If you haven’t fallen for Jello, then you haven’t tried those in the Mexican repertoire. Forget about the 1950s-style-jello salads. Forget about the Jello you’ve seen people eat, or you may have eaten, in hospitals, too.

Mexican Jello is something to celebrate, to showcase, to boast about.

Gelatinas, in Spanish, many times come in individual servings with different flavors stacked in bright and colorful layers. Sold by street vendors who carry them in see through 2 to 3 tier covered stands, they are a common site in gas stations where cars wait for their turn and passersby can’t help but be tempted. Now you know why I always tagged along with my dad to fill up the tank!

It’s hard to show up at a kids party in Mexico and not see them. You will run into more sophisticated versions of them, standing tall, firm and proud at grown up parties, maybe with generous splashes of rum, tequila or rompope in their mix. There are simpler Jello creations brightening shelves at bakeries and grocery stores, too. In fact, Jello is such a big thing, that some cooks have elevated it to a complex art form with floral and abstract designs.

Most importantly, home-made Jello is a staple dessert in people’s homes. It is simple, easy to make and healthy: it can be tailored to use fresh seasonal ingredients.

The secret to this infinitum of possibilities with Jello is unflavored gelatin, which can be found in just about any grocery store: here and in China. Pick any ingredient, any flavor, and you can turn it into Jello.

Since I am going all out here, plus it is almost my son Juju’s birthday, I decided to translate one of our favorite cakes into Jello. Yup!

Remember Tres Leches Cake? Well, the first layer of my Spring-Time and Almost-Juju’s-Birthday-Jello is a Tres Leches Jello. Whole milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk turned into Jello (just follow my super simple recipe below!). The milks are quickly simmered to thicken, the result: rich, almost custardy like and so creamy.

I love serving Tres Leches Cake with strawberries, and Juju happens to be wild about strawberries, so my next layer has them. It is a Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries in Jello form. Fully. And decadently.

I have the berries swimming in a a Jello mix made with cranberry juice. It gives that layer a bright punch, a kick of refreshing tartness and more shine, which counterbalances the creamy Tres Leches layer.

I didn’t add any sugar to that fruit layer, because the Tres Leches layer has all the sweetness I think it needs. Plus, you are eating them together, one on top of the other.

Since you can do almost anything you want (no joke!) with Jello, I played and alternated. Some Jellos started with the Tres Leeches layer and others with the fruity one.

I chose plastic cups, because they are practical, you can see through, making it more colorful and irresistible. As a bonus, the servings are already pre measured. But you can choose many kinds of molds, individual or not.

It’s a good idea to place all your cups in a baking tray or sheet pan, so that when you move them in and out of the refrigerator they won’t shake much. You don’t have to take so many trips either.

So you prepare your mixes, in a snap. Pour your first layer and refrigerate until it firms up, then pour the second layer and let it firm up again.  You can go crazy and make thick layers, thin layers, 2 layers or 10 layers!

Sometimes experiments in the kitchen are a total failure and you just have to pick up the pieces and move on. But sometimes, it takes a few tries to get it right (this one took three tries!) and when you nail it, they become a treasure to share. If you feel you are onto something, don’t give up on the first try. Go for it, find a treasure and share it.

Here, this is a treasure I sought and found, and now it is yours too.

TRES LECHES AND STRAWBERRY JELLO
Gelatina de Tres Leches con Fresas
Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS
For the Tres Leches Jello:
1 cup whole milk (or 2 percent)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (or about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup lukewarm water

For the Strawberry Jello:
2 cups cranberry or pomegranate juice
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (or 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup lukewarm water
½ lb strawberries, stemmed, rinsed and quartered

TO PREPARE
To prepare the Tres Leches Jello:
Bring 1 cup whole milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium low and allow milk to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium high to return to a simmer, then reduce to medium low and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.

*Pour 1/2 cup lukewarm water into a medium bowl and add 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin. Stir until well combined, then let rest until the mixture puffs up (it will increase slightly in volume and appear as if it’s solidifying) – approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Fill a small saucepan with up to 2-3 inches of water, and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Place the bowl with the puffed-up gelatin mixture onto the saucepan with the simmering water. Let it rest there, stirring occasionally, until the gelatin is completely dissolved and the mixture has a barely amber color – approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour the dissolved gelatin into the tres leches mixture and stir to combine.

To prepare the Strawberry Jello:
Pour the juice on to a large mixing bowl. Repeat step with * above. Pour the dissolved gelatin into the juice and stir to combine.

To layer your Tres Leches and Strawberry Jello:
In plastic cups or single-portion gelatin molds, use a liquid measuring cup or small pitcher to fill about 1/3 of the cup with tres leches mixture. Place the cups into the refrigerator until it solidifies (appears solid and does not slosh when moved), about 20 to 30 minutes. Do not put your remaining Tres Leches mixt and juice mix in the refrigerator.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour juice mixture on top to fill about another 1/3 of the cup and add some strawberry pieces. Return to the refrigerator and let it set for about 20 to 30 minutes.

You are at free will to play with your combinations! You can decide how many layers (one or ten!) and how thick or thin you want to make them. You can choose which flavor you want to start with or if you want to alternate. Continue until you are done using all of the flavored mixes. When done, return to the refrigerator, cover with plastic wrap and let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

If you want to use a large 8 to 10 serving mold, fill with Tres Leches mix and refrigerate until set. Then pour strawberry mixture on top along with the fruit. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before unmolding. It should be firm and not feel sticky or sag and should slide easily out of the mold with a few gentle shakes.

Hint: If your Jello mixtures start to solidify while you are waiting for layers to set in the refrigerator, not to worry! Adding a little at a time, stir water into the mixture until it becomes more liquid.

My family had been enthusiastic about it until recently: my husband announced last summer he’s had it. He won’t travel with me to Mexico when he wants us to vacation, together.

So when I suggested we go visit for the December holidays, he said “no, no, no Pati, you can’t control yourself there.”  I kept pursuing Mexico because I missed it so bad, seeking out a place where I wouldn’t be tempted to work. San Miguel de Allende sounded like just the spot.

San Miguel is a beautiful colonial town in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It’s artsy, has a ton of history, gorgeous views of the mountains, quaint hotels and shops. There are a bunch of activities to do with the boys. But mostly, to my knowledge, it doesn’t have any regional food specialties to incite me to work. With this, I convinced him it was the perfect place to relax and, when it came to food, just enjoy it for once.

