I had never made angel hair before and I even thought I wasn't a big fan of this sweet goo. This recipe is a special request from Doña Claudia, whom I especially thank because homemade angel hair like this mandao is something else, not even comparable to the industrial bayonesa fillings I've known since I was little.
I was so ignorant that I had never seen a candied pumpkin or cidra squash in my life and... it amazes you because it looks like it's going to speak to you. Because of its size and its very tender, sweet flesh. A love.
Angel hair is nothing more than the pulp of this pumpkin candied in sugar, like a jam, a pulp that must be cooked first to soften it and removed from the skin. But the process, although it has several stages, is very easy, and homemade angel hair will serve you to make some pastissets, cidra cortadillos or impressive ensaimadas. Let's get to it.
Mediterranean glass bowl and Le Creuset oval casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cidra squash
- Water to cook it
- The same weight of cidra pulp in sugar (or less if we want it less sweet)
- ½ lemon with no seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
Preparation
- We cut the pumpkin into eighths; you have to work hard because the skin is very hard. Some people directly recommend throwing it on the ground to break it. What a shame.
- We put the pieces in a pot or pots, cover with water and cook over low heat, covered, for at least an hour until the pulp is tender.
- We take it out of the pot and drain. When the pumpkin can be touched without burning ourselves, we remove the seeds; they come out easily, but be careful with some small ones that are the same color as the pulp.
- With a fork, we scrape the flesh well, leaving only the skin, and put it in a colander placed over a bowl so that the liquid absorbed during cooking drains. We will have to discard the liquid at some point so it keeps draining.
- When the pumpkin pulp no longer releases liquid we weigh it. Then we weigh the same amount obtained, but of sugar, or a little less if we want the angel hair less sweet.
- We put the pulp and sugar with a cinnamon stick and half a lemon in a casserole and bring to a boil.
- We cook over low heat, covered, until you can see that the angel hair has that characteristic cinnamon or amber color and the strands look translucent.
- If when you reach this point there is still some liquid, uncover the pot and cook a little longer until it reduces.
- We let it cool, remove the cinnamon and the lemon, and jar it. It lasts the same as a jam; if we don't jar it in sterilized jars we will have to keep it in the fridge.
Luigi Bormioli airtight glass jars
Did it seem difficult? It isn't; making angel hair only requires some planning, but it's so simple you'll wonder why you didn't do it before. Go for it.
Comments
Mila said:
No encuentro la calabaza cidra por ninguna parte,me podrían decir dónde comprarlas.
María said:
Como dice Isabel, el horno es lo mejor, me lo recomendó mi suegra,,y así lo hice, en un plis plas estaba lista para pelar sin esfuerzo,,a mi no me gusta encontrarme los hilos del cabello la trituré con la batidora y quedó una mermelada riquísima, lista para una infinidad de pasteles!
Isabel Morales said:
Siempre había echo el cabello de angel de la misma manera, hasta que una amiga me explicó que poniendo las calabazas lavadas y enteras en el horno, resultaba mucho más fácil pelarlas y se aprobechaba mucho más la pulpa, ya que se rasca un poco con una cuchara y queda la cáscara finísima.
Hay que esperar hasta que empiezan a dorarse y se agrieta la piel.
Lucia Elizabeth said:
Acá en Chile le llamamos Alcayota y tambien hacemos un dulce al que le agregamos nueces . Se hacen unas empanaditas con ese relleno y son muy exquisitas.