Chef Lupita
Acitrón de Cidra Conventual
Puebla's convent-style acitrón, made from cidra peel instead of endangered biznaga, built through repeated syrup soakings until the cubes turn firm, translucent, and ready for rosca or chiles en nogada.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Borrachitos Poblanos
Created by
Puebla's little drunks are tender cornstarch-and-sugar candies perfumed with rompope or fruit liqueur, cut small, rolled in sugar, and served on Talavera when the house is celebrating.
Desserts
Mexican
Celebration
Holiday
25 min
Active Time
25 min cook•5 hr total
Yield36 small candies
Puebla owns the borrachito. Walk the Calle de los Dulces in the historic center and you'll see them in boxes, pale pink, yellow, green, cream, dusted in sugar and lined up like little tiles. This is not a chile dish. Not all Mexican food burns your tongue. Puebla also knows sugar, convent kitchens, egg yolks, milk, fruit, and liquor.
The texture is the work. A borrachito should bend softly between your fingers, not bounce like a factory gummy and not collapse like pudding. The base is sugar, water, cornstarch, and gelatin, cooked until it turns glossy and thick enough to pull cleanly from the pan. Then comes the flavor: rompope from Puebla, brandy, anise liqueur, or fruit liqueur. Add it too early and you cook away the perfume. Add too much and the candy never sets. No me vengas con atajos.
I learned this one from a señora near the Mercado El Parián who sold camotes, tortitas de Santa Clara, muéganos, and borrachitos wrapped in wax paper. She tapped the pot with her spoon and said, 'Tiene que pesar.' It has to feel heavy. She was right. Candy teaches patience more brutally than mole because sugar does not forgive distraction. Recetas probadas y garantizadas, if you watch the pot.
Borrachitos belong to Puebla's colonial confectionery tradition, the same sweet-making world that produced camotes poblanos and tortitas de Santa Clara in convent and household kitchens from the 17th through 19th centuries. Their name, literally 'little drunks,' comes from the small measure of liquor folded into the cooked sugar base, usually rompope, brandy, anisette, or fruit liqueur. The candies became associated with Puebla's Calle de los Dulces, where family sweet shops helped turn convent-style confections into a public regional identity.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cornstarch (fecula de maiz)
Quantity
1/2 cup
cold water for cornstarch slurry
Quantity
1/2 cup
unflavored powdered gelatin
Quantity
2 tablespoons
cold water for blooming gelatin
Quantity
1/2 cup
granulated sugar
Quantity
2 cups
water
Quantity
3/4 cup
light corn syrup or glucose syrup
Quantity
1/4 cup
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/8 teaspoon
rompope poblano, brandy, anisette, or fruit liqueur
Quantity
1/3 cup
vanilla extract (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
use with rompope or brandy
natural food coloring (optional)
Quantity
2 to 3 drops
granulated sugar for coating
Quantity
1 cup
cornstarch for dusting the pan
Quantity
1 tablespoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cornstarch (fecula de maiz) | 1/2 cup |
| cold water for cornstarch slurry | 1/2 cup |
| unflavored powdered gelatin | 2 tablespoons |
| cold water for blooming gelatin | 1/2 cup |
| granulated sugar | 2 cups |
| water | 3/4 cup |
| light corn syrup or glucose syrup | 1/4 cup |
| fine sea salt | 1/8 teaspoon |
| rompope poblano, brandy, anisette, or fruit liqueur | 1/3 cup |
| vanilla extract (optional)use with rompope or brandy | 1 teaspoon |
| natural food coloring (optional) | 2 to 3 drops |
| granulated sugar for coating | 1 cup |
| cornstarch for dusting the pan | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 3-quart saucepan
- •Candy thermometer
- •Wooden spoon
- •8-inch square pan
- •Parchment paper
- •Lightly oiled sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the pan
Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment. Dust the parchment lightly with the tablespoon of cornstarch. Do this before the sugar goes on the fire. Candy does not wait while you search for scissors.
- 2
Bloom the gelatin
Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a small bowl. Let it stand for 10 minutes until it swells and looks like wet sand. Gelatin needs time to drink the water evenly. If you dump it straight into the pot, you get lumps. Así se hace y punto.
- 3
Mix the starch
Whisk the cornstarch with the other 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with the whisk because dry starch hides there. This slurry gives the borrachito its soft body, the difference between a Puebla sweet and a rubber candy from a gas station.
- 4
Cook the syrup
Combine the 2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup water, corn syrup or glucose, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Once it boils, stop stirring and cook until the syrup reaches 235F to 240F on a candy thermometer. The bubbles will look thick and slow. That is the sugar concentrating.
- 5
Thicken the base
Lower the heat to medium-low. Whisk the cornstarch slurry again, then pour it slowly into the hot syrup while whisking constantly. The mixture will cloud, then tighten, then turn glossy. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it pulls in soft folds and leaves the bottom of the pan visible for one second when you drag the spoon through it.
If the heat is too high, the starch catches on the bottom and tastes scorched. Keep the flame disciplined. Candy punishes impatience. - 6
Add gelatin and liqueur
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely melted. Let the mixture cool for 3 minutes, then stir in the rompope, brandy, anisette, or fruit liqueur. Add vanilla if using rompope or brandy. Add food coloring only if you want the old dulceria colors. The liquor goes in off the heat so it stays fragrant.
- 7
Set the candy
Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a lightly oiled spatula. Let it stand uncovered at cool room temperature for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Do not refrigerate unless your kitchen is very hot. The surface should be dry to the touch and the slab should lift cleanly from the parchment.
- 8
Cut and coat
Sprinkle a cutting board with some of the coating sugar. Turn out the candy slab and cut it into 1-inch rectangles or squares with a lightly oiled knife. Roll each piece in granulated sugar until all sides are coated. Let the borrachitos sit 30 minutes before serving so the coating settles into a fine crust.
Chef Tips
- •Use real rompope if you can find it, especially a Puebla-style rompope made with egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and cane spirit. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade, but brandy or anisette will still give you the old dulceria character.
- •Corn syrup or glucose is here for texture, not laziness. It keeps the sugar from crystallizing into a sandy block. The señoras who sell candy understand sugar better than many pastry chefs.
- •Do not increase the liquor. More alcohol sounds festive until the candy refuses to set. One third cup is enough. They are borrachitos, not a spilled bottle.
- •For fruit versions, use liqueur de membrillo, guayaba, naranja, or zarzamora if you can find it. Match the color lightly. The candy should look like Puebla dulceria, not carnival plastic.
- •Store the candies in a tin or glass jar with parchment between layers. Plastic bags make them sweat.
Advance Preparation
- •Borrachitos can be made two days ahead. Keep them in a cool, dry place in a covered tin with parchment between layers.
- •The candy slab can set overnight before cutting. This gives cleaner edges and a better sugar coating.
- •Do not freeze them. The thawed texture turns wet and unpleasant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 30g)
Calories
85 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
10 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
0 g
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