San Miguel is only a few hours by car from Mexico City, where we’d be picking up my mom who’d be joining us for a few days. It was in looking at the map to plan our drive that I noticed the city of Celeya is only a stone’s throw from San Miguel.

Oops!

Celeya is the birthplace of Cajeta: one of the most irresistible of Mexican sweets. I have wanted to go since I was like 5 years old.

Big OOPS!

I tried to contain my very desperate need to go to Celaya the first day we were in San Miguel. As I got out of bed on the second day, the escapade to Celaya was already on the works.

Cajeta is a caramel-like concoction, yet more milky and silky, and with a deep, rustic and almost nutty flavor. It’s Mexico’s version of Dulce de Leche, yet we pride ourselves in that Cajeta came to be long before Dulce de Leche and we tend to make ours with goat’s milk (or a combination of goat and cow’s milk) rather than only cow’s milk and ours has a much more intricate and richer taste.

Thankfully, the dynamic woman in charge of San Miguel tourism office has friends and family in Celaya. She knew who to ask and help organize exactly where to go: La Tradicional de Salgado.

The storefront has sweets made with or combined with Cajeta along with other traditional sweets. The side of the store, is reserved for Cajeta.

At La Tradicional, Cajeta continues to be made the way they started making it in 1860, which happens to be the most traditional way. They make a small quantity, which is sold immediately after, and sometimes even before, it is bottled.

They have Cajeta de Vainilla (vanilla flavored and the lightest in color), Cajeta Quemada (translates to burnt and it is the darkest in color and flavor), and Cajeta Envinada (translates to flavored with wine but rather than wine it is flavored  with rum).

As the manager Andrés López explained, all Cajetas at La Tradicional begin the same, yet they don’t end the same.

They all start with 40 liters of fresh goat milk poured into a gigantic copper pot and mixed with brown sugar. It is then brought to a steady simmer at 120 degrees for most of the cooking time. If it will be vanilla flavored, then vanilla extract gets added. If it will be Envinada, then a generous splash of rum goes in.  If it will be burnt, it is just like the vanilla one, yet it is cooked double the time (about 9 hours instead of 4 or 5), to achieve a much more concentrated flavor and thicker consistency: to the point where if it was left to simmer for a minute longer it would practically burn.

They always use those copper pots that get cleaned after each use and gigantic wooden spatulas. No metal spoons or utensils to stir the milk, as copper is a very reactive material and Cajeta a sensitive product.

Those wooden spatulas are used to stir the milk regularly as it cooks down. The heat is left at a steady temperature to have a consistent medium simmer, adjusting the temperature as the Cajeta reduces.

They know Cajeta is ready first, by judging for the design it leaves on the wooden tool: see the waves above? They have to show up after you stir and raise the spatula. Also, the mixture has to be thicker, like caramel! Lastly, as you stir the pot with the wooden spatula, there has to be a delayed trail behind the spatula, that allows you to see the bottom of the pot if only for an instant.

The Cajeta is left to gently cool. The glass jars are filled up, immediately closed and turned upside down. This creates a vacuum seal.

At La Tradicional, they switched the bottle design 30 years ago. It used to be plain and round. They wanted a change that made it look a bit more dressy. I say they look pretty dressed up!

We tasted all the Cajetas and so many sweets. We stirred the pots, with our heads covered in protective nets and talked to everyone in the store. We all came out with our very favorite one and Juju managed to eat an entire small jar of the vanilla kind, by the spoonful.

As we walked outside, we found a city brimming with food wonders. We ate some of the best Empanadas we have ever tried in a place that had, oh, about, 100 people waiting in line: there were about 30 different kinds! Half a block ahead we ate some outrageous Gorditas, thin and large, they were stuffed with either spicy queso fresco or Almidón (which I had never tried: the inner part of the Chicharrón). Our Celaya hosts brought Duraznos Prensados (Sweet pressed apricots) for us to try as well as Pastes (gummy-jelly soft squares) with such exotic flavors as guava and Rompope.

One of the biggest treats: see that red stand in that photo above? The woman in charge was selling Celaya made copper pots, one more beautiful than the other. After much chatting and measuring the different sizes, I bought my very own, which I carried all the way back to DC, to start making this Cajeta below, so that you can also, make your very own.

Here we go!

There’s my big copper pot, but you can use any wide bottomed and tall pot. Goat’s milk (you can choose to combine it with or use all cow’s milk, but goat’s milk gives it that delicious musky flavor…), dark brown sugar (or shredded piloncillo) and Mexican vanilla.

Also, add baking soda: it helps the final sweet to not have any lumps and it enhances the brown color. This coloring effect is called a Maillard reaction, as described by Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is “a nonenzymatic reaction between sugars and proteins that occurs upon heating and that produces browning of some foods.”

Bring it all to medium simmer, over a steady medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir occasionally.

After hours you can see how much the mixture has reduced and the more it reduces the more the simmer will increase even if you maintain it in the same level of heat, so you have to moderate and reduce the heat.

You know when to stop, when the Cajeta has thickened like caramel, its drops take their time to let go of the wooden spoon once it is raised, once you see a delayed trail in the bottom of the pot as you gently move the spoon across the pot and you can see the bottom if only for a second, and the Cejeta leaves wavy marks on the spoon.

Also, your house must be smelling like heaven by now.

Let it cool, and take note that it will thicken as it cools.

Pour it all in a large jar that will hold at least three cups.

I liked these photos, so I kept taking more and more… see the color of the sun hitting the pot and the Cajeta? The light  couldn’t have been more generous that afternoon…

And there you go…

Cajeta is not only decadent, luxurious, with a perfectly balanced sweetness and a silky texture, it is also ideal for using with… everything! Crepes, chocoflan, to smear on pound cake, to dip fruit such as strawberries or bananas in. Wait! There’s more! You can make cute little cookie sandwiches (with Maria cookies, graham crackers or vanilla wafers, you can make smoothies and milk shakes, ice creams and glazes. The best way of all: just dip a big tablespoon and lick it off.

