Frutas Cristalizadas Conventuales

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pot for syrup work
• •Copper cazo for ate, or a wide heavy stainless steel pot
• •Glazed clay cazuela for calabaza en tacha
• •Candy thermometer
• •Wire racks set over trays
• •Food mill or fine sieve
• •Wooden molds or lined loaf pan for ate

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the harvest

   Start at the mercado. The pineapple should smell sweet at the base, the figs should be firm enough to hold their shape, the peaches should be yellow and not soft, and the cidra should have thick white pith. If the figs are tired or the peaches are out of season, leave them alone. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the market is selling today. La paciencia es la regla del huerto.

2. 2

   Make limewater

   Stir the food-grade cal into 3 quarts water in a nonreactive bowl. Let it settle for 10 minutes, then pour the clear limewater into a clean bowl and leave the chalky sediment behind. Soak the pineapple, figs, peaches, and cidra for 1 hour. Soak the chilacayota or calabaza for 2 hours if you want firmer pieces for tacha. Rinse everything three times under cool water. Cal firms the fruit so it can survive the syrup without collapsing.

   Use only food-grade calcium hydroxide sold for nixtamal. Garden lime does not belong in food. Rinse thoroughly, no shortcuts.
3. 3

   Blanch the cidra

   Put the cidra strips in a saucepan, cover with fresh water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain. Repeat this two more times with fresh water. The harsh bitterness will soften and the pith will smell clean and citrusy. This is your acitron now. Do not use biznaga. That cactus has been overharvested for candy long enough.

4. 4

   Begin the syrup

   In a wide heavy pot, combine 6 cups water, 4 cups granulated cane sugar, 2 canela sticks, 4 cloves, and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the pineapple and cidra first and simmer 15 minutes. Add the figs for the last 8 minutes and the peaches for the last 5 minutes. The fruit should soften at the edges but remain whole. Cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let the fruit soak overnight.

5. 5

   Second soaking

   The next day, lift the fruit out with a slotted spoon and set it on a tray. Add 2 cups granulated cane sugar to the syrup. Simmer until it reaches 106C / 223F, or until a drop between your fingers pulls into a light thread once cooled. Return the fruit to the pot and simmer 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and soak overnight again. The syrup is entering the fruit slowly. Rush it and the outside candies before the center understands what is happening.

6. 6

   Third soaking

   On the third day, lift the fruit out again. Add 1 1/2 cups granulated cane sugar to the syrup and simmer until it reaches 110C / 230F. Return the fruit and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, just enough to heat each piece through. Soak at least 6 hours, or overnight, until the pineapple and cidra look translucent at the edges and the figs turn glossy and dark. Tlalpujahua's duraznos en almibar stay amber and tender. They should not fall apart.

7. 7

   Dry the fruit

   Lift the fruit from the syrup and set it on wire racks over trays. Let it dry 6 to 8 hours, turning once, until the surface is tacky but not wet. Roll the pineapple, figs, cidra, and peaches in fine granulated cane sugar if you want a dry crystallized finish. Store the leftover syrup. It carries canela, clove, fruit, and work. Pour it over plain yogurt, sweeten atole with it, or spoon it onto pan dulce.

8. 8

   Cook Santa Clara camotes

   Put the camotes in a pot, cover with water, and simmer until a knife slides through the center, about 35 to 45 minutes depending on size. Peel them while warm and pass the flesh through a sieve or food mill. In a wide pot, combine 1 cup water, 2 cups granulated cane sugar, and 1 canela stick. Simmer until clear, then remove the canela. Add the camote puree, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and the salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, 35 to 45 minutes, until the paste pulls away from the pot and holds a line when you drag the spoon through it. This is the patience of Santa Clara de Puebla, not mashed sweet potato with sugar.

9. 9

   Shape the camotes

   Scrape the camote paste onto a lightly sugared tray. Let it cool until you can handle it. Shape into short logs, roll lightly in fine sugar, and wrap in waxed paper if you want the Puebla dulceria look. If the paste slumps, it needed more cooking. Put it back in the pot and keep stirring. Así se hace y punto.

10. 10

    Reduce the tacha

    Arrange the chilacayota or calabaza wedges rind side down in a glazed clay cazuela or heavy pot. Add the chopped piloncillo, 3 cups water, 2 canela sticks, 6 cloves, and the orange peel. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover for 45 minutes, then uncover and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours more, basting the squash with the syrup every 20 minutes. The syrup should darken to brown amber and coat the spoon. The flesh should look glossy and dense. This is slow reduction, not boiling fruit to death. In the Valles Centrales, chilacayota con pan means the bread catches the syrup. Respect that.

11. 11

    Cook the ate

    Put the guavas or quince in a pot with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Simmer until very soft, 25 to 40 minutes. Drain, then pass the fruit through a food mill or fine sieve to remove seeds and skins. Measure 3 cups fruit puree and combine it with 3 cups granulated cane sugar and 1 tablespoon lime juice in a copper cazo or a wide heavy pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden paddle, 60 to 75 minutes, until the paste thickens, turns shiny, and exposes the bottom of the cazo for two seconds when you drag the paddle through it. Pour into damp wooden molds or a lined loaf pan and cool completely before slicing.

    The ate of Morelia belongs to the old dulcerias around the Augustinian houses, and the copper cazo matters because it spreads heat evenly. If you use stainless steel, it works. If you use aluminum with acidic fruit, the flavor turns metallic. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
12. 12

    Arrange the platter

    Slice the ate into bricks. Set the crystallized pineapple, figs, cidra, and peaches in small piles on a Talavera platter. Add the wrapped camotes, the calabaza or chilacayota in a small clay cazuela with its piloncillo syrup, and the ate with slices of queso fresco beside it. Put pan de yema or bolillo near the chilacayota. This is not food from a single Mexico. Puebla, Michoacan, and Oaxaca are all on the table. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •For acitron, ask for cidra or citron. If a vendor offers biznaga, walk away. A tradition that destroys the plant that feeds it has lost the point.
• •Piloncillo belongs in tacha and almibares with canela. Clear frutas cristalizadas usually use granulated cane sugar because the goal is translucence. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not crowd the fruit in the syrup. The pieces need room to absorb evenly. If your pot is small, work in batches and stop pretending the laws of syrup care about your schedule.
• •If you make the ate, stir it like you mean it. Fruit paste burns at the bottom before the top looks ready. The copper cazo gives you a fair chance, not permission to walk away.
• •This platter is better after a rest. The crystallized fruit firms, the tacha deepens, and the camote settles into itself. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Advance Preparation

• •Plan on three days. The crystallized fruit needs three syrup soakings and 6 to 8 hours of drying. Most of that time is waiting, but waiting is part of the recipe.
• •The ate can be made up to two weeks ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. Slice it the day you serve.
• •The camotes can be made one week ahead and kept wrapped in waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• •The calabaza or chilacayota en tacha can be made three days ahead. Keep it in its syrup and bring it to room temperature before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)