Dulce de Lechosa (Candied Green Papaya Preserves)

Dulce de Lechosa, or candied green papaya, is a beloved dessert in many Latin American countries, particularly during the holiday season. This traditional treat combines the unique flavor of green papaya with a sweet, syrupy glaze, creating a delightful dessert that’s both simple and satisfying! This recipe is by Jani Díaz, our guest blogger in Venezuela.

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Dulce de lechosa is a traditional Venezuelan sweet! Although it is consumed year-round, it is always present during the December festivities. It is a syrupy sweet, flavored with cloves, cinnamon, and fig leaves (optional).

Personally, I have never tasted two candied green papaya desserts that are exactly the same. Each family has its own recipe and seasoning. To prepare dulce de lechosa, you only need green papaya, panela, sugar, and sweet spices. Let’s get started!

Ingredients You Need

• Green Papaya: It is important to use unripe, green papayas for this recipe!
• Water: Water is used to make a sweet syrup to cook the green papaya preserves in.
• Sugar: Regular, granulated sugar will work well here.
• Panela: Also known as papelón, piloncillo, chancaca, and raspadura. This is basically unrefined whole cane sugar.
• Cinnamon: Whole cinnamon sticks are best to infuse the flavor into the syrup.
• Cloves: Whole cloves are also best to infuse the syrup and easily remove after if you prefer.

How to Make Candied Green Papaya

1. Prep the Papaya: Wash the papaya well, and make thin incisions in the skin with a sharp knife, they should not be deep cuts. Let it rest, leaning against something – so that it is vertical. This will help the excess milk or white sticky liquid to drain out. This prevents the preserves from turning out with an astringent texture (a texture that is difficult to describe but you want to avoid it).

2. Peel: After two hours, put on gloves and rinse the green papaya. Then, peel it using a potato peeler. The gloves prevent your hands from getting stained and make it easier to peel.

3. Cut the Papaya: Cut the peeled green papaya in half. With a spoon, scrape the inner surface of the papaya and remove the seeds. Then, cut each half of the papaya in half crosswise and cut slices ~1 cm or ? inches thick.

4. Bake to Dehydrate: Arrange the papaya slices on a non-stick baking tray, or cover a traditional baking tray with parchment baking paper. Turn the oven on to the lowest temperature you can, in our case we set it to 50°C/100°F. Place the tray in the oven for about an hour to dehydrate the fruit. Remember to open the oven every fifteen minutes to let the steam out.

5. Prep the Panela or Papelon: Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, cut the block of papelon or piloncillo into small pieces or chunks. Another way to do this, is to put the block of papelon/panela into a ziploc bag and smash it with a hammer (or throw it against a hard surface – a paved driveway works well).
6. Remove Papaya from Oven: When the green papaya is slightly dehydrated, remove the tray from the oven.
7. Make a Sweet Syrup: In a large pot, add the sugar, the pieces of papelon/panela/piloncillo, the cinnamon stick, the cloves, and the water. Mix well and cook on low heat for about fifteen minutes or until you have a sweet syrup.

8. Simmer with Papaya: Finally, add the green papaya slices, and cook on low heat, covered with a lid,  for approximately two hours. Stir from time to time, so that the syrup comes into contact with all the papaya slices.

9. Remove, Cool & Store: After two hours, you will have dark golden caramelized green papaya preserves or candied green papaya, with plenty of syrup. Turn off the stove and remove the cinnamon sticks. Wait for it to cool down completely, and then store it refrigerated in clean, dry glass containers.

Tips for Success

• You should select a couple of green papayas, the greener the better! It is impossible to make this recipe with ripe or semi-ripe papayas. The inside of the papaya should look almost entirely white.
• A couple of hours before starting to prepare the dulce de lechosa, you should make thin incisions in the skin of the papaya with a sharp knife. You will notice that a whitish liquid starts to ooze from the skin of the papaya. This liquid can be slightly irritating, so it is advisable to rinse the papaya under running water before starting, and use latex gloves throughout the process.
• To ensure that the papaya slices cook evenly, you should cut all the slices to a similar width and length. The ideal measurements are between 5 and 7 cm in length and about 1 cm in thickness.
• To achieve an almost crunchy consistency in the dulce, besides using very green papaya, you should first dehydrate the outer layer of the fruit slices a bit, by baking them in the oven at a low temperature.
• Panela is what gives this dulce its appealing golden color. If you don’t have panela, as it can be hard to find in many countries, you can use the same amount of dark syrup made with brown sugar and ground cloves. A couple of fig leaves cooked in the syrup give this dulce a truly special flavor, but yes, they are quite difficult to find.