And now that I remember, our friends in Celaya told us about some cookies made with Cajeta called Dulce Anhelo (translates to sweet yearning). And since I didn’t get to try them, what a sweet yearning it has become. Celaya: wait for me, I will be back for more.

p.s Don’t want to make your cajeta?  Buy it at the store! There is also another way to make Cajeta starting with a can of sweet condensed milk, I will post that one with photos soon…

HOMEMADE CAJETA
Cajeta Casera
Makes about 3 cups

INGREDIENTS
8 cups, or 2 liters goat milk, you can substitute or combine with cow’s milk
2 ½ cups dark brown sugar or shredded piloncillo
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda

TO PREPARE
Place a large pot (I use my new copper one!) over medium heat. Pour milk, vanilla, sugar and baking soda, give it a good stir and let it come to a simmer. Keep it at a steady medium simmer for about one hour and a half, stirring occasionally, every 15 to 20 minutes or so, with a wooden spatula or spoon. The mix will gradually thicken and darken.

After about an hour and a half, the liquid will have thickened and reduced and the simmer will become stronger. Reduce the heat to medium low, to keep it at that constant medium simmer. You want active bubbling, but not over the top angry bubbles. Stir a bit more frequently, as you don’t want the bottom to develop a thicker layer.

You know the Cajeta is ready when: It achieves a caramel brown color;  it is thick as liquid caramel or syrup, much like a chocolate syrup consistency; it envelops the back of the spoon; when you gently stir across the pot with your wooden spoon, a slightly delayed trail behind the spoon appears, revealing the bottom of the pot if only for a few seconds; as you slowly lift up the wooden spoon or spatula, Cajeta takes it’s time to drop and lastly, the sides of the pot show how the Cajeta has cooked down and if you run your spoon across that side, you get a fudgy (and delicious) residue.

Turn off the heat and let cool (it will thicken considerably as it cools).

Place in a glass jar, cover tightly with a lid. It will keep in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

When you first bite into it, you go through a soft layer with grainy texture that tastes like a moist version of marzipan. But as your teeth sink in they hit the hard crust of a buttery cookie that breaks into the crunchiest of chunks in your mouth. It makes for such tasty contrast that you have to take more bites to understand their beauty. Since one cookie doesn’t explain it, you will reach for another one…

There you go! Another sweet concoction from the nuns of the Santa Clara convent in Puebla whose recipe has been passed down for over a dozen generations. Together with the nuns from Santa Rosa Convent (where Mole Poblano is believed to have been invented) and Santa Monica Convent (where many say Chiles en Nogada come from) they are much to blame for the baroque foods, which mixed European and Mexican ingredients with much passion and devotion, that shaped the cuisine of this city – and has made it an epicenter of gastronomy in Mexico.

Yet it was the nuns from Santa Clara who were most famous for their sweets. You can read what the plaque says outside of the standing convent which shut its doors long ago but left behind a strong legacy and a trail of sweets.

You can eat most of these sweets in the two block-stretch that makes La Calle de los Dulces “The Sweets Street” where the convent stands. There are sweets shops lined one after another selling truckloads of them.

We went down there this spring to film the Puebla Episode for Season Two. I stood on the street in awe and a bit confused (and hurried by the production company too) not knowing which store to choose from and wanting to sample every kind of sweet from them all.

The cookies are sold individually wrapped so the base won’t crack and the thick nutty glaze won’t spread. They come in three sizes: gigantic, normal and small. And yes, I ate the cookies that are missing from this beautiful Talavera platter below, while standing right in the middle of the street, telling the producer that I really needed to eat a few before being able to talk about them in front of the camera.

If you saw the episode, you saw me eating them!

So unique are these cookies, that there are special Santa Clara cookie molds to make them in that exact shape in one swift press. There is also a laborious technique for making the glaze. However, I have tested versions galore in my kitchen and I have a genuine and true short cut that makes any round cookie mold work and an easy way to get the same glaze.

Let’s begin with the glaze.

Traditionally, it is made with Pumpkin Seeds (some companies have gotten away with making the glaze with confectioners sugar, but connoisseurs know not to be tricked!). The thing is, since the Colonial era, the Spanish nuns were keen on making the sweets they knew from back home but with Mexican ingredients. So the pumpkin seeds took their turn in marzipan instead of almonds, hence the Dulce de Pepita. It was a success. The next step was to use this sweet to coat a cookie.

Yet, the laborious part of making the glaze is that pumpkin seeds once hulled are green. Be it for their spiritual beliefs, obsession with purity, or wanting to use same technique as blanching and peeling the almonds for marzipan, the nuns found a way to remove the super thin skins that are completely stuck to the seeds until the seeds reach a shinny ivory white.

To begin with, hulling the seeds out of the outer thick shell is time consuming, we are lucky they are sold already hulled. This thing of removing the thin green skin just complicates it much further…

To make the glaze like the nuns, you have to soak the seeds overnight either with slaked lime, ashes or baking powder. Then you have to rub them with your hands to peel away the thin skin. But since that won’t remove the skin all the way, you have to rinse and rub them between clean kitchen towels, many times, until they are completely ivory white.

I am one to have patience in the kitchen, but I don’t think I have the patience of Santa Clara nuns…

I don’t know if the nuns knew then just how healthy and nutritious the pumpkin seed skin is. But if you leave it on, you have a glaze that is just as fabulous but with a light green color. Of course you can test your patience and try the technique for making them ivory white, but if you insist on making a white glaze and don’t want to spend the hours rubbing the seeds, you can substitute the green pumpkin seeds for white slivered almonds!

Whichever nut or seed you decide to use, peeled or not, you need to grind them in a food processor or blender. That is easy enough if you don’t have to peel them… The rest also goes easy as pie.

Make a syrup by mixing water and sugar in a medium sauce pan.

Once the sugar dissolves, let it thicken to a light syrup, about 10 minutes. See below, just until the syrup drops begin taking their time letting go of the wooden spoon.

Add the ground seeds or nuts and mix with the syrup and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Lastly, add a splash of milk. It makes the glaze be shinny and beautiful, almost like a mirror where you can reflect your soul in: just like the nuns liked it!

Then you make the cookies.

If you go to Puebla and find a special Santa Clara Cookie mold that’s great! If you don’t, fear not. Spread the dough and grab a round cookie cutter.

I like a 3″ round.

Cut the circles.

Then use the cookie cutter next size down… Press inside each circle, but don’t go all the way down. That will give you a border to decorate but also a boundary for the glaze to be contained.

Decorate around the border with a fork.

Bake the cookies.

Let them cool completely and add the thick glaze on top. Wait until both the cookies and the glaze have cooled down or the glaze will run all over the cookies. You can make both things ahead of time…

Which cookie tastes better, the one made with thoroughly peeled pumpkin seeds or the one with the un-peeled pumpkin seeds? Both! They are just as good. And the one made with almonds, too.

