Dulce de tejocote is whole tejocotes, the tart golden-orange Mexican hawthorn fruit, peeled and slowly simmered in a dark piloncillo syrup scented with cinnamon, cloves and orange. The fruit turns soft and glossy and the syrup cooks down to a thick, honey-like glaze with a tangy, apple-and-apricot flavor. Makes 8 servings in about 2 hr 2 min.
Prep25 min
Cook65 min
Cooling32 min
Total
2 hr 2 min
Servings
8
DietGluten free, Vegan
Ingredients
Adjust yield
servings
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
2 lb (900 g)tejocotes, fresh or thawed frozen, rinsed
8 ½ cups (2000 ml)water, for blanching, for the fruit
1 ⅔ cups (350 g)piloncillo, chopped (or dark brown sugar)
3 ¼ cups (750 ml)water, for the syrup
¼ tsp (0.5 g)whole cloves, about 4
1 tbsp (6 g)orange zest, in wide strips, from 1 orange
Bring the 2 liters of blanching water to a boil in a large pot. Add the tejocotes and boil until their skins wrinkle and start to split, 3 to 5 minutes.
Drain the tejocotes and plunge them into a bowl of cold tap water. When cool enough to handle, about 2 minutes, slip off the skins with your fingers and cut away the dark blossom end and any stem. Leave the fruit whole.
Make the syrup: put the piloncillo, 750 ml water, cinnamon stick, whole cloves and orange zest in a deep, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat and stir until the piloncillo dissolves, about 5 minutes.
Add the peeled tejocotes, bring back to a gentle simmer and cook partially covered for 40 minutes, turning the fruit gently once or twice with a spoon.
Uncover and keep simmering until the tejocotes are tender when pierced with a skewer and look glossy and slightly translucent, and the syrup has reduced to a thick, honey-like consistency that coats a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes more.
Take the pan off the heat, remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and orange zest, and let the tejocotes cool in their syrup, about 30 minutes, so they keep absorbing it.
Serve the tejocotes in small bowls with plenty of syrup, at room temperature or chilled.
Tips
Tejocotes are sold fresh in Mexican markets from late fall through Christmas and frozen year-round; frozen ones peel easily after blanching.
Each tejocote has a few hard seeds inside; tell guests to eat around them.
If the syrup thickens before the fruit is tender, add a few tablespoons of hot water and keep simmering.
Not a shelf-stable preserve: keep it refrigerated in a covered container. There is no research-based home-canning method for tejocotes in piloncillo syrup, so do not water-bath can it or store it at room temperature.
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How long does it take to make dulce de tejocote (tejocotes in piloncillo syrup)?
Plan on 25 minutes of prep and 1 hour 5 minutes of cooking, plus 32 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 8 servings.
How should I store dulce de tejocote (tejocotes in piloncillo syrup)?
Refrigerate the tejocotes in their syrup in a covered container for up to 1 week. This is not a shelf-stable canned preserve.
Can I make dulce de tejocote (tejocotes in piloncillo syrup) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Is this recipe vegan?
Yes, as written. Check that packaged ingredients such as chocolate, sprinkles and plant butter are labeled vegan.
In Mexican homes, tejocotes (small golden hawthorn fruits) are blanched, peeled and simmered whole in piloncillo syrup with cinnamon, cloves and orange zest until the syrup turns thick, especially around Christmas and Day of the Dead. Serve it with café de olla.
Variations
Small batch: halve every ingredient and use a small saucepan; the covered simmer drops to about 30 minutes.
Extra-cinnamon version: leave out the cloves and use 2 cinnamon sticks; times unchanged.
Tejocote and guava: replace 300 g of the tejocotes with 300 g (about 6) guavas, halved and seeded, added for the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Spiked syrup: stir 2 tbsp (30 ml) aged rum or brandy into the syrup after it comes off the heat.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 8 servings this recipe makes.
234Calories / serving
0.2gFat
59.8gCarbs
0.9gProtein
50.8gSugar
Whole recipe (8 servings):
~1872 cal ·
2g fat ·
478g carbs ·
7g protein ·
406g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
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