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.
Torta de Calabaza Yucateca para Hanal Pixán
Created by
Yucatán's altar torta for Hanal Pixán, calabaza de Castilla slow-cooked with piloncillo and canela, bound with masa, manteca, and eggs, baked dense and sliceable for the dead and the living.
Desserts
Mexican
Halloween
Holiday
Celebration
45 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 15 min total
Yield10 to 12 servings
This is from Yucatán. Specifically from the small towns of the Mayab, where Hanal Pixán, the food of the souls, runs from October 31 through November 2 and the altars are loaded with what the difuntos loved when they were still eating. Hanal Pixán is not Day of the Dead the way Michoacán or Oaxaca do it. The Yucatecans have their own calendar, their own offerings, and their own torta de calabaza that goes on the altar for the adults on November 2.
The calabaza is calabaza de Castilla, the green-gray skinned squash with deep orange flesh and the dense, sweet body that holds up to long cooking with piloncillo. Butternut will not do this. Pie pumpkin will not do this. If your mercado does not have calabaza de Castilla in late October, the Caribbean or Yucatecan stalls in the city will. Ask for it by name. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
The binding is masa harina and manteca de cerdo, not wheat flour and butter. This is not an American pumpkin cake and it does not behave like one. The torta bakes dense and sliceable, with a thin corn crust on the outside from the masa dusting in the pan and a tender, deeply spiced interior. It eats like something between a tamal dulce and a budín, which is exactly what it is.
My mother did not make this. She was from Jalisco and Jalisco does not have Hanal Pixán. I learned this torta from Doña Eloisa in Mani, Yucatán, on a research trip in early November almost twenty years ago. She made it for her husband's altar. She gave me a slice with coffee in a tin cup and told me the recipe between candles. I wrote it down on the back of an envelope. That envelope is in my notebook now. Saber cocinar es saber vivir, and in Yucatán in early November, knowing how to cook is also knowing how to feed the dead.
Hanal Pixán, from the Yucatec Maya 'hanal' (food) and 'pixán' (soul), is the Maya observance of the returning dead and predates the Catholic All Saints and All Souls calendar that the Spanish later overlaid onto it. The three-day cycle honors deceased children on October 31 (Hanal Palal), deceased adults on November 1 (Hanal Nucuch Uinicoob), and all souls collectively on November 2 (Hanal Pixanoob), with distinct altar foods for each day. Calabaza de Castilla, despite its Spanish-sounding name, is a New World cucurbit (Cucurbita moschata) native to Mesoamerica that the Spanish renamed after the Castilian pumpkin it superficially resembled; its slow integration with imported piloncillo, canela, and wheat-and-egg baking techniques produced the colonial-era dulces and tortas that now anchor Yucatán's altar tables.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
calabaza de Castilla
Quantity
3 pounds (about half a medium pumpkin)
peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
piloncillo
Quantity
12 ounces (about 2 cones)
chopped
canela (Mexican cinnamon stick)
Quantity
1 stick, about 4 inches
whole cloves
Quantity
3
orange peel
Quantity
1 strip, about 3 inches
no white pith
water
Quantity
1 cup
large eggs
Quantity
5
at room temperature
whole milk
Quantity
1 cup
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
1/2 cup
melted and slightly cooled
masa harina
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
preferably Maseca for tamales
all-purpose flour
Quantity
1/2 cup
baking powder
Quantity
1 teaspoon
kosher salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
ground canela
Quantity
1 teaspoon
ground cloves
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
raisins
Quantity
1/2 cup
soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained
manteca for greasing the pan
Quantity
as needed
masa harina for dusting the pan
Quantity
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| calabaza de Castillapeeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks | 3 pounds (about half a medium pumpkin) |
| piloncillochopped | 12 ounces (about 2 cones) |
| canela (Mexican cinnamon stick) | 1 stick, about 4 inches |
| whole cloves | 3 |
| orange peelno white pith | 1 strip, about 3 inches |
| water | 1 cup |
| large eggsat room temperature | 5 |
| whole milk | 1 cup |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard)melted and slightly cooled | 1/2 cup |
| masa harinapreferably Maseca for tamales | 1 1/2 cups |
| all-purpose flour | 1/2 cup |
| baking powder | 1 teaspoon |
| kosher salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| ground canela | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cloves | 1/4 teaspoon |
| raisinssoaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained | 1/2 cup |
| manteca for greasing the pan | as needed |
| masa harina for dusting the pan | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4-quart pot for cooking the calabaza
- •10-inch round cake pan or 9-inch square pan
- •Potato masher or sturdy fork
- •Wooden spoon for stirring down the piloncillo syrup
- •Wire rack for cooling
Instructions
- 1
Cook the calabaza
Place the calabaza de Castilla chunks in a heavy pot with the piloncillo, canela stick, cloves, orange peel, and the cup of water. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the calabaza is fork-tender and the piloncillo has melted into a dark syrup that coats every piece. The kitchen will smell the way a Yucatecan kitchen smells at the end of October. That smell is the dish announcing itself.
