Chef Lupita
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Empanadas de Calabaza de Día de Muertos
Created by
Hidalgo's Day of the Dead pumpkin empanadas fold calabaza en tacha into a tender lard pastry, baked until the edges brown and the piloncillo syrup stains the crumb.
Pastries & Cookies
Mexican
Holiday
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
50 min
Active Time
1 hr 45 min cook•2 hr 35 min total
Yield18 empanadas
Hidalgo's Sierra and central valleys know these empanadas when the markets start filling with calabaza de Castilla before Día de Muertos. This is not pumpkin pie. This is calabaza cooked slowly with piloncillo, canela, clavo de olor, and a little orange peel until the squash collapses into a dark, fragrant filling that tastes like the season itself.
In the pueblos around Pachuca and Actopan, you see empanadas like this on family tables for the altar and for the living who keep walking through the kitchen asking when they can eat one. The dough is wheat flour because central Mexico has a long baking tradition tied to colonial ovens, but the soul is the calabaza, an ingredient older than the oven. The fat is manteca de cerdo. La manteca es el sabor. Butter makes a fine pastry, but it does not make this one.
The filling must be cooked until thick. If you fold watery calabaza into dough, the empanadas burst and leak. No me vengas con atajos. Cook the squash one day ahead, let it rest, then bake when the house is ready for the smell of piloncillo and canela. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Calabaza was domesticated in Mesoamerica thousands of years before the arrival of wheat, and sweetened squash preparations remained part of autumn and ritual cooking after the Spanish introduced piloncillo-style cane sugar and wheat baking. In central Mexico, especially Hidalgo, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Estado de México, Día de Muertos breads and filled pastries developed around community ovens and family altar offerings. Empanadas de calabaza show that meeting clearly: an old Mesoamerican squash filling enclosed in a colonial wheat pastry, baked for a feast that honors the dead and feeds the living.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
calabaza de Castilla or kabocha squash
Quantity
2 pounds
seeded and cut into large wedges
piloncillo
Quantity
10 ounces
chopped
water
Quantity
1 cup
Mexican cinnamon stick (canela)
Quantity
1
whole cloves (clavo de olor)
Quantity
3
orange peel
Quantity
1 strip
kosher salt for filling
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
all-purpose flour
Quantity
3 cups, plus more for rolling
baking powder
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt for dough
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
pork lard (manteca de cerdo)
Quantity
6 ounces
chilled and cut into small pieces
piloncillo syrup from the cooked calabaza
Quantity
1/2 cup
cooled
whole milk
Quantity
1/4 cup, plus more if needed
egg wash
Quantity
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
granulated sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
ground canela
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| calabaza de Castilla or kabocha squashseeded and cut into large wedges | 2 pounds |
| piloncillochopped | 10 ounces |
| water | 1 cup |
| Mexican cinnamon stick (canela) | 1 |
| whole cloves (clavo de olor) | 3 |
| orange peel | 1 strip |
| kosher salt for filling | 1/4 teaspoon |
| all-purpose flour | 3 cups, plus more for rolling |
| baking powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| kosher salt for dough | 1/2 teaspoon |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo)chilled and cut into small pieces | 6 ounces |
| piloncillo syrup from the cooked calabazacooled | 1/2 cup |
| whole milk | 1/4 cup, plus more if needed |
| egg wash | 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk |
| granulated sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| ground canela | 1/2 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide clay cazuela or heavy pot for the calabaza
- •Rolling pin
- •Half-sheet pans
- •Pastry brush
- •Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- 1
Cook the calabaza
Put the calabaza wedges in a wide cazuela or heavy pot with the piloncillo, water, canela, cloves, orange peel, and salt. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 35 to 45 minutes, turning the pieces once or twice, until the squash is tender and the syrup is dark and glossy. The peel should soften and the flesh should pull away easily with a spoon.
- 2
Thicken the filling
Lift the calabaza from the syrup and let it cool enough to handle. Scrape the flesh from the peel and mash it in a bowl. Strain and save the syrup. Return the mashed calabaza to the pot with 1/3 cup of the syrup and cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until thick enough to hold a spoon mark. This matters. Watery filling breaks empanadas.
If the squash is very wet, cook it longer. The filling should look like thick jam, not soup. The altar can wait ten minutes. The dough cannot forgive excess water. - 3
Chill the filling
Spread the thick calabaza filling on a plate and cool completely. Remove the canela, cloves, and orange peel if any pieces remain. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight. Cold filling stays where you put it when you fold the pastry.
- 4
Make the dough
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the chilled lard with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces. Add 1/2 cup cooled piloncillo syrup and the milk. Mix just until a dough forms. It should feel soft but not sticky. If it cracks badly, add milk one teaspoon at a time.
- 5
Rest the dough
Turn the dough onto the table and knead it four or five times, only enough to bring it together. Divide into 18 pieces, roll each into a ball, cover with a cloth, and rest for 30 minutes. Resting lets the flour hydrate and keeps the empanadas from shrinking in the oven. Así se hace y punto.
- 6
Fill the empanadas
Heat the oven to 375F. Roll each dough ball into a 5-inch circle on a lightly floured table. Spoon 1 generous tablespoon of cold calabaza filling onto one side. Fold the dough over into a half-moon, press out any trapped air, and seal the edge with your fingers. Crimp with a fork or make a tight rope edge if your hands know how.
- 7
Brush and bake
Set the empanadas on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush lightly with egg wash. Mix the granulated sugar with the ground canela and sprinkle a little over each empanada. Bake 22 to 26 minutes, rotating the pans once, until the bottoms are golden and the sealed edges have taken on color.
- 8
Cool before serving
Let the empanadas cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack. Eat them warm or at room temperature with cafe de olla. The filling settles as it cools, and the piloncillo stains the pastry from inside. That is what you want.
Chef Tips
- •Use calabaza de Castilla if the mercado has it. It is the Día de Muertos squash. Kabocha is the best compromise outside Mexico because it is dense, sweet, and not watery.
- •Do not use canned pumpkin puree. It has no fibers, no syrup, no memory of the cazuela. You will get a soft orange paste and then wonder why the empanadas taste empty.
- •The lard should be cold and clean-smelling. Buy it from a Mexican butcher if you can. Supermarket hydrogenated lard works in an emergency, but fresh manteca gives a better crumb.
- •These empanadas are sweet, not spicy. Not every Mexican dish carries chile. This is a 32-state cuisine, and Día de Muertos has room for sugar, squash, bread, flowers, and silence.
Advance Preparation
- •The calabaza filling can be made 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated. It should be cold before filling the empanadas.
- •The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped tightly, and refrigerated. Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before rolling.
- •Baked empanadas keep 3 days in a covered container. Rewarm in a 300F oven for 8 minutes to bring back the tenderness of the lard pastry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 85g)
Calories
255 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
120 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
3 g
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