Which one looks prettier?

As it is well said: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. You choose. In any case, don’t wait to get to Puebla, until you do, give these a try.

Tortitas de Santa Clara
Makes 24 3 inch round cookies

INGREDIENTS
For the dough
1 stick unsalted butter (4oz), at room temperature, sliced
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup lukewarm water

For the glaze
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 cups hulled and unsalted pumpkin seeds, may substitute with blanched and slivered almonds
1/2 cup milk

To blanch the pumpkin seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder or baking soda

TO PREPARE
To Prepare Dough

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter over medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to lowest setting and gently add the confectioners’ sugar and baking powder. Continue mixing until everything is incorporated. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and then the egg yolks one at a time; continue beating for a minute. Pour in the water and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and can form a ball (it will take less than a minute). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool until it hardens enough to be manageable, at least 1/2 hour (the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a couple days).

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place half of the dough on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper, sprinkle some flour over it and then place another piece of parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin to gently roll out the dough, spreading it evenly about 1/4″ thick. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and cut out circles with a round, 3″ cookie cutter. With a smaller cookie cutter, make a circular indention in the middle of each cookie, without cutting all the way through the dough (there should be about a 1/4″ space between the indentation and the edge). Press the edges of each cookie with a fork as if marking the edges of a pie. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and roll it out again making as many cookies as possible.

Space the cookies at least 1/4″ apart on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until they are fully cooked and the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool; repeat with the remaining cookies.

To Prepare Glaze

Like the Nuns: Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, add pumpkin seeds, simmer about 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Let it cool, stir in baking soda or powder and let it sit over night. With your hands, rub the pumpkin seeds between your fingers and thumbs to try to release their skins. The skins will float in the water. Carefully pour out the water, cover again with clean water and drain again. With a slotted spatula, place the pumpkin seeds on a clean kitchen towel, rubbing them so the remaining skins come entirely off. Place the seeds in a bowl, cover them with water, rinse and place them on a towel to dry.

Like ME: You can skip this part and use normal hulled pumpkin seeds or blanched almonds.

In a medium saucepan, place the sugar and 1/4 cup of water over medium low heat. Cook, keeping a close eye on it, until the sugar has completely melted into the water and appears to be a happily bubbling syrup (which should take anywhere from 8 to 10 minutes). Add the ground pumpkin seeds or almonds and stir well, creating a thick paste. Let the mixture cook for another 3 to 4 minutes –it will thicken and become even more pasty. Turn off the heat, pour the milk and stir well. It should be thick yet shiny and liquid. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly. Use it to top the cookies but before it hardens. If it does harden, just heat the mixture over low heat with a tablespoon of water until it becomes runny again.

Once the cookies are no longer warm to the touch, add the cooled candied pumpkin seed or almond glaze on top with a spoon. 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of glaze is more than enough, it spreads as it settles.

One of the most meaningful, colorful and delicious of Mexican celebrations, Dí­a de Muertos has this bread as one of its trademark treats. It may sound strange to eat fluffy sugared up bread in the shape of bones, but then again, we also eat calaveritas, candies in the shape of skulls. This shows how crucial food is for Mexicans but also how it gets infused with our sarcastic sense of humor, generous spirit and gutsy attitude.

Not that Day of the Dead is such a big occasion here in the United States, but I notice an increased awareness. Teachers are starting to talk about it in schools, sugar skulls and decorations are popping up in stores…It’s becoming trendy. As it happens right on the tail of Halloween, elements from both celebrations seem to cross paths. They both include graveyards and a lot of eating, but they are quite different.

Day of the Dead, which is not one but two days, November 1st and 2nd, is when those departed have a license to come back and visit the ones they’ve left behind. And hey, if they are coming back from another world, it better be a feast worth the trip! Altars are decorated, filled with the visitor’s favorite foods and drinks, candles and flowers placed throughout, to help illuminate for a safe journey back home. There are visits to the cemetery, too, but of a different nature than Halloween: Day of the Dead is a bittersweet, sad and joyous time for gathering, feasting and remembering.

Pan de Muerto, has to be one of the sweetest sides of it, eagerly awaited by all.

Those who have tried it want it, as it is really irresistible. But there are
not that many panaderí­as that make it outside of Mexico.

Well, guess what? Wait no more, you can make your own.

It is simple to do; the only downside is, it takes time. The dough needs to rise…four times, and one of them is overnight in the fridge. So if you want your Pan de Muerto for Friday, start it on Thursday.

First make your starter: a small leavened mix. I make mine by mixing dry yeast (oldest versions of Pan de Muerto use Pulque, a fermented drink) with lukewarm milk, not too hot and not too cold, to make it easy for the yeast to react. Fully dissolve and add a bit of flour, to get the yeast going on stronger. When it puffs up and has bubbled on the surface, about 20 to 30 minutes later, you have your starter.

That’s the first rise.

Then make your dough in the mixer with butter, sugar and eggs. I add orange blossom water, as is traditional in many parts of Mexico and the old fashioned way. It gives it a perfumed feel, a nice sort of fragrance halo. I also add a bit of orange zest and anise seeds, which perfume it even more. Once mixed, beat in the starter. Cover it and place it in a bowl.

It’s better if you leave it in a warm area of your kitchen where there are no drafts, close to the oven or burners is a good idea, too. Leavened bread likes warmth and moisture, so much so, that I have gotten into the habit of placing a bowl with boiling water right next to the bowl with the dough and then cover it all together (in case you were wondering about the two bowls under the kitchen towel above).

Then leave it to rise.

See how it puffed up in photo above? Almost tripled its volume.

That’s the second rise.

Then punch it back down. Just like that, make some fists and punch it twice.

Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator so that it will slowly but surely rise again, overnight. While you sleep, that dough will be getting ready for you.

See below?? Look how it rose again!

This time it was even bubblier and a bit stringy.

This is the third rise. Next day, morning sun.

Then as you gather it into a ball, it will deflate in size, but you can see below how the dough has transformed and strands of dough are trying to stick to the bowl.

The dough ends up being shinny, sticky, compact…

Grab two thirds to shape like a ball and place it over a buttered or oiled surface. I like using this pizza stone.

You leave a third of the dough apart, to decorate the ball with a couple of ropes and a ball on top. And then.. you cover it and let it rise again under a towel.

