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Dulce de lechosa or green papaya preserves served in a small glass dessert bowl
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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).
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
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 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).
    Green papaya on a wooden cutting board with white liquid coming out of 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.
    Peeling the papaya with a potato peeler.
  • Cut the peeled green papaya in half. With a spoon, scrape the inner surface of the papaya and remove the seeds.
    Peeled green papaya halves on a cutting board
  • Then, cut each half of the papaya in half crosswise and cut slices ~1 cm or 0.4 inches thick.
    Slicing the green papaya on a wooden cutting board.
  • 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.
    Pieces of papaya on a baking sheet
  • 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).
    Panela, piloncillo, chancaca, raspadura
  • 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.
    Ingredients for the syrup in a pot.
  • 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.
    Green papaya slices being simmered in the syrup in a pot.
  • 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.
    Two small glass dessert bowls filled with candied green papaya preserves or dulce de lechosa

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.