Dulce de Ciruela Campechana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart clay cazuela or enameled cast iron Dutch oven
• •Wooden toothpicks or a thin wooden skewer for pricking the fruit
• •Wooden spoon (never metal, which can react with the long-cooked almíbar)
• •Glass jars or small clay cazuelitas for storing and serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prick the ciruelas

   Rinse the ciruelas in cold water and pat them dry. Take a wooden toothpick and prick each fruit four or five times, deep enough to pierce the flesh but not so deep that the pit comes loose. This is the step most people skip and most people regret. If you do not prick the fruit, the skin will not let the almíbar in and the fruit will not let its juice out. You will end up with sweet syrup and dry ciruelas. Hours of work wasted.

   Leave the pits inside. The pit is what gives the almíbar that faint bitter-almond depth in the background. Pitted ciruela makes thin, one-note syrup.
2. 2

   Build the almíbar base

   In a heavy clay cazuela or a wide heavy-bottomed pot, combine the piloncillo and water. Set over medium-low heat and stir occasionally as the cones break down. Do not rush this. The piloncillo needs to dissolve completely before the fruit goes in. Once the syrup is smooth, add the canela sticks, orange peel, and salt. Let it come to a gentle simmer and cook for ten minutes so the canela has time to open up. The kitchen will smell like a Campeche dulcería at dusk.

3. 3

   Lay down the hojas de higo

   Lower the heat to its gentlest setting. Lay four of the fig leaves across the bottom of the syrup, pushing them down with a wooden spoon. The leaves are not decoration. The hoja de higo is what gives this dulce its signature flavor: green, faintly coconut, with a back-of-the-throat herbal depth you cannot get any other way. Without them, you have piloncillo syrup with fruit in it. With them, you have a Campeche dulce.

   If you cannot find fresh hojas de higo, do not substitute bay leaves or anything else. Ask at a Mexican mercado, a fig tree grower, or a friend with a yard. There is no substitute. Make a different dulce until you find them.
4. 4

   Add the ciruelas

   Lower the pricked ciruelas into the syrup in a single layer if you can, two layers at most. Lay the remaining four fig leaves on top so the fruit is sandwiched between leaves. The syrup should come about three-quarters of the way up the fruit. Do not stir. Stirring breaks the skin and the fruit will fall apart before the almíbar concentrates. From now on, you move the pot, not the contents.

5. 5

   Cook low, cook long

   Cover the pot loosely so a little steam can escape. Cook on the lowest possible heat for ten to fifteen hours. Yes, that long. Esto no es comida de un solo México and this is not a thirty-minute dessert. The señoras of Campeche start the pot at night and let it whisper until late the next morning. Every two or three hours, lift the lid, tilt the pot to redistribute the syrup, and replace the lid. Do not stir.

   If your stovetop will not hold a low enough simmer, move the pot to a 200°F oven once the syrup is built. The oven is more forgiving and you can sleep through most of the cook.
6. 6

   Know when it is finished

   The dulce is done when the syrup has reduced to the color and consistency of dark molasses, when it coats the back of a spoon and falls in lazy ribbons. The ciruelas will have shriveled slightly and turned a deep mahogany red, almost black at the skin, but they should still hold their shape. Taste a tiny drop of the syrup on a cold plate. It should be intense, dark, with the canela and hoja de higo still distinct behind the piloncillo. If it tastes only of sweetness, cook longer.

7. 7

   Rest before serving

   Turn off the heat and leave the pot uncovered to cool on the stove. Do not move the ciruelas yet. As the dulce cools over two or three hours, the fruit drinks the almíbar back in and the syrup thickens further. This is the resting step that separates a good dulce de ciruela from a great one. Eat it warm with a wedge of queso de bola and a piece of pan francés to soak up the almíbar. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •The piloncillo must be real piloncillo cone, not brown sugar, not panela powder. The cone has the molasses depth and the trace minerals that give the almíbar its dark complexity. A substitution here is a compromise, not an upgrade, and the dulce will taste hollow.
• •Canela de Ceylán is non-negotiable. Cassia cinnamon, the hard reddish-brown sticks sold as 'cinnamon' in most U.S. supermarkets, is too aggressive and tastes medicinal in a slow-cooked almíbar. True Mexican canela is soft, flaky, and pale tan. If you cannot find it at a Mexican grocer, order it online. No me vengas con atajos.
• •This dulce keeps for two to three weeks in the refrigerator and the flavor only deepens. Some Campeche households keep a jar going year-round, adding fresh fruit to the reduced almíbar as the season allows.
• •For Hanal Pixán, the Yucatecan Day of the Dead, dulce de ciruela goes on the altar alongside the mazapanes and the candles. The almíbar pools in small clay cazuelitas and the fig leaves stay in the pot until serving. It is one of the dishes that calls the dead home.

Advance Preparation

• •This dulce is made to keep. Refrigerated in a clean glass jar with the canela sticks and a fig leaf, it holds for three weeks and gets darker and more concentrated as it sits.
• •For Hanal Pixán or holiday tables, cook the dulce three to five days ahead. The almíbar will tighten and the fruit will absorb more of the syrup, which is exactly what you want.
• •Do not freeze. The fruit collapses on thaw and the texture is lost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)