Pastillas

Milk boiled down to a paste and rolled, with no flour and no setting agent at all.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres whole milk
• 300 g caster sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 tablespoons caster sugar, for rolling

Method

1. MILK AND SUGAR, NOTHING ELSE. There is no flour, no gelatine and no powdered milk here: the body comes entirely from boiling the water out, which is why it takes over an hour.
2. Bring the milk to a simmer in a wide, heavy pan with the salt.
3. Simmer, stirring often, until reduced by two thirds, about 50 minutes. Scrape the sides back in as it dries on them.
4. Add the sugar and keep going. It will froth, then darken slightly, then thicken fast.
5. IT IS READY WHEN A SPOONFUL DROPPED ONTO A COLD PLATE DOES NOT SPREAD. That test is the only one that works -- by appearance in the pan it looks ready a good ten minutes too early, and under-reduced pastillas will not hold a shape at all.
6. Tip onto a cold, sugared surface and let it cool until handleable.
7. Roll into short logs, turn in caster sugar and wrap in paper. They firm overnight.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes