Ate de Seis Frutas de Morelia

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Copper cazo or heavy wide stainless steel pot
• •Wooden paddle with a flat edge
• •Food mill or fine-mesh sieve
• •Kitchen scale
• •Two 8 by 4 inch loaf pans or wooden ate molds
• •Parchment paper
• •Offset spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the molds

   Line two 8 by 4 inch loaf pans or wooden ate molds with parchment, leaving overhang on the long sides. Lightly dampen the parchment so it lies flat. Ate sets fast once it is ready, and you do not want to be hunting for paper while the fruit paste tightens in the cazo.

2. 2

   Cook each fruit

   Work one fruit at a time. Put the prepared fruit in a saucepan with just enough water to keep it from scorching, 2 to 4 tablespoons for most fruits. Add a small shard of canela only to the tejocote while it softens, then remove it. Simmer until each fruit is tender: peron about 15 minutes, guava 10 minutes, tejocote 25 minutes, peach 10 minutes, quince 25 to 35 minutes, cranberry 8 to 10 minutes. Keep the fruits separate. Their colors are part of the architecture.

3. 3

   Make smooth pulps

   Pass each cooked fruit through a food mill or fine sieve into separate bowls. Press firmly to capture the flesh and leave behind seeds, tough skins, and tejocote pits. A blender works for peron, peach, quince, and cranberry, but guava and tejocote still need sieving. Guava seeds in ate are laziness you can feel between your teeth.

4. 4

   Weigh the pulps

   Weigh each fruit pulp separately. For every 1 pound of pulp, measure 12 ounces granulated cane sugar and 1 tablespoon lime juice. This is not the place for piloncillo. Piloncillo belongs in tacha and almibar when the tradition calls for it. In Morelia's ate, cane sugar keeps the fruit color clean and lets each layer speak.

5. 5

   Cook the first layer

   Set a copper cazo or heavy wide pot over medium-low heat. Add the quince pulp, its measured sugar, and lime juice. Stir constantly with a wooden paddle, scraping the bottom and corners, until the paste thickens, turns glossy, and pulls away from the cazo in a heavy mass, 45 to 60 minutes. Drag the spoon through the center. If the path stays open for two seconds, the layer is ready.

6. 6

   Spread the layer

   Scrape the hot quince ate into the prepared molds, dividing it evenly. Smooth it with a lightly oiled offset spatula into a level layer about 1/2 inch thick. Tap the mold on the counter to settle air pockets. Let it stand while you cook the next fruit. It should be tacky, not wet, before the next layer goes on.

7. 7

   Build remaining layers

   Repeat the same copper-cazo reduction with peach, peron, guava, tejocote, and cranberry, in that order or in any color order you like, as long as each fruit is cooked separately. Stir each batch until thick enough to leave a clean path in the pot, usually 35 to 55 minutes depending on the fruit and its water. Spread each hot layer over the previous one with patience. Thin, even layers make a clean slice. Thick careless layers crack.

8. 8

   Set overnight

   Leave the filled molds uncovered at cool room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, away from direct sun. The surface should dry slightly and lose its wet shine. Do not refrigerate it at this stage unless your kitchen is very hot. Cold air makes condensation, and condensation makes sticky ate.

9. 9

   Unmold and dry

   Lift the ate from the molds using the parchment overhang. Peel away the paper and set the bars on a parchment-lined board. Let them dry another 12 hours, turning once if the bottom feels damp. The finished ate should be firm, sliceable, and slightly elastic under the knife, not brittle and not runny.

10. 10

    Slice and serve

    Cut the ate into 1/2 inch slices with a lightly oiled knife, wiping the blade between cuts so the layers stay sharp. Serve with queso fresco or mild queso Cotija on a wooden board or green-glazed Michoacan clay plate. Sweet fruit, salty cheese, a small knife at the table. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Buy fruit when the mercado is carrying it in quantity. Tejocote is autumn and early winter. Quince is autumn. If the fruit is pale, hard, or smells like nothing, wait. Preserved-harvest sweets begin with the harvest, not with your calendar.
• •A copper cazo gives the most even reduction, but it must be unlined copper kept clean and used only with proper attention. If your copper is questionable, use a heavy stainless steel rondeau. A thin pot scorches the sugar and ruins the fruit.
• •Cranberry is the sharp modern layer here. It gives acidity and a red stripe that looks beautiful against guava and quince. If you are making an older Michoacan assortment, replace it with zarzamora or another local berry, but understand you are changing the dish.
• •Do not use piloncillo for this ate. It is correct for calabaza en tacha and many almibares, but here it muddies the fruit colors and pushes every layer toward the same molasses note. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •If the paste scorches, do not scrape the burned bottom back into the ate. Move the unburned paste to a clean pot and keep working. Burned sugar announces itself. Everyone at the table will know.

Advance Preparation

• •Ate is made for advance preparation. Once dried, wrap the whole bars tightly in parchment, then in wax paper or plastic wrap, and keep in a cool dry cupboard for up to 3 weeks.
• •For longer storage, refrigerate the wrapped bars for up to 2 months. Bring to room temperature before slicing so the texture softens and the fruit flavor opens.
• •The fruit pulps can be cooked, sieved, and refrigerated separately one day ahead. Weigh and reduce them with sugar the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)