How to Serve Dulce de Papaya

Dulce de lechosa can be enjoyed in various ways:

• On Its Own: Serve chilled or at room temperature as a sweet snack or dessert.
• With Cheese: Pair with a slice of fresh white cheese for a delicious contrast of flavors.
• Over Ice Cream: Spoon over vanilla or coconut ice cream for an indulgent treat.
• With Bread: Spread on toast or use as a filling for sweet rolls.
• Use the Sweet Spiced Syrup: Drizzle it on top of Buñuelos de Yuca (Cassava Fritters).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use ripe papaya for this recipe?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to make this recipe using ripe papaya! It would end up becoming mushy in the end. For best results, use a very green papaya to make candied papaya!

How do I know when the papaya is done cooking?

The papaya is done when it becomes tender and translucent, and the syrup has thickened slightly. It should have a candied texture but still hold its shape.

Dulce de Lechosa (Green Papaya Preserves or Candied Green Papaya)

Recipe for homemade Dulce de Lechosa or Candied green papaya, these sweet preserves are made with green papaya, papelon (piloncillo or brown sugar), regular sugar, and spices (cinnamon and clove).

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert, Sweets

Cuisine: Caribbean, Latin American, South American, Venezuelan

Keyword: Brown sugar, Christmas, Cinnamon, Green papaya, Holidays, Lechosa, Papelón, Piloncillo, Spices, Traditions

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 kg of candied green papaya

Ingredients

• 1 very green papaya – medium sized ~3 lbs or 1.5 Kg.
• 1 ½ cup water – 360 ml
• 3 cups sugar 21 ounces=600 grams
• 1 small panela/papelón or piloncillo 9 ounces or ~250 g. (papelón is also known as panela, piloncillo, chancaca, raspadura), use brown sugar as a replacement
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 cloves
• Fig leaves optional – omit if you can't find them

Instructions

• Wash the papaya well, and make thin incisions in the skin with a sharp knife, they should not be deep cuts. Let it rest, leaning against something – so that it is vertical. This will help the excess milk or white sticky liquid to drain out. This prevents the preserves from turning out with an astringent texture (a texture that is difficult to describe but you want to avoid it).
  
• After two hours, put on gloves and rinse the green papaya. Then, peel it using a potato peeler. The gloves prevent your hands from getting stained and make it easier to peel.
  
• Cut the peeled green papaya in half. With a spoon, scrape the inner surface of the papaya and remove the seeds.
  
• Then, cut each half of the papaya in half crosswise and cut slices ~1 cm or 0.4 inches thick.
  
• Arrange the papaya slices on a non-stick baking tray, or cover a traditional baking tray with parchment baking paper. Turn the oven on to the lowest temperature you can, in our case we set it to 50°C/100°F. Place the tray in the oven for about an hour to dehydrate the fruit. Remember to open the oven every fifteen minutes to let the steam out.
  
• Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, cut the block of papelón or piloncillo into small pieces or chunks. Another way to do this, is to put the block of papelón/panela into a ziploc bag and smash it with a hammer (or throw it against a hard surface – a paved driveway works well).
  
• When the green papaya is slightly dehydrated, remove the tray from the oven.
• In a large pot, add the sugar, the pieces of papelón/panela/piloncillo, the cinnamon stick, the cloves, and the water. Mix well and cook on low heat for about fifteen minutes or until you have a sweet syrup.
  
• Finally, add the green papaya slices, and cook on low heat, covered with a lid, for approximately two hours. Stir from time to time, so that the syrup comes into contact with all the papaya slices.
  
• After two hours, you will have dark golden caramelized green papaya preserves or candied green papaya, with plenty of syrup. Turn off the stove and remove the cinnamon sticks. Wait for it to cool down completely, and then store it refrigerated in clean, dry glass containers.
  

Notes

• Do not cook these candied green papaya preserves over high heat; they will be ruined beyond repair.
• Some people also tend to remove the cloves along with the cinnamon stick after cooking, because they have a very intense flavor.

Step by Step Preparation Photos for Dulce de Lechosa:

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