nutty, not dusty. At Mercado de la Cruz in Querétaro, ask who sells it for dulces, not for diet cereal. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •Use piloncillo, not brown sugar. Brown sugar gives sweetness. Piloncillo gives body, cane depth, and that dark mercado flavor. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The lime juice is not for flavor first. It helps keep the syrup from turning grainy. You should not taste lime in the finished alegría.
• •If your kitchen is humid, let the cut alegrías sit uncovered for one hour before wrapping. Moisture makes them bend and lose their clean bite.
• •Do not overload the candy with dried fruit. Some vendors add raisins or cranberry now because tourists like color. This Bajío version relies on amaranto, piloncillo, pepita, pecan, and cacahuate. Enough.

Advance Preparation

• •Alegrías keep well for 7 days in an airtight tin at room temperature, with parchment between layers.
• •Toast the pepitas, pecans, cacahuates, and sesame seeds up to 3 days ahead and keep them sealed so they stay crisp.
• •Do not refrigerate the finished candy. The syrup pulls moisture from the cold air and the texture turns sticky.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 30g)