Calabaza de Castilla is the squash you want. Not butternut, not kabocha, not pie pumpkin. If you cannot find it whole, the Yucatecan and Caribbean markets sell it in pre-cut wedges with the green-gray skin. That is the one. - 2
Reduce and puree
Fish out the canela stick, the cloves, and the orange peel. Raise the heat to medium and cook the calabaza uncovered for 10 more minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until most of the liquid has cooked off and what is left is a thick, dark, syrupy mash. You should be able to draw a line through the bottom of the pot with the spoon. Transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher into a coarse puree. Do not use a blender. The texture should still have body. Let it cool until just warm to the touch.
- 3
Prepare the pan and oven
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 10-inch round cake pan or a 9-inch square pan generously with manteca, including the sides. Dust with masa harina and tap out the excess. This is a dense, heavy batter and it will stick if you skip this step. The masa dusting gives it a thin corn crust on the outside that is part of how it should eat.
- 4
Build the batter
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they lighten in color, about a minute. Whisk in the milk and the melted manteca. La manteca es el sabor and it is also what gives this torta its tender, sliceable crumb. Butter is not a substitute here. Add the cooled calabaza puree and stir until evenly combined.
- 5
Fold in the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the masa harina, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, ground canela, and ground cloves. Add the dry mixture to the wet in three additions, folding gently with a spatula. Do not beat. You want the dry just incorporated, no streaks of flour, no overworked batter. Fold in the drained raisins last. The batter will be thick, more like a wet masa than a cake batter. That is correct.
- 6
Bake until set
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Bake on the middle rack for one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes. The torta is done when the top is deep amber-brown, the edges have pulled away slightly from the pan, and a thin knife inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. This is a dense torta. It will not rise like an American cake. If it rises like an American cake, something has gone wrong.
- 7
Cool, slice, and offer
Let the torta cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a plate. Cool another hour before slicing. The crumb sets as it cools and a warm torta will crumble. For Hanal Pixán, place a slice on the altar with a candle, a glass of water, and a stick of canela. For everyone else still living, serve thick slices with strong coffee or a glass of cold horchata. Así se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Calabaza de Castilla is non-negotiable. The flesh is denser and less watery than American pie pumpkin, and the sugar content is higher. If you substitute butternut or kabocha, your torta will be wet and sad. Find the right squash or wait until you can.
- •Piloncillo is the brown unrefined cane sugar sold in cones at any Mexican mercado or grocery. Do not substitute brown sugar. The piloncillo carries molasses, smoke, and a depth that brown sugar does not have. A substitution here is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Manteca de cerdo, real rendered pork lard, gives this torta its tender crumb and its Yucatecan soul. Hydrogenated supermarket lard is not the same thing. Ask the carniceria for manteca casera or render your own from pork fatback. La manteca es el sabor.
- •If you are making this for the altar, leave the first slice uncut on a clean plate next to the candle and the glass of water. The difuntos eat first. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and Yucatán's cocina includes the dead.
Advance Preparation
- •The cooked, mashed calabaza can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to just-warm before mixing into the batter.
- •The baked torta keeps at room temperature, well-wrapped, for three days, and the flavor deepens on the second day as the piloncillo and canela settle into the crumb.
- •For Hanal Pixán planning: bake on October 31 or November 1 to have the torta ready for the November 2 altar. It is at its best on day two.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 210g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
175 mg
Total Carbohydrates
62 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
38 g
Protein
7 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Yucatecan Desserts
Browse the full collection
Chef Lupita
Alegrías de Amaranto de Tulyehualco
Ciudad de México's Tulyehualco alegría is popped huautli folded into piloncillo honey, pressed with peanuts, pepitas, and raisins, then cut into the rectangular bars that built a pueblo's identity.
Chef Lupita
Alegrías de Amaranto
Oaxaca's pre-Columbian amaranth bar, popped on a hot comal and bound with piloncillo, honey, and the sacred Zapotec grain that the Spanish tried, and failed, to outlaw.
Chef Lupita
Alegrías Queretanas de Amaranto y Piloncillo
Querétaro's mercado candy of popped amaranto pressed with dark piloncillo syrup, pepitas, pecans, and cacahuate, a Bajío sweet that respects the seed before it decorates the table.