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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.
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.
Quantity
3 pounds (about half a medium pumpkin)
peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
Quantity
12 ounces (about 2 cones)
chopped
Quantity
1 stick, about 4 inches
Quantity
3
Quantity
1 strip, about 3 inches
no white pith
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
5
at room temperature
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
1/2 cup
melted and slightly cooled
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
preferably Maseca for tamales
Quantity
1/2 cup
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Quantity
1/2 cup
soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained
Quantity
as needed
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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 serving (about 210g)
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