And so it rose, under the towel!

In the oven it goes.

Lastly, when it comes out, it is entirely brushed with melted butter and covered in sugar. Some people add more complex decorations, like colored sugar or make intricate shapes. I like it straightforward with plain granulated white sugar and a round shape.

By mid morning the next day, you will have a Pan de Muerto ready to slice.

So, yes, it takes time, it has to rise many times, but every time it rises again you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction… And as you bake it, maybe you will find like me, that whoever is around in the house will start lurking in the kitchen to eat whatever it is that has such an irresistible aroma.

Maybe you will find, also like me, that it was well worth the wait.

I didn’t know if to add this recipe into dessert, or anytime antojos, as you can eat it as both. But as it is so deliciously sweet, I left it in the former. If you make it, you tell me where it should be.

PAN DE MUERTO

INGREDIENTS
½ cup lukewarm whole milk
2 packages active dry yeast (¼ oz each), or about 4 heaped teaspoons
½ cup all purpose flour, plus 3½ cups for later on
¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more to grease the bowl, and 2 tablespoons to melt and brush on top
½ cup granulated sugar to make the dough, plus ½ cup for dusting the bread
6 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons orange blossom water, or plain water
1 teaspoon anise seeds, optional
1 teaspoon orange zest, optional
Pinch kosher or coarse sea salt

TO PREPARE
In a small bowl, pour the lukewarm milk -making sure that it is not hot nor cold or the yeast will not react- and stir in the dry yeast granules. Give the yeast a couple minutes to sit in the liquid, and stir with a spatula until it is thoroughly and evenly dissolved. Give it time: stir a little, pressing gently on the yeast that has not yet dissolved with the spatula, give it a bit more time to sit in the milk, stirring again, press again. Once it has completely and evenly dissolved, add ½ cup flour. Mix it combining thoroughly, until it has no lumps. It will be gooey, runny and sticky. Leave it in the warmest area of your kitchen, for about 20 to 30 minutes, until it puffs up (to about double or triple its volume) and has bubbled on top. I like to place a sauce pan or cup with boiling hot water right next to it, but its not necessary.

In the bowl of a mixer, over medium low speed, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until combined and fluffy. Add one egg at a time. Once eggs are incorporated, add the milk and yeast mixture. Then adding ½ cup at a time, add the rest of the flour (3 ½ cups). Stir in the orange blossom water if using and if not, add plain water. Also add the anise seeds and a pinch of salt. The dough will look wet, runny and sticky, but continue beating anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes, until all the dough comes off the sides of the mixing bowl. It will be elastic and sticky, but it will hold itself together.

Butter a large mixing bowl that can hold the dough, and will be able to hold it as it doubles or triples its volume. Place the dough in the bowl, cover it with a cloth or clean kitchen towel and leave it in the warmest area of your kitchen, that is draft free, making sure that it is not next to a window or door that gets opened. Leave it to rest and puff up anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, until it doubles its volume at least.

Punch the dough with your fist, flip it over, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator over night. The next day, remove the plastic wrap, place a cloth or kitchen towel on top and let it to come to room temperature.

Take off a third of the dough to make the bread decorations: make a 1 to 2-inch ball and use the rest to make 2 ropes. They need not be smooth nor perfect, as the dough is quite sticky, and no need to worry they will look beautiful once the bread is baked (and covered with sugar).

Butter a baking sheet or a bread or pizza stone, and make a ball with the rest of the dough. Place it in the center of the baking sheet and flatten it a bit on top. Place the dough ropes making a criss-cross -Mexican bakers usually shape the ropes to resemble bones, having thicker and thinner parts- and the ball on the top, right where they cross. Cover the bread with a cloth or kitchen towel, and let it rise and puff up again, for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the bread for for about 40 minutes. Halfway through baking, after about 20 minutes, cover the loaf with parchment paper or aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much.

When they are ready, they sound “huecas”, or hollow, if you hit the bottom of the bread.

Melt the butter and brush all over the bread. Sprinkle sugar all over until completely covered.

When I was about 10 years old, my parents developed a habit of traveling during the December holidays without my sisters and I. Don’t ask me why they thought it was a good idea.

They are immense with a stunning deep caramel color. Light, thin, crisp yet sturdy. It is a mystery why they don’t break piled high in the stalls or baskets where they wait to be sold, defying gravity and their own weight.

If you look closely behind the oranges, you will also find anise liquor, and in my photo Sambuca. If you can’t find it, you can use orange liquor. You can skip the liquor altogether, but it does give it a nice ethereal quality.

After the ingredients are mixed, the demanding part of making buñuelos begins. The dough needs to be kneaded for a long, long, time.

Then you give it a second go. Starting with the first disks you rolled out, flour the surface and try to make them as thin as possible. As thin as paper is the best.

We made 120 buñuelos the night before the class. Though the Director of the Institute thought we were nuts making them for so many people, we couldn’t think of an event themed Holiday Foods without them. Just like there had to be a Piñata -the ones we found had dinosaurs on them!- there had to be buñuelos.

After the buñuelos are stretched or rolled out as thin as they can be, they need to “air” and dry anywhere from a half hour to a couple of hours. You can’t leave them over night or the will dry too much and crumble when you hold them. They are demanding, see?

So much for 5 minute meals and 3 ingredient recipes. Some foods are worth the hassle. Especially around the holidays, when we have that extra bit of time, and we want to spoil the people we love.

It reminds me of how my father loves to slice sweet bananas over his savory lentil soup; or how my family goes crazy over piling ates (fruit pastes) with Manchego cheese, as so many Mexicans do; or how I used to love eating a handful of chocolate covered raisins right after a handful salty pop corn, and then repeat it again and again at the movies growing up, as long as the movie lasted. Capirotada has that same wild mix.

Once you finish your piece, I bet you will beg for a bit more of that addicting combination. That’s probably why I have received so many requests for a recipe.

 That is also why, although Capirotada is traditionally made for Lent and we are no way near Easter, I’ve had such a big craving for it in this cold weather. No. I am not waiting until Spring. And I am making it again this Thanksgiving to share with friends.

