Dulces: This Post is Almost One Year Old

Enough sugar? Never

A couple times a year, the US Embassy invites Peace Corps volunteers to come and sell goods that our community members make. My host mom, Melida, makes the best candies. They just melt in your mouth. I asked Melida if she would be game to make a bunch of sweets for me to sell at the Embassy, she said yes. So I decided to take advantage of the craft fair the Embassy held the day after Thanksgiving, and we got to work making candies.

Melida putting the coconut into the molino

We (I use this term quite loosely, it was mostly Melida and other women in my community)  made three types of sweets. We made dulce de leche, leche de burro and dulce de coco. So milk candy, milk of donkey and coconut candy. (No we did not actually use donkey milk, I'm not even sure if that exists.) We did it all in one day, one very long day. I went to town to get the ingredients, which included 10lbs of sugar(!), cinnamon, fresh milk, coconut meat and a bi-product of making sugar, called dulce de moliendo. I have never seen this in the states, but basically when sugar cane is being boiled to extract the sugar, a film forms on the top and when collected, creates this dulce de moliendo. It is almost like a thick, hard caramel.

Coconut coming out

The candy making started at 1:00 and ended at 9pm. As I have mentioned before, Salvadorans love all things that contain obscene amounts of sugar. So it should come as no surprise that their homemade sweets are mostly sugar. My favorite sweet is the Dulce de Leche. It is sugary and kind of creamy with a hint of cinnamon.

Quality testing 

 

The day after Thanksgiving I headed to the Embassy to sell. Mostly Salvadoran staff working at the embassy and small children loved and bought the dulces. Some American staff tried them, but like many adult Americans, they did not particularly care for them. Too sweet. No problem though, there was plenty of profit regardless of the lack of American enthusiasm for cavities.

Coconut meat and sugar 

 

 

Dulce de Coco

Women from the community making the dulces

Beginnings of Leche de Burro

Leche de Burro simmering

Leche de Burro

Dulce de Coco

Dulce de Leche in the beginning stages

Niña Dora giving me a sassy look while stirring

Mold for the Dulce de Leche

More quality testing... very important

Pouring the Dulce de Leche into the mold

Finished and cut Dulce de Leche

Had to hang the dulces from rope in my house so they would not get attacked by ants

 

Piles of dulces for sale