Dulce de Guayaba Veracruzano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy stainless steel or enameled pot, or a well-tinned copper cazo
• •Long wooden spoon
• •Food mill or fine-mesh strainer
• •8-inch square pan
• •Parchment paper
• •Candy thermometer, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the guayabas

   Use ripe guayabas that smell floral and sweet before you cut them. The skin should be yellow with a little give under your thumb, not hard green. If the fruit has no perfume, do not make this today. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They will tell you which basket is ready.

2. 2

   Prepare the mold

   Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment, leaving overhang on two sides so you can lift the paste out later. Dust the bottom very lightly with azúcar de caña if you want a drier surface. Set the pan near the stove. Once the paste is ready, you do not have time to go looking for equipment.

3. 3

   Simmer the fruit

   Put the halved guayabas and water in a wide heavy pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, cover, and cook 18 to 25 minutes, until the skins dull and the flesh collapses when pressed with a spoon. Do not add sugar yet. Sugar tightens fruit before it has softened, and then you fight the texture for the rest of the recipe.

4. 4

   Strain the pulp

   Pass the softened guayabas and their liquid through a food mill, or pulse them briefly in a blender and press through a fine-mesh strainer. Briefly means briefly. Do not pulverize the seeds. Guava seeds are hard, and if you grind them into the pulp the finished paste will feel sandy under the teeth. You should have about 3 1/2 cups strained guava pulp.

5. 5

   Add sugar and vanilla

   Return the strained pulp to the pot. Stir in the azúcar de caña, grated piloncillo, lime juice, sea salt, the scraped seeds from the vainilla de Papantla pod, and the pod itself. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugars dissolve completely. The color will shift from pale coral to deeper amber-red as the piloncillo melts into the fruit.

6. 6

   Reduce the paste

   Lower the heat to medium-low and cook 60 to 80 minutes, stirring often at first and almost constantly near the end. Use a long wooden spoon because hot fruit paste spits. The mixture will move from loose puree to thick jam, then to a heavy paste that pulls away from the sides of the pot. When your spoon drags across the bottom and leaves a clean path for three seconds, you are close.

   A candy thermometer should read 221F to 224F at sea level, the Veracruz number. If you cook in the mountains, trust the spoon track and the knife test more than the thermometer.
7. 7

   Test the set

   Drop a spoonful of paste onto a small plate and wait one minute. Cut through it with a knife. If the line holds and the sides do not run back together, it is ready. If it slumps, cook 10 to 15 minutes more. Fruit paste is not offended by a second chance. It is offended by impatience.

8. 8

   Mold and cool

   Remove the vanilla pod. Scrape the paste into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer with a damp spatula. Let it cool uncovered at room temperature for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Do not cover it with plastic while warm or the surface will sweat.

9. 9

   Slice and serve

   Lift the set dulce from the pan and cut it into squares or thick bars with a knife wiped clean between cuts. Serve with sliced queso fresco de rancho or queso panela and strong coffee in small cups. The cheese is not decoration. It gives salt and milk against the sweet guava. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Start at the market, not the stove. Ripe guayabas should perfume the bag before you get home. If they are hard and green, leave them on the counter for two days or cook something else.
• •Use a whole vainilla de Papantla pod. Extract is a shortcut I will not give you here. If you cannot find Papantla vanilla, use another whole Mexican vanilla pod or leave it out. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The piloncillo gives the paste its dark Gulf sweetness, but cane sugar helps it set cleanly. All piloncillo makes a softer, darker paste. Good for spooning, not for bars that hold a knife.
• •Do not grind the guava seeds. A blender can help, but only in short pulses. The food mill is better because it respects the fruit instead of beating it into grit.
• •If the finished paste stays tacky after cooling, leave it uncovered overnight in a dry place. Veracruz kitchens are humid. The fruit knows where it came from.

Advance Preparation

• •Dulce de guayaba is better after one full day of setting. Make it at least a day before a holiday table if you want clean slices.
• •Store the cut bars between pieces of parchment in an airtight container. They keep 3 days at room temperature in a cool kitchen or up to 3 weeks refrigerated.
• •Bring refrigerated slices to room temperature before serving with queso fresco. Cold guava paste tastes muted, and the perfume of the fruit matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)