CAPIROTADA WITH BANANAS, PECANS AND PRUNES
Serves 10

INGREDIENTS
8 cups water
1 pound piloncillo, grated, or about 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 ceylon or true cinammon stick
3 whole cloves
1 challah or brioche, preferably a couple days old, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted for brushing bread, plus more for greasing the casserole
2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped and toasted
4 oz, or about 1 cup, crumbled Queso Fresco, Añejo or Cotija
Ground cinnamon, optional, to sprinkle ontop

TO PREPARE
In a medium sauce pan, pour the water and set it over medium high heat. Once it comes to a simmer, add the grated piloncillo, cinnamon and cloves, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 25 minutes, until it has all dissolved and has a light syrup consistency. Turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon and cloves.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the bread slices with unsalted butter. Place in a baking sheet and into the oven. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Butter a 9 x 13 casserole. Place a layer of bread in the bottom covering the entire surface. Cover with the banana slices, prunes and pecans. Pour half the syrup on top. Add another layer of bread, pour the remaining syrup on top and sprinkle the crumbled cheese. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.

Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the syrup has been absorbed. Remove from the oven. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes for the Capirotada to settle and for the entire syrup to be soaked up, then serve. You can also serve it lukewarm or cold. It can also be reheated.

Ever.

I was born and raised in Mexico City. I lived there all my life until I married my husband, another Mexican, and moved to the U.S.

There were no Mexican Wedding Cookies at our Mexican wedding (though there were a ton of roosters doing their Cock a Doodle Do thing next door, which made it hard for us to say our vows real loud…). Nor were there any of those cookies, at any wedding in Mexico that I have ever attended. None.

The first time I heard the name Mexican Wedding Cookie was once we moved to Washington D.C. Since then, I have been asked about them continuously. What’s more, once I started my blog, I began to receive a lot of requests, via lovely emails, for their recipe.

It took me a while to realize that those Mexican Wedding Cookies, so liked this side of the border, are what I love and know as Polvorones. One of Mexico’s most popular treats, consumed on an every day basis, and found in just about every Panaderí­a (bakery) and any grocery store throughout the whole country.

The name Polvorón seems to come from the word Polvo, which translates to dust or powder. Maybe because these cookies break into the finest of crumbs the moment they touch your mouth. And as you take a bite, they seem to melt and disappear.

They come in many flavors: plain, pecan, peanut, vanilla, cinnamon and even chocolate, to name some. I go for pecans.

Since the cookie is so light, pecans add a nice and nutty depth of flavor, as well as an extra crunch.

Just grind the pecans using a food processor or blender. You can also chop them finely. My mother has an old fashioned nut grinder, which looks like a small mill or molino. It is a real find. I should have convinced her to give it to me as a wedding gift, now that we are talking about weddings….

Whichever way you decide to finely chop or grind them, mix them with the confectioners’s sugar.

It is the addition of this kind of sugar which gives these cookies that airy quality and that peculiar light sweet taste.

They are similar to shortbread cookies, and as such, can be made in a bowl and mixed with your hands. Aside from being a quick and fun method, it is practical in a busy kitchen. Very few things to wash…

So grab a large mixing bowl and stir in the flour and salt. Cut your cold butter into small chunks and spoon in the vegetable shortening in teaspoon amounts.

Dive in with your hands, and work in the butter and vegetable shortening into the flour with your fingers.

Its therapeutic.

In no time, you will get this nice flaky crumbly dough.

Add in the sugar and pecan mixture. Work it in…

Crack an egg. Mix it in. It will help the dough come together.

Knead the dough until you can turn it into a ball. Don’t overwork the dough. You know that you need to stop as soon as you can turn it into a ball. No need to refrigerate if you stopped in time.

You know you overworked the dough if it becomes very, very greasy. The warmth of your hands will do that if work the dough for too long.

Start making the cookies by grabbing small amounts of the dough and making 1 to 1 1/2″ balls. If you over worked the dough, your hands will be too greasy and it will be hard to make the balls. If that is the case, just place the dough in the refrigerator, covered, for 15 minutes… No worries, that will fix it.

Place the balls on a buttered baking sheet, and gently tap each ball as you lay them out.

Super easy! Kids can do this with you.

Once you are done rolling out enough  cookies to fill a baking sheet or tray, place them into the oven for about 15 minutes.

They will come out all golden and delicious.

See that one that looks a bit burned and not so happy?  That’s because I overworked the dough in that single ball to show you what it would look like.

That’s why its good to know when to stop…

Once out, dust them with extra confectioners’ sugar. The more, the better. Go ahead, go wild and dust until you have had enough… These cookies can take it because the dough is barely sweet and they are meant to be showered in that extra sugar.

In Mexico, you can find them as the original Spanish cookies (Spaniards are to blame you know, they are the ones who brought them to Mexico), which are flatter, bigger and wider. But you can also find them in some small artisanal shops, in that smaller ball shape all wrapped in beautiful thin colored wrapping paper, with the ends twisted. As if they were little candies, or gifts, to unwrap.

Polvorones are deceiving.  They look hard on the outside. But go ahead and take a bite.

You may understand, like I recently did, why they have been called Mexican Wedding Cookies here in the U.S.

That’s how special they are.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
Polvorones
Makes about 30

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup pecans, grounded or finely chopped
3/4 cup confectioners sugar, plus more to dust
1 egg

TO PREPARE
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using a food processor, blender, nut mill or knife, finely chop the pecans. Add the powdered sugar to the processor or blender (if that’s what you used) and grind or chop. If done by hand, just mix together.

Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Drop in the chunks of butter and the vegetable shortening in teaspoon amounts. Begin to mix with your hands, until the butter and vegetable shortening are mixed in with the flour and salt. The mixture will turn into a coarse dough, with chunks of butter and shortening mixed throughout.

Add in the sugar and pecan mixture and work it all in. Crack the egg into the mixture thoroughly combine, using your hands. In less than a minute, the dough should be soft and malleable enough to be turned into a ball. Don’t knead more than necessary, you just want it to come together into a homogeneous mass.

Butter a large cookie sheet. One by one, make small balls of dough with the palms of your hands. The dough ball should be between 1 and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place them on a baking sheet with about 1 inch in between the dough balls. Bake them for about 15 to 16 minutes, until they have a golden brown color.

Dust extra confectioners sugar over the top of the cookies and eat and serve.

In the US, I see them scary faced on Halloween, and then, sweetly dressed as pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Yet to me, one of their best impersonations is as Calabaza en Tacha: Pumpkin cooked in a Piloncillo Syrup.

Craving Tacha, I paired two things: The pumpkin I saved from my boys’ Halloween makeover and my new orange flamed French Oven.

