Pemoles Huastecos de Veracruz

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting the corn flour
• •Small saucepan for piloncillo-anise syrup
• •Wooden spoon, hand mixer, or stand mixer
• •Parchment-lined baking sheets
• •Palm-fiber basket or talavera plate for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Put the piloncillo, water, anise seed, and canela in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves and the syrup smells of cane and anise. Strain it and let it cool until just barely warm. Do not pour hot syrup into the lard or you will melt the structure before the dough even begins.

2. 2

   Toast the corn

   If your pinole is already toasted and fragrant, warm it in a dry comal or heavy skillet for 3 minutes to wake it up. If you are starting with masa harina, toast it over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it changes from raw corn smell to toasted tortilla smell and deepens slightly in color. Let it cool completely before mixing. Hot flour melts lard. Cold flour behaves.

   Do not use coarse cornmeal for polenta. Pemoles need fine corn flour, or the cookie breaks into gritty crumbs instead of a tender, short bite.
3. 3

   Mix the dry base

   In a bowl, whisk the cooled pinole, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt. The wheat flour is not there to take over. It gives the ring enough strength to survive the oven and the basket. The corn is still the voice of the cookie.

4. 4

   Cream the lard

   Beat the manteca de cerdo with a wooden spoon, hand mixer, or stand mixer for 3 to 4 minutes, until it turns lighter and soft. Add the egg and Papantla vanilla and beat until smooth. La manteca es el sabor. Butter makes a different cookie. Vegetable shortening makes a dead one.

5. 5

   Form the dough

   Add the dry mixture to the lard in three additions, alternating with the cooled piloncillo syrup. Mix only until the dough holds together when pressed in your palm. If it cracks into dry dust, add whole milk one tablespoon at a time. If it sticks heavily to your fingers, dust in another spoonful of pinole. Rest the dough for 20 minutes so the corn can drink in the syrup.

6. 6

   Shape the pemoles

   Heat the oven to 350F. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough. Roll each piece into a rope about 5 inches long and join the ends into a small ring, pressing the seam closed with your thumb. The rings do not need to look factory-made. They should look shaped by hands that know their work.

7. 7

   Bake until set

   Arrange the rings on parchment-lined baking sheets with an inch between them. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans once, until the tops look dry and the bottoms are honey-gold. Do not bake them dark. A pemol should taste of toasted corn and piloncillo, not scorched flour.

8. 8

   Cool and serve

   Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them. Hot pemoles are fragile. Once cool, pile them in a palm-fiber basket or on a blue-and-white talavera plate and serve with cafe lechero. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy unsweetened pinole if you can find it from a Huasteca vendor. Sweetened drinking pinole already has sugar and sometimes cinnamon, and it throws off the dough. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •If you start with masa harina, toast it slowly and stir constantly. Raw masa harina gives the cookie a flat, chalky taste. The toasted smell is the whole point.
• •Use fresh rendered manteca de cerdo, not shelf-stable hydrogenated shortening. Shortening leaves a waxy finish on the tongue. No me vengas con atajos.
• •Good piloncillo smells like cane, molasses, and a little smoke. If the cone smells like nothing, the cookie will taste like nothing. Start at the market, not the stove.
• •The cookies keep well because they were made for baskets, altars, and afternoon cafe. Let them cool completely before storing, or they soften.

Advance Preparation

• •The piloncillo-anise syrup can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before mixing.
• •The dough can be made 24 hours ahead, wrapped tightly, and refrigerated. Let it soften at room temperature for 20 minutes before shaping.
• •Baked pemoles keep for 7 to 10 days in a tightly closed tin or clay jar once fully cooled.
• •Shaped unbaked rings can be frozen on a tray, then stored in a bag for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 24g)