Chef Lupita
Ate de Tejocote Michoacano
Michoacán's highland tejocote cooked in a copper cazo with piloncillo until the fruit becomes a firm amber ate, sliced thick and set on the table with fresh queso.
Culinary Explorer
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Rollo de Guayaba Michoacano
Created by
Michoacán's December dulce from Pátzcuaro and Morelia, guava paste cooked down in a copper cazo, rolled around walnut and piloncillo, then sliced into neat rounds for the holiday table.
Desserts
Mexican
Christmas
Holiday
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 45 min cook•2 hr 20 min total
Yield2 rolls, about 24 slices
Michoacán, especially the highland corridor between Pátzcuaro, Morelia, and the fruit towns that feed their markets, owns this kind of Christmas dulce. Rollo de guayaba is not candy for a glass case pretending to be delicate. It is fruit from the huerto, piloncillo from the pantry, walnut for the holiday table, and patience over a cazo de cobre.
The guava paste has to cook until it pulls away from the copper in one heavy mass. That is the point. If you stop early, you have mermelada. Good mermelada, fine, but not a roll you can slice. The copper gives an even heat and helps the fruit darken properly, from pink guava pulp into a deep amber-rose paste with enough body to hold the walnut center. An enameled pot will work. It will not behave the same. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
I learned a version of this from a señora near the Portal de Hidalgo in Pátzcuaro, the kind of woman who could tell by the sound of the spoon whether the pasta was ready. She used piloncillo, not refined sugar, because this register of Michoacán dulce is built on leche, piloncillo, and fruit. Cada estado, su propia cocina. Slice it like thick coins, set it on a Talavera plate or a Tzintzuntzan cream-glazed dish, and do not decorate it to death. The guava already did the work.
Michoacán became one of Mexico's great centers for fruit preserves and ate after the colonial period expanded sugar work, orchards, and convent confectionery across the Bajio and western highlands. Morelia is especially tied to ate, the dense fruit paste traditionally made from membrillo, guava, pear, and other orchard fruits, and sold in blocks or rolls for fiestas and holiday tables. The copper cazo tradition is also regional: Santa Clara del Cobre, in Michoacán, has produced hammered copper vessels for centuries, giving cooks the proper tool for long-cooked dulces and preserves.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe pink guavas
Quantity
2 1/2 pounds
washed and trimmed
water
Quantity
1 cup
piloncillo
Quantity
1 1/4 pounds
grated or finely chopped
Mexican cinnamon stick (canela)
Quantity
1
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
fresh lime juice
Quantity
2 tablespoons
walnut halves
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
lightly toasted and finely chopped
reserved piloncillo syrup from the cooked guava paste
Quantity
3 tablespoons
for binding the walnut filling
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for greasing parchment and hands
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe pink guavaswashed and trimmed | 2 1/2 pounds |
| water | 1 cup |
| piloncillograted or finely chopped | 1 1/4 pounds |
| Mexican cinnamon stick (canela) | 1 |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 teaspoon |
| fresh lime juice | 2 tablespoons |
| walnut halveslightly toasted and finely chopped | 1 1/2 cups |
| reserved piloncillo syrup from the cooked guava pastefor binding the walnut filling | 3 tablespoons |
| unsalted butterfor greasing parchment and hands | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Cazo de cobre from Santa Clara del Cobre or a wide heavy enameled pot
- •Wooden paddle or flat wooden spoon
- •Food mill or medium-mesh sieve
- •Parchment paper
- •Offset spatula
- •Sharp thin knife for slicing
Instructions
- 1
Cook the guavas
Put the guavas and water in a cazo de cobre or a heavy enameled pot. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fruit collapses and the skins split. The guava should smell floral and deep, not raw. If the fruit is hard and pale, you bought it too early. Let the mercado finish ripening it for you.
- 2
Strain the pulp
Pass the hot guavas through a food mill or press them through a medium-mesh sieve with a wooden spoon. Discard the hard seeds and skins. Measure the pulp. You should have about 4 cups. Do not leave the seeds in the paste. They turn a clean slice into dental work, and nobody at Christmas needs that.
- 3
Melt the piloncillo
Return the guava pulp to the copper cazo. Add the piloncillo, canela, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves fully and the mixture loosens into a glossy syrup. Before it thickens, spoon out 3 tablespoons of this guava-piloncillo syrup and reserve it for the walnut filling.
- 4
Cook the paste
Keep cooking, stirring with a flat wooden paddle, until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides and bottom of the cazo in a heavy sheet, 55 to 75 minutes. Lower the heat if it spits too aggressively. Scrape the bottom constantly during the last 20 minutes. The color should deepen to amber-rose, and when you drag the spoon through the center, the track should hold for a few seconds. That is pasta de guayaba. Stop before that and you made jam.
- 5
Finish the guava
Remove the canela. Stir in the lime juice and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, just until the paste tightens again. The lime sharpens the guava and helps the sweetness stay clean. It should not taste like lime. It should taste more like guava than it did before.
- 6
Spread and cool
Lightly butter a sheet of parchment and set it on a tray. Scrape the hot guava paste onto the parchment. With buttered hands or a buttered offset spatula, press it into a rectangle about 10 by 14 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Let it cool until warm and flexible, 20 to 30 minutes. If it cools completely before rolling, it may crack.
- 7
Make the filling
Mix the toasted chopped walnuts with the reserved guava-piloncillo syrup until the nuts hold together in a rough paste. It should be sticky enough to press into a line, not wet enough to run. Walnuts are the holiday expense here. Do not grind them into dust. You want small pieces that show in the slice.
- 8
Roll the dulce
Spread the walnut filling in a thick line along one long edge of the warm guava rectangle. Use the parchment to lift and roll the guava paste tightly around the filling, like making a jelly roll. Press gently as you roll so there are no empty spaces in the center. If the guava sticks to your fingers, butter them lightly. No me vengas con atajos. This is hand work.
- 9
Set and slice
Wrap the roll tightly in clean parchment and let it rest at room temperature for at least 6 hours, or overnight, so the paste firms and the walnut center settles. Slice into 1/2-inch rounds with a lightly buttered knife, wiping the blade between cuts. The slices should look like guava coins with a walnut center. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •Use ripe pink guavas that smell strong before you cut them. Hard green guavas will give you a pale paste with weak perfume. If the market only has unripe fruit, wait two days. The calendar does not outrank the fruit.
- •The cazo de cobre is the proper vessel for Michoacán dulces. It gives wide surface area and steady heat for concentration. If you use an enameled pot, choose the widest one you own and stir more carefully.
- •Piloncillo is not decoration here. It brings mineral depth and dark sweetness that refined sugar does not have. Use piloncillo. Así se hace y punto.
- •Toast the walnuts lightly on a dry comal or skillet until they smell warm and nutty. Burned walnut turns bitter fast, so do not walk away.
- •If the paste cracks while rolling, it cooked a little too far or cooled too much. Press the crack closed with buttered fingers while it is still warm. It will still slice.
Advance Preparation
- •The roll needs at least 6 hours to set and is better the next day. This is why it belongs on holiday tables. Make it before the house fills with people.
- •Wrapped tightly in parchment and stored in a covered tin, the guava roll keeps at cool room temperature for 7 days.
- •For longer storage, refrigerate the wrapped roll for up to 3 weeks. Bring it to room temperature before slicing so the guava softens enough for a clean cut.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 52g)
Calories
170 calories
Total Fat
5 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
1 mg
Sodium
35 mg
Total Carbohydrates
31 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
28 g
Protein
2 g
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