It was a matter of time. The French Oven needed a sweet Mexican ride to become baptized in my kitchen.

Making Pumpkin Tacha in a French Oven or heavy pot is a contemporary trend. The original method, as in XVII c., was to cook the whole pumpkin in a Tompiate (woven palm leaves basket) for hours, simmer it in lime water (not lime as in citrus but lime as in slaked lime or calcium hydroxide, so the thick skin of the pumpkin wouldn’t come apart), bathe it in syrup and cook it for hours, and finally, let it bask in the sun for many more hours.

That was a long and messy ordeal for sure. But there was no refrigeration then. Times have changed. No Tompiate nor slaked lime needed anymore.

You can make your Tacha (sounding like Cha Cha Cha) in a fourth of the time and in a simpler way.

First, place the Piloncillo or brown sugar in a large heavy pot.

Pour water over the Piloncillo. If you find Piloncillo also called Panela, you will get that old fashioned, deep, rustic and small Pueblo flavor right there. But brown sugar also does a pretty good job.

Place the cinnamon sticks in there too. Not all Tachas have cinnamon, but I like it. If you find True or Ceylon cinnamon, which is soft, crumbly and very aromatic it will have a more Mexican feel. If you only find Cassia, no worries, that works too.

I like to add the rind of an orange, because it cuts across the sweetness of the Tacha in a stunning way…

…as well as the juice.

Not all Tacha versions have cinnamon, orange rind or orange juice. Mine does.

Whichever way you go, let the piloncillo or brown sugar dissolve in the water over medium heat before you add the pumpkin.

That gives you time to deal with the pumpkin…

Rinse it and cut it into large pieces.

Then cut it into individually sized chunks, of about 3″ by 3″.

It is up to you if you want to remove the seeds and strings. Some cooks do, some cooks don’t. I LOVE to leave it all on. It magically transforms into something delicious as you cook i. Plus, those sweetened pumpkin seeds are to die for. Really.

If you do scoop out the seeds and strings, save the seeds so you can rinse, dry and toast them to make Pepitas.

There you go…

Using a knife, make some slits in the skin of the pumpkin chunks, without cutting all the way through. This will help the thick skin get all soaked up in the sweet citrusy syrup.

Once the piloncillo has dissolved into the water, layer the pumpkin chunks.

First, do a layer skin side down…

…followed by a layer, skin side up. Don’t worry if it seems like the pumpkin chunks aren’t all covered in the syrup.

Once you cover the pot and let it all cook over medium heat, it will ALL get soaked up.

After you place it all in the pot, you have nothing to do but let the heavy pot do its thing.

That’s how it looks after just one hour…

See? It all gets soaked up.

That’s how it looks after another half hour.

Don’t you dare complain…. you could have been gardening, taking a bath, reading or tweeting all this time. Or something…

Then let it simmer uncovered for a half hour and turn off the heat.

The pumpkin will look wet. Really wet. But as it cools down, the chunks will soak most of the syrup and the remaining syrup will thicken. A lot.

You can eat your Tacha still warm.

Or you can let it cool, refrigerate and eat it cold. It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for months!

My favorite way to eat it, is with Mexican style cream or Creme Fraiche.

The contrast between the brown, deep, sweet, meaty, soft pumpkin with the fresh, white, cold, tangy cream is hard to describe.

Tacha is a traditional food for Day of the Dead and quite popular throughout the Christmas season. In fact, in the XVII and XVIII centuries, Pumpkin Tacha was a preferred gift Hacienda owners gave to their friends for Christmas. Though the methods to make Tacha have changed, that practice of giving it as a Holiday gift remains timeless.

CALABAZA EN TACHA (PUMPKIN IN PILONCILLO SYRUP)
Serves 12-15

INGREDIENTS
1 medium pumpkin, about 8 to 10 pounds
2 cups water
3 pounds piloncillo, or about 6 cups packed brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
Rind of an orange
Juice of an orange, or about 1/3 cup orange juice

TO PREPARE
Place the piloncillo (or brown sugar) into a large, heavy pot. Pour the water on top. Incorporate the cinnamon, orange juice, and orange rind. Place over medium heat and let it come to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the piloncillo has fully dissolved, making a loose syrup. It will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.

While the piloncillo is dissolving, rinse the pumpkin clean of any dirt. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks of about 3″ x 3″. Some cooks remove the strings and seeds, some don’t, I leave them on. Using a knife, score the skin of the pumpkin chunks, to help the pumpkin absorb the syrup.

Once the piloncillo is dissolved into the water, remove the pot from the heat and begin adding the pumpkin pieces. Arrange the pieces of the pumpkin in the pot, with the first layer skin side down and the second layer skin side up.

Cover the pot and place it over medium to medium-low heat, for about one and a half hours. Uncover and continue cooking the pumpkin until the it has turned into a rich brown color and has become well soaked in syrup, for about another half hour. Turn off the heat and let the pumpkin cool and finish absorbing all the syrup it can as the rest of the syrup thickens. You may it it warm or let it cool and refrigerate. It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for months.

With a bit of nostalgia washing over me and in the mood of snapping that last piece of summer from this year, I brought back a full basket of corn. I would make one last batch of summer flavored ice cream, just as the stores begin to sell Halloween decorations, shockingly early, if you ask me.

 So I called Chiandoni. To see if they would share their recipe. Also to talk about those outrageous flavors that I so crave…

 Of course, the exotic and colorful variety of ice cream flavors at Chiandoni is not unique in Mexico. There are many heladerí­as and paleterí­as that have just as wide a variety…

Like this smaller chain from Valle de Bravo called La Flor de Valle, pictured below. Aside from Zapote, Mamey, Cajeta, Mantecado, Nata and Chongos Zamoranos they have a delicious version of Arroz con Leche. Or the much bigger chain of La Michoacana, famous for its creativity.

But the Corn and Cream ice cream from Chiandoni, in my memories, had no match. An ice cream shop opened in 1939 by a 14 year old young Italian immigrant from Udine, called Pietro Chiandoni, it began to combine the artistry of Italian ice cream making with wild Mexican ingredients.

Carmen Montaño, who now runs the second Chaindoni of Mexico City, and who has worked there for 40 years, told me that Corn and Cream ice cream, is the most popular from their 30 flavors. And it has nothing more than corn, whole milk, cream and sugar. However, they have always paid a close attention to detail: ingredients matter, but, the process too.

See? Look at the corn. You can see why I needed to take a bite…

As I was re-testing the Chiandoni recipe, Fany Gerson, a pastry chef born and raised in Mexico City who just came out with an absolutely gorgeous Mexican desserts book, My Sweet Mexico, told me she has a recipe for corn ice cream in there too…

As she says, “The culinary diversity of corn is manifested in the incredible array of preparations. It’s mostly associated and used in savory ways but has sneaked its way into various sweet ones and corn ice cream is absolutely one of the best.”

 Fany, different from Chiandoni’s take, aside from adding milk, cream,

 …sugar…

 …and corn…

 …adds egg yolks in there too. In her view, that custardy base enhances the creaminess of the corn.

 It is an extra step, but it is completely worth it.

You just have to make sure that the eggs don’t curdle, by whisking some of the simmering milk mixture into the yolks and tempering them…

 …before you whisk them right back into the rest of the milk mixture and let it gently simmer…

 Different from Chiandoni, Fany also adds vanilla, giving it a complementing layer of flavors.

 Leaving some corn kernels out of the blender, gives the ice cream a welcoming crunch and texture.

 In the end, the ice cream has a rich feel.

It reminds me of the cookie dough ice cream that you find here in the US. But with a twist. Imagine something along the lines of sweet corn bread dough, and turn it into ice cream…

That’s what it tastes like.

Luckily for New Yorkers, Fany started a popsicle business, La Newyorkina. Which hopefully will expand to ice cream making and a sibling in DC too…

But while that happens, you can run to the Farmers’ Market stand before they close for the Summer, to grab those remaining pieces of summer corn, and make this ice cream at home.

It’ will help you to transition smoothly and sweetly from Summer to Fall.

p.s. For the ice cream in the photo, I adapted Fany’s recipe. I reduced the number of egg yolks, skipped the straining of the puree of the mixture as I love it with a more rustic feel, and didn’t simmer the cobs (my monsters love to make sculptures with those…).

CORN ICE CREAM
Adapted from Fany Gerson
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
3 ears of fresh corn, shucked
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 yolks
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

TO PREPARE
Remove the kernels of the corn by holding the ear with one hand straight up over a kitchen towel (this will help keep the kernels from going all over the place. Be sure to use a very sharp knife or serrated knife to cut them off).Place the kernels of corn in a saucepan with the milk, heavy cream, 1/2 cup sugar and place over moderate heat, stirring until it comes to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the ingredients to steep for one hour, covered.

Remove about one cup of corn, but don’t throw them out. Puree the mixture in the pot with an immersion mixer or blender. Bring this to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. When the liquid comes to a boil whisk in about half of it to the yolks and stir rapidly so you don’t make scrambled eggs. Return to the pot and cook over low heat until the mixture covers the back of a spoon. Add the vanilla. Return the reserved corn to the ice cream base and pour into a container. Let it cool and place a piece of plastic film directly on top and chill in the refrigerator. Freeze according to the manufacturers directions.

As a fan of marzipan this cake feels like a fluffy, smooth, tasty piece of marzipan that has turned into a cake to become a bigger, lighter and longer lasting version of itself. It can be served as a dessert, with some whipped cream on top. If you are lucky to have some leftover, it makes for a decadent breakfast with a side of berries and some hot coffee or tea.

The recipe comes from the Mexican convent of San Jerónimo, where Mexico’s most famous nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was settled. It dates to the late 1600′s. Spanish nuns who came to help establish the different convents, had an indomitable sweet tooth, which paired with Mexico’s exotic ingredients, made for some of the country’s dearest and sweetest desserts. Centuries later, these desserts are staples in Mexico’s kitchens.

There are many kinds of nut cakes or tortes in Mexican cooking, with pinenuts, pecans, and hazelnuts amongst some. They can be sweetened with sugar or in some cases with sweetened condensed milk. I find that when trying and testing desserts inherited from convents or nuns, I need to pump down the sugar a bit. So if you want the original flavor, add an extra 1/3 cup sugar to the recipe below…

For this cake, almonds are used, and a couple other ingredients. It is a snap to make in the food processor or blender.

Just grind the already slivered almonds and sugar, less than a minute. Once ground, add the butter at room temperature, the eggs, vanilla and if you want a hint of alcohol, like the nuns from San Jerónimo, add some Porto wine.

Pulse again, until well combined. Less than a minute too…

Pour the batter over a buttered pan with its bottom lined with parchment paper.

The batter will look rather thin, barely filling the pan, but that is ok… Put it in the oven…

Take it out about 30 minutes later. Once it has a nicely tanned top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool a bit and turn it onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper and turn onto another plate, just to have it right side up.

Mix some apricot marmalade with lime juice (the nuns from San Jerónimo only used apricot marmalade, but I wanted to pump up the acidity… up to you) in a sauce pan and let it heat for a couple minutes. Until it dissolves.

Brush the glaze, wherever you want to decorate with some lightly toasted sliced almonds… Here is a photo of the decoration process, halfway through…

And away you go!

No doubt, one of the tastiest parts of my job, as I research through the history of Mexico’s cuisine, is to test centuries’ old recipes in my kitchen. In this case, the flavors of the convent of the Jerónimas traveled directly to Washington DC, helping me taste a bit of their history. You can get a taste of it in your own kitchen too…

FLOURLESS ALMOND AND PORTO CAKE
Adapted from the Convent of San Jerónimo
Serves 12-15

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups slivered almonds
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon Porto wine, optional or more to taste
1/4 cup apricot marmalade
1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
Whipped cream, optional

TO PREPARE
Butter a round 9 to 10 inch spring-form pan, and cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the almonds and sugar into a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Crack the eggs on top of the mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and Porto wine, if you will use it. Drop in the butter chunks, and process until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Pour the batter into the mold. Place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The top will be nicely tanned, and the cake will feel springy to the touch and a toothpick should come out clean if inserted in the cake.

Remove from the oven and let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Unmold the cake, invert onto a platter and remove the parchment paper. Invert the cake again onto another platter to have the top of the cake right side up.

In a small saucepan, mix the apricot glaze with the lime juice. Set over medium heat and simmer for a couple minute.

With a brush, spread the apricot glaze on the outer circumference, about 1 to 2 inches, on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the glazed area with the toasted sliced almonds. You may serve the cake with whipped cream on the side, or on